Yay, I Still Have Teeth

It's been a long time since I shuddered at the thought of going to the dentist. There was a time when the idea of having someone poking around in my mouth with unfriendly looking metal tools almost made me want to cry, but over time my interest in having good dental hygiene has won out, and I simply look forward to having clean teeth.

This doesn't, however, mean that I like dentists. My main issue with them is how they are so intent on making their little disapproving sighs while looking through my mouth, trying to make me feel like I'm inept at brushing my teeth, even though I've been doing it for over 20 years. This is despite the fact that I brush and floss twice every day, and rinse with Listerine (although that part is made easier thanks to the alcohol content).

About three weeks ago I went for my regular 6 month checkup and cleaning, and the dentist told me that my gums didn't look healthy. And you've gotta LOVE that their test for this is to jab your gums with a pointy metal stick and say "Look! It's bleeding!" Uh yeah, asshole, let me introduce you to this thing called FLESH. So if I were to jab that little pointy metal stick into, oh I don't know, your ARM, it would bleed too. That's what it does. Chill out.

Of course it didn't help that I also had my first cavity that needed to be filled. So I went back for that this week, which was painless and didn't even require my mouth to be numbed, and apparently my gums are now "perfectly healthy", even though just three weeks ago they were supposedly ready to dissolve and let my teeth fend for themselves. I'm pretty sure they aren't impervious to sharp steel, but I'm not going to ask questions. I'm just going to make a mental note to find a new dentist within the next 6 months.