A trip to the friendly neighborhood dentist…..

Everyone has at least one completely irrational fear, Right? The one you know is completely foolish, but you can’t seem to get over it. No matter how many times you tell yourself that there is no monster in the closet. My irrational fear is the dentist. I know they aren’t evil horrid people who want to hurt you, but that doesn’t stop the churning of my stomach when I set up an appointment. The thought of the long needles that they put in your mouth to numb it can make me gag! I really can’t handle it. Before my mission I had a dentist that gave me valium to take before every appointment, I think that was because once I bit him (I swear it wasn’t intentional). Since then I have decided that I am a “big girl” and I should be able to conquer this fear so I have white-knuckled it through my appointments. Ugh! I did bite a dr. last year, but he wasn’t very nice to me so I don’t feel so bad. :P

I have known for quite some time that I need some major work done. To force me to get the work done I put the needed funds in an FSA (Flex Spending Account). Since the IRS regulates this account, they get to take what ever is not used at the end of the year. I wouldn’t want them to get any more then I have to give, so I knew I would use it. To top it off my teeth have been hurting. Not liking the current dentist I had, I searched for recommendations and was recommended Dr. Planicka by my boss.

Which brings us to yesterday’s appointment. It was scheduled to be a cleaning and evaluation. My boss drove me to the office, I guess I didn’t look to good because she proceeded to come in and sit with me while I filled out my paperwork. Mrs. Planicka (who runs the office) was very nice; she tried to calm my nerves by explaining how nice everyone was and how gentle they would try to be. Lol!

What started as a cleaning turned into an emergency filling to try and save the hurting tooth. After looking at me strangely they kindly let me listen to my iPod during the procedure. Dr Planicka kept patting me on the shoulders telling me to relax and the assistant (hygienist?) kept patting my hands and trying to pry my fingers open to relax them. Lol! It didn’t really work, but I did try to relax. I kept my eyes closed and my music up as loud as possible. 2 hours after I entered the office I was done. Now that I am not in the dentists chair I think wasn’t so bad. It took a couple hours for my nerves to settle, but by the time I was eating my dinner of mush (soft mashed potatoes, cooked carrots and peas, and gravy so I didn’t have to chew on my now sore tooth) I was back to my good ol’ self. Which is great, as I will be seeing a lot of the dentist for the next little while. Starting with my rescheduled cleaning next week, where we will talk over the “plan of action” that they are creating for me.

Deep Breath...even if there are monsters in the closet they don't want to eat me, they just want to fix my teeth!