Dentist Tales

I have been one of those few fortunate to have had only one bad experience with the dentist. Don't get me wrong, I've had my share of interesting experiences, but only one that actually made me frightened. I remember browsing in video rental stores (remember when those used to exist?) and seeing this one movie cover that showed a mouth full of braces and the teeth like daggers. It scared the bee-geebies out of me (I'm the type that can't even watch a scary movie trailer, let alone overhear the conversations of others about scary movies), but never made me fear the dentist. The first dentist I went to was when I lived in Oklahoma as a kid. I remember the building was dark brown wood, and it was sunny outside, but that's it. The next dentist I saw was about 8 years later or so when my family moved to Utah. Dr. Corey was awesome, other than he liked to sing songs to you while working on your teeth. As a young teenage girl it weirded me out; what if his "Jenny-baby" doo-ops meant he was crushing on me! Sick! But other than that, he was great. He always told me to shut my eyes when he gave me a shot. Somehow he knew I wouldn't be able to handle the sight of that needle going in my mouth. Then I got married and had to switch dentists. This dentist was horrible. We went in for a cleaning, and I got told I needed a ton of work. Being a believer, I figured he was right when he said my upper wisdom teeth should be pulled out, by him. The upper left tooth got nice and numb, but the upper right...well, that was a nightmare. We never went to that dentist again. Next was Dr. Godderidge. He was the sweetest dentist. He never pushed any treatment our way. He gave great service and advice, and let you work out the details of what to get done yourself. No pushy salesman trying to get dental school paid for. For years he told me again and again to get my bottom wisdom teeth yanked out, but I was too fearful from my first experience with the uppers. After 7 years of suggesting, I finally had them extracted. This time, I went to a maxillofacial surgeon. He put me out and the next thing I knew, I was climbing into the truck ready to go home. My left side healed really quickly, but the right side of my face swelled like a balloon.
Now that we have moved, I've had to hunt for a new dentist. I was nervous about it, as how do you know that you're finding another Dr. Corey or Dr. Godderidge, and not the other type? I finally made my decision and got an appointment set up. The day before our cleaning appointments, we got the usual reminder call with an extra notice that it may take up to 3 hours. What?! It was just a cleaning! After much yada, yada, yada about it being our first appointment, I decided to still go with it. Appointment day came too fast, along with appointment time. The gals in the office had Bryan go first, as they wanted a full x-ray of my mouth. However my insurance wouldn't cover it because I'd had one 2 years ago for my wisdom teeth. If they had told me the day before, I would've looked up the info, but I couldn't remember the surgeon's name off the top of my head, and the receptionist couldn't find Dr. Godderidge by Google search (which by the way, I just googled, and found in 3 seconds). After waiting 30 minutes, the dentist finally decided to just give me the x-ray free of charge. At least Bryan got charged, right? I did the full mouth x-ray (it was hard not to giggle as visions of "The Whole Nine Yards" crept into my mind), then sat in the dentist chair and was promptly started on another whole set of x-rays. They probably took 20 shots, which made me wonder what was the point of doing the panoramic one? Wouldn't that have been enough? By the 20th x-ray I was starting to gag. The tech felt bad, but I couldn't help it. She was cutting up my gums with the little cards and she had clumsy hands. Finally finished, I started to wait for my cleaning. After another 30 minutes passed, the tech came back. She needed 2 more x-rays, and that time I couldn't stop the gagging. It was horrible. I felt bad for her, as that must sound awful. She was gauging my gums and her fingers were so far in the card was in my tonsils. With that truly finished, I was x-ray complete. No need to worry about the possible radiation from Japan; I got my full dosage in that chair. The dentist then came back and went over all these details for this that and the other. The cha-chings were starting to add up. After the cleaning was finally done, I walked out to the front reception to find we'd been there 3 hours and 15 minutes. Good grief! Bryan's mouth had racked up more cha-chings than mine, and all were for fashion fixes. After leaving we talked it over. The one item that is absolutely needed is for me. Unfortunately, my fear of the dentist and wisdom teeth made the 10 years my bottom wisdom teeth pushed into my last set of molars a huge problem. The right back molar has since died and is mostly just one large filling. It will need a crown one day. The left back molar is now on the same path. It has decay all on the back of it. Due to all that wisdom tooth pushing, it weakened the tooth's enamel, and now being 'open' to the elements it was a prime candidate for decay.
So lucky me. I get to find out if this dentist is any good at numbing. I hope like the dickens he is.