Hey there, everyone! I hope you’re having a great weekend so far!
I wanted to write about my experience at the dentist this morning. BLEH. My family has had their share of dental issues over the years, and I’m no exception. When I was 12, I had to have a something called a palatal expander glued to the roof of my mouth. This was essentially a retainer with a metal bridge in the middle that had a tiny key hole in it. Every night, my mother had to stick a tiny key into that hole and push it towards the back of my mouth. As soon as she did it I would grab my head because of the pain. It was basically breaking the bones in the roof of my mouth because my mouth was too small and I needed braces. It was highly unpleasant and created an embarrassing gap in between my two front teeth. After that was removed, I had my braces put on at 13 and joined the sea of metal-mouthed teens at my middle school.
My braces were removed when I was 15 and way too defiant to wear my removable retainer. I mean, why would it have been removable in the first place if it wasn’t supposed to be removed? Lol. Needless to say, my teeth shifted over the years and, once I was able to work, I paid to have Invisalign. Yes, the person who refused to wear their removable retainer was now paying for removable trays to re-straighten their teeth. When that failed, I paid to have actual braces put on. My teeth hadn’t shifted much, but I was old enough to know how important it is to have a nice smile and I wanted mine as close to perfect as I could get it. So I opted for a permanent retainer when that was over. I guess I’d finally learned my lesson.
This leads me to what happened this morning. I haven’t had a cavity for many years. I don’t even remember when the last time was that I had one filled. I can’t go a day without brushing my teeth and I absolutely love the feeling of clean, smooth teeth. So when I brush, I brush. I made my way to the dentist first thing this morning and was greeted with a string of questions: “Have you ever had braces?” “Are you allergic to any medications or anesthesia?” This was all before the dental hygienist even looked into my mouth. After stabbing me repeatedly in the gums with a sharp instrument, she informs me that there is some bleeding and that she’s going to suggest that I have a deep scaling done. I don’t know about you, but the words “deep scaling” should not be spoken at a dental office. It’s terrifying.
I am about to be 34, I have never smoked a day in my life, I barely drink, I don’t drink sodas and I rarely eat candy. I never bleed when I brush or floss, so someone please explain why my dental hygienist believes that bleeding after being stabbed in the gums is a rare occurrence. I believe she had every intention of coming to the “deep scaling” conclusion even before I sat in that plastic wrapped chair this morning. I would love to see one of them be poked in the gums with a sharp tool to see if they bleed. So, now they’re going to call my shitty insurance company to see if the deep scaling will be covered by my insurance, which I’m sure it won’t be. To be perfectly honest, I really don’t care if it is because I’d rather hear this coming from my actual dentist before making a decision.
Does anyone else have this problem?? Maybe I just have to switch dentists or something. Let me know if you’ve dealt with a similar issue! I’m curious.
Have a great rest of your weekend everyone! & make sure to check out my recent posts because I have some great giveaways going on right now!
According to Kristin 