Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Do You Floss? I Do.

I had my semi-annual dental teeth cleaning this morning. I have a bit of a dental phobia, and only my attachment to my dentist's wife keeps me at his practice. I think the dentist himself is fine, but he doesn't offer nitrous, and I think I might enjoy dental work a little bit more if I were high. One time he prescribed some Xanax for me, but it didn't seem to help and my dad scared me away from trying it again.

My mom ended her spring break visit a little earlier than I'd hoped, so I had no childcare this morning. This offered two additional stresses to the first post-pregnancy (read: cavities expected) teeth cleaning. I had a 10:00 appointment 15+ minutes from home and Ellie's bus drops her off at the house around 11:15. And I had to take the baby with me.

Baby Ada is sweet and wonderful and flexible and willing to go all kinds of places on an erratic schedule. But not today. She screamed her head off all the way to the dentist's office despite being freshly diapered and fed. She continued crying once we were there.

So after my x-rays, I picked her up from the dentist's wife, who was trying to soothe her while taking phone calls - she manages the front office - and nursed her throughout my entire cleaning. That was crazy, of course. Can you imagine nursing while lying flat on your back with a plastic bib over your chest and sharp instruments passing back and forth over the baby?

Next let me say that at this appointment I learned that my overnight clenching problem hasn't subsided. Despite my expensive bite guard, some of my prophylactic sealant has worn off and two fillings need to be replaced. Drilling! Yay! Just Kidding! I'm really horrified! Somebody please get me some drugs!

That said, despite everything, it was one of the most pleasant dental visits I've ever had. It turns out that all that Oxytocin flooding my brain while I was nursing made me feel pretty relaxed about the whole visit.

I don't think I'll bring Ada along for next week's cavity fills, though.

4 comments:

Krupskaya said...

I did that too, right after Maia was born! I went to the dentist and for whatever reason she wanted to eat RIGHT THEN, so I nursed her as they cleaned my teeth. They were so awesome.

I didn't get any cavities, though. Condolences!

Sarahlynn said...

I had actually forgotten that I need to call the dentist to schedule this drilling session. Oh, the mind is a wonderful, powerful organ.

Beachcomber said...

I'm impressed with the nursing while having your teeth cleaned. My dental phobia is such that I'd grasp at anything that might make me calmer during the process. Too bad Carys is such a big and wriggly toddler now. I doubt she'd cooperate with my plan.

Unknown said...

I know exactly how you felt that day. I used to have a dental phobia myself! That was when I wasn't living in New Hampshire. I had a bad dentist experience when I was a teen, and it kept me from seeing one again. When I moved here in Nashua after a few years, I strived to muster courage to see a dentist, hearing that Nashua dental experts are really good. Well, it turned out that they were right! My first oral exam and teeth cleaning went very well, and from then on, my phobia gradually subsided. Now, I can proudly say that I'm no longer afraid of dentists. Nashua, NH helped me overcome my fear.