Dentist, ahoy!

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There are several things that I haven’t done or experienced in my life. One of them that might not sound out of the world is a visit to a dentist. 


So when I absolutely had to go to the dentist this week, I reluctantly went. Like any other smartphone user, I looked up reviews before I took a last minute appointment. As is the norm with last minute appointments, I was given the oddest time – 10 AM on a Friday. I was like “Hello? I got work to do, remember?"
Of course my plea went unheard and I was done postponing this visit, so anyway, I declared WFH (Work from Home) and stomped to the Dental Office. Of course, totally unaware of how 105F felt outside, I went out without any sort of sun protection. It was “melt my skin” hot! This freaking heat wave is killing me :-/


Plus, the PATH train had to fail on me. Right from the moment go, things went wrong. Trains came late and then a train poofed to a stop. Just like that. Right in front of me. It gave out a screeching hiss and went calm. "Oh that's not good", a lady in her suit exclaimed beside me. I saw a couple of similar looking similar dressed bankers or whoever typing rapidly on their phones, trying to make phone calls to call in late to work. Of course, you all know what a cool cat I am eh? I just whipped out the latest book from my library and went digging right in. Half hour later, the train was still hissing on and off. Hmm. I was going to get late to this appointment I thought. It felt ominous and I suddenly felt hungry. Hmm.  But anyway, they sort of moved the train to clear the tracks and the next train came in, so it wasn't, let me just say, all that bad.

Blame it on my Iphone, it was showing me wrong directions. Why would it show wrong directions, you ask? Simple, because I entered 126 instead of 162. Yes, wrong address. LOL. When I almost gave up searching for this office I found it on the corner of the street with a tiny placard with office hours written on it in Arial font. (Now did I tell you how much Arial font irks me?) “This is it?”, I thought to myself. It looked like a tiny home from outside, so obviously I judged it. I took respite in the yelp reviews. 4.5 stars. They must do something right, I concluded.
They buzzed me in through the main entrance (didn't I tell you it was a home?!) and when I went up my conclusions were true. It was like some sort of 3 bedroom apartment converted into a dental office. Hmm. Not that I am sucker for fancy things, still! Anyway, I filled out the forms and such. You know with all those lengthy Q&A on your medical history and about my non-existent pregnant life and what not. I got so impatient filling it out at a point, when I started scrolling "NONE" in bold all over the paper. Serious. :D

Anyway, a petite nice looking lady doc ushered me in.

Doc: Hi, I am M
Me (beaming, almost wanted to say I am M too!): Hi
Doc: Nice to see you, could you lie down for me please
Me: Yes
Doc: So what brings you here M?
Me: Just passed by, thought I would give you a visit

Thankfully she had a sense of humor


Doc: And let me guess, you saw the reflection of your smile on the shop window and didn't like it?
Me: Haha. (Turning serious). My wisdom tooth's hurting and my gums are bleeding
Doc: Hmm. Lets take a look then. I will take your X-Ray first.
Me: (Nodding)
Me: (Jumping up) Just so you know I never visited a dentist ever

I think she narrowed your eyebrows to camouflage her shock at my statement

Doc: May I ask why? Are you scared of us?
Me: No, not really. I don't think I was ever worried about oral hygiene until I saw my gums bleed this week
Doc: Hmm, not good. You should visit a dentist atleast twice a year.
Me: Sure

X-rays and all that jazz done, she flashed them on her computer, digital shots.

Nastyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

That was my instant reaction

Me: They look, um, nasty!
Doc: Well, I dont think you even brush twice or floss. Am I right
Me: (Nods in approval)
Doc: That's not good. It can get serious.

Me dont eat desserts. Me dont eat chocolates. Me drinks lots of caffeine though. But I didnt tell her this.


Doc: So for the wisdom teeth, I am sorry, but you need to go to an oral surgeon to get them extracted
Me: But they pain!
Doc: I know, I dont do tooth extraction

I hide my anger. I thought that was in your job description.


Doc: I can go a cleaning to help your gums, but they need to be restored. You will need atleast two deep cleaning session...blah blah..

At this point I was looking at this cheesy wall hanging in her office that read "Smile, it costs nothing"
Yeah, right. Tell that to a dentist. 
I resisted telling her - "Let me tell you, I am doing only things that are covered under Insurance ok?"

Doc: ..so what do you want to do?
Me: Cleaning for now
Doc: Ok, lets do it

Sigh


She thrust some hissing tube into my mouth, it's supposed to suck the saliva out of the mouth once it is open for too long. I interrupted her every second she groped for her tools to ask her what they do. At one point she went all "Sssssshhhh" on me. That was her way of telling STFU. So polite she was.


Doc: Are you ok?
Me: Oh ya, absolutely, I went into a dream like state. I am kind of enjoying this
Doc: Really? It is not paining?
Me: A bit, when you scratch it like you are weeding at a garden

She burst into a loud laugh. I joined her. Then she resumed and I sort of stared at her eyes. Ooooh, romantic. Where else can you stare? LOL. For some time I stared at the light on the top, but it was too much for my eyes. She had liquid brown eyes. She was quite attractive I think. Don't get me wrong, btw. LOL. Dudes must really want her to check on their teeth, I thought.


Rest of it was pretty normal, each time I would be asked to take a break and rinse to spit out all the *stuff* she scratched up from the gums.

Doc: It is not that bad, but ummm, you got a lot of bacteria up on your gums and it has gone a bit deeper, so you really need a deep cleaning. Please take it seriously ok?

Me: OK

Doc: You really have healthy and strong teeth, specially the canines. But they are useless without strong gums. So you gotta take care.

Once she was done, she shoved me a kit - that had a toothbrush, toothpaste and floss and reminded me again. Wow, woman. I got it, ok? Sigh, dont get me all depressed now about my teeth.


So I got my X-rays now and everytime I look at them, I run like I am on fire to the restroom and brush. I have got really paranoid about my teeth now :(