Open Wide!

Okay, I'm embarrassed to admit it , but here it is for all of blogdom to read. It had been 18 years since I had been to the dentist. GASP!

My parents would just die if they knew that all the money they had spent to extract and straighten these pearlies has been so mismanaged. As I reflect on how this could have happened, I have determined that it is entirely my childhood dentist's fault. Bob Barrington, DDS is at fault for me being unable to see another dentist. I saw the same wonderful, gentle dentist for all of my childhood. He had a sweet hygienist who would brush our teeth with those cool, swirly brushing machines. She would always let us choose which flavor of fluoride we would soak in...I always chose bubblegum and when it came time to "spit it all out", as she would instruct, I would always just split for a bit so that I could secretly relish the wonderful bubblegum flavor (of course they never told you why you should spit it all out). At the end of the cleaning he had this cool treasure chest with real treasures! Ok, they seemed like real treasure to a eight year old. There were a few times that I required a few fillings...no biggie, Dr. Bob would have me sit in that cool chair...the one facing that huge picture window, and as I looked out at the birds in the pine trees outside his office, he would slip on that funny dentist mask and shine that bright light in my face, all the while gently talking to me about whatever interested me at that season in my life. NEVER, EVER did I feel any amount of discomfort or pain. It wasn't until I was eighteen that I realized that there were even needles involved in dentistry. When I found this out I told my friends that MY dentist "wiggled my teeth to sleep"...because that's what DR. Bob always told me he was doing. Since then I have seen grown men and women cry over having just come from, or having to go to the dentist. I have had to hold my children's hands while they cry in pain in the dentist chair. I have had to administer drugs (Dr. prescribed of course) to my husband before a visit to the dentist and prayed that I could move him from the house to the car on my own because he was so "out of it". Dr. Bob where are you? What happened to the wonderful world of bubblegum fluoride, swirly brushes and treasure chests.

Well, I finally saw a dentist this past week. The report wasn't as bad as I had feared. I don't have thousands of dollars of work...but I do have some work that needs done. I am scheduled to go back in April. This initial visit was pleasant ( but no bubblegum fluoride, treasure chest or picture window), jury is still out on this one. There will have to be a sequel to this blog post. More to come on my dentistry dilemma...Life After DR. Bob.