Janus knows the drill.
I bit the bullet yesterday.
I went to the dentist.
As I blog lately I realize my pet peeves and phobias have either become worse I am owning up to them. I loathe going to the dentist. I wouldn't say I am afraid of the dentist though, I just don't normally look forward to make an appointment for paying for someone to poke me with sharp tools and make me hurt. I find everyday that I am not alone in dreading dentists, which puts them up there with IRS employees and drill sarges as people to not look forward to visiting.
When I was a kid going to the dentist wasn't too bad. It was just one dentist and one assistant and the dentist's wife doing reception. It was all done in one visit usually and he gave me a toothbrush. Mom got the bill.
When I started paying for my own dentist, he went modern. That is...impersonal and more expensive. He bought a big office with a fountain in it and four exam rooms, and hired two or three hygienists and only saw you if he had to do a procedure or to make a cameo 10 minute appearance to tell you how your X-rays looked. Then he charged about double what he used to for the office visit, and if you had a filling or anything more than a cleaning you had to make an appointment to come back..pay for the office visit and get anything done. That's progress.
The hygienists gave me mixed feelings, I saw two of the three. One was pretty gentle but scowled at you the whole time and made you feel like you were a waste of time. The other was very attractive, didn't say a word the entire time other than "Open" (as in your mouth), and inflicted as much pain as a Nazi Dentist interrogating someone in one of them old movies. I start screaming "Normandy Beach! They are coming on Normandy Beach!" as soon as she started getting warmed up. It usually took about a week for my mouth to stop hurting.
Yesterday I went to my wife's dentist for the first time. I haven't gone to a dentist for about six years (yeah yeah yeah...like you guys are perfect..) for all the reasons mentioned above. Besides now I am insured, that makes a difference.
It went wonderful. I actually saw a dentist for the entire session, he took the time to talk with me before starting to make sure I was comfortable. Very gentle but quick with the procedure. Explained everything he was doing, but did not ask me questions when I had a device in my mouth and wait for an answer. (I hate it when dentists do that.) I left with a toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, and a tongue cleaner.
So a dentist is never my favorite person to visit, but I did enjoy things despite that all. Kudos to my lovely wife for getting me to go to a dentist and finding me a good one. She told me this office had good dentists and she would know. She used to work there at one time.
I went to the dentist.
As I blog lately I realize my pet peeves and phobias have either become worse I am owning up to them. I loathe going to the dentist. I wouldn't say I am afraid of the dentist though, I just don't normally look forward to make an appointment for paying for someone to poke me with sharp tools and make me hurt. I find everyday that I am not alone in dreading dentists, which puts them up there with IRS employees and drill sarges as people to not look forward to visiting.
When I was a kid going to the dentist wasn't too bad. It was just one dentist and one assistant and the dentist's wife doing reception. It was all done in one visit usually and he gave me a toothbrush. Mom got the bill.
When I started paying for my own dentist, he went modern. That is...impersonal and more expensive. He bought a big office with a fountain in it and four exam rooms, and hired two or three hygienists and only saw you if he had to do a procedure or to make a cameo 10 minute appearance to tell you how your X-rays looked. Then he charged about double what he used to for the office visit, and if you had a filling or anything more than a cleaning you had to make an appointment to come back..pay for the office visit and get anything done. That's progress.
The hygienists gave me mixed feelings, I saw two of the three. One was pretty gentle but scowled at you the whole time and made you feel like you were a waste of time. The other was very attractive, didn't say a word the entire time other than "Open" (as in your mouth), and inflicted as much pain as a Nazi Dentist interrogating someone in one of them old movies. I start screaming "Normandy Beach! They are coming on Normandy Beach!" as soon as she started getting warmed up. It usually took about a week for my mouth to stop hurting.
Yesterday I went to my wife's dentist for the first time. I haven't gone to a dentist for about six years (yeah yeah yeah...like you guys are perfect..) for all the reasons mentioned above. Besides now I am insured, that makes a difference.
It went wonderful. I actually saw a dentist for the entire session, he took the time to talk with me before starting to make sure I was comfortable. Very gentle but quick with the procedure. Explained everything he was doing, but did not ask me questions when I had a device in my mouth and wait for an answer. (I hate it when dentists do that.) I left with a toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, and a tongue cleaner.
So a dentist is never my favorite person to visit, but I did enjoy things despite that all. Kudos to my lovely wife for getting me to go to a dentist and finding me a good one. She told me this office had good dentists and she would know. She used to work there at one time.
posted by Janus Torrell at 12:32 PM
8 Comments:
Dentists are terryfing beasts. My old dentist seemed to delight in causuing as much pain as he could. The one I've got now is much gentler, but still scary.
I'm glad you found a good dentist that you are (reasonably) happy with. Glad the visit went okay, now don't leave it another 6 years. lol
Frodo :)
Dentistry has also come a long way since my dad went too, now it can be almost entirely painless. Depends on the dentist too.
Don't worry about the 6 year thing, I am going back on Friday to fill my one cavity. 6 years and I have one cavity, it could be worse eh.
after that I will try to go every 6 months if I can, like they suggest.
Janus - Oh I agree, not my favorite place either because most usually give you the speech. It's been awhile since I've been there too. I can't afford it anyway.
Peace,
- Neo
My dentist stuck his hands down my pants, so is it no wonder to distrust them all?
Neo- the money thing was the main part of the 6 year interval. Though conversational dentists that try to have a chat when they are using a drill doesn't speed it up either.
Harry that would do that for me too! Yikes, did he need some dental work after that?
thanks for visiting ol' friend.
No one ever stops to wonder how the dentist feels about the whole thing.
Dentists have one of the highest suicide rates of any profession. It's depressing when people fear you, when you know you cause pain, when no one invites you over for dinner for fear that you will force all the guests to floss after eating and hand out those little toothpick floss doohickies.
I never looked at it from the dentist point of view. They never really seem that depressed to me. The ones I meet are always happy. They normally want me to hold a conversation with them with sharp objects and fingers in my mouth.
I will have to find a dentist and invite them to a candy convention.
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