Until I got married I saw the same dentist, Dr Taylor. I loved going to the dentist. He would check my bite each time I went in and would call everyone into the office to check out my perfect bite. He referred to me as The Goddess. I never needed braces are any other kind of metal assistance in my mouth. I just simply got my teeth cleaned and went on my way every six months. People thought I was weird for boldly declaring my love for the dentist...but nothing bad ever happened to me in that office. Now as I lay here in bed with an ice pack strapped to my face I can join the masses of people who hate the dentist. Just as Dr. Taylor has since retired so has my Goddess status and adoration for the dentist chair.
Pregnancy does all kinds of weird things to your body. For me, pregnancy shrunk my hands and feet, switched up some hormones, and has made jumping on a trampoline impossible. However, the worst thing pregnancy did to my body was to my teeth. I knew it was bad. I could tell I had issues with my teeth so I just avoided the dentist and learned what teeth I could and could not use! Calvin told Hobbes..."I'm not in denial! I'm just very selective about the reality I see!". Well I caved and went to the dentist last summer. It was bad. I had nine cavities. NINE! Like cat lives and I had used all mine up. They were all over and some were in trickier places than others. Dr. Smith (a very nice jovial dentist but nonetheless a dentist who did not call my Goddess) recommended I quickly get them taken care of....so today, five months later, they are all filled in.
I had planned on getting them taken care of quickly but I stupidly decided to let Dr. Smith do the ones on the right side all at once. Not the top right...not the bottom right...just the right side. So that meant he filled in four cavities in one long three hour sitting. So much pain. I hurt for weeks after. He didn't just fill in cavities with cement but with demons to torment me. My ear ached my jaw ached my head ached. pretty sure I could hear dead people. I lost my nerve after that experience...after all I could chew all my food quite happily on the right side. This system worked great until the left side of my mouth jolted upright if a cold gust of wind blew into my unsuspecting open mouth. So I went back and did just the bottom left. Too bad the bottom half of my mouth would not go numb so he gave it all he had...meaning several long needles worth of foul tasting goo injected into my gums. So those two cavities on the bottom left had me in just as much agony as when Dr. Torture did the whole right side of my mouth. As I mentioned earlier...today I got the last three filled. Joe went out and got me an Slurpee right after G fell asleep, which I am now tentatively drinking and trying to keep myself from rinsing and spitting after every sip. The one good thing that has come from this dental nightmare is that I have cut waaayyyyy back on my soda consumption. Oh and Gemma. I would get them all filled in again for Gemma. When I got home I told her my mouth hurt very bad so we were going to snuggle and watch a show. She ran to the hall closet, stuck a unicorn band aid over my mouth, kissed me, and declared me all better. It helped too.
The moral of the story is:
1. Even if pregnancy is making you sick all day and the sight of a toothbrush makes you gag, brush anyway.
2. Don't sip your soda, just chug it and then rinse your mouth out
3. eat gummy candy and suckers if you want to but rinse your mouth out after
4. learn how to discreetly rinse and spit in public
5. go to the dentist every six months
6. Only go to a Dentist that refers to you as Goddess
7. Find a dental office with TVs on the ceiling
8. throw away your toothbrush after you are sick
9. neglect is expensive
I had planned on getting them taken care of quickly but I stupidly decided to let Dr. Smith do the ones on the right side all at once. Not the top right...not the bottom right...just the right side. So that meant he filled in four cavities in one long three hour sitting. So much pain. I hurt for weeks after. He didn't just fill in cavities with cement but with demons to torment me. My ear ached my jaw ached my head ached. pretty sure I could hear dead people. I lost my nerve after that experience...after all I could chew all my food quite happily on the right side. This system worked great until the left side of my mouth jolted upright if a cold gust of wind blew into my unsuspecting open mouth. So I went back and did just the bottom left. Too bad the bottom half of my mouth would not go numb so he gave it all he had...meaning several long needles worth of foul tasting goo injected into my gums. So those two cavities on the bottom left had me in just as much agony as when Dr. Torture did the whole right side of my mouth. As I mentioned earlier...today I got the last three filled. Joe went out and got me an Slurpee right after G fell asleep, which I am now tentatively drinking and trying to keep myself from rinsing and spitting after every sip. The one good thing that has come from this dental nightmare is that I have cut waaayyyyy back on my soda consumption. Oh and Gemma. I would get them all filled in again for Gemma. When I got home I told her my mouth hurt very bad so we were going to snuggle and watch a show. She ran to the hall closet, stuck a unicorn band aid over my mouth, kissed me, and declared me all better. It helped too.
The moral of the story is:
1. Even if pregnancy is making you sick all day and the sight of a toothbrush makes you gag, brush anyway.
2. Don't sip your soda, just chug it and then rinse your mouth out
3. eat gummy candy and suckers if you want to but rinse your mouth out after
4. learn how to discreetly rinse and spit in public
5. go to the dentist every six months
6. Only go to a Dentist that refers to you as Goddess
7. Find a dental office with TVs on the ceiling
8. throw away your toothbrush after you are sick
9. neglect is expensive
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