The Dentist

When I looked at our calendar for the next couple of weeks, there wasn’t anything interesting to write to you about, except a couple of fitness classes, grocery shopping, cleaning silverware, and downhill from there. Then I saw it – an appointment with the dentist! Surely you would want to read about that; right?

Why doesn’t anybody like going to the dentist? Could it be that it is painful and expensive? I remember that, even as a little kid, I dreaded visiting the elderly and gruff Dr. Sim. His office was right next door to our house and I was able to watch him “practising” on his patients. The window was usually closed so I couldln’t hear them screaming in pain – but I imagined it. There was never any excuse for not going, either. Not even a hailstorm or bad brakes on the car prevented my mother from walking next door with me to see Dr. Sim.

Nowadays kids havve it easier. There are special children’s dentists who have toys in the waiting room and funny cartoon shows blaring from the ceiling above the dentist chair. And I have heard, but maybe it is a rumour, that candy is given out with the free tooth brush at the end of the visit.

As we get older, our teeth get worse. I understand that it might be caused by less saliva in the mouth to wash away bacteria, or less bone density to hold the teeth in place. I remember that my mom had a “partial plate” a spidery-looking thing that was always disappearing. As my dad got older he ended up with full dentures, top and bottom. His days of eating corn on the cob, his favourite food, were over.

In the 21st century we have more options, and the dentists are only too happy to describe them. After a filling breaks down, we can have the tooth built back up and a crown to cover it, for only several hundred dollars. Or we can have a bridge to hook a weak tooth to the one beside it. Or how about a root canal which takes only about 4 visits? The creme de la creme of options is an implant with tiny gold posts drilled into bone. The cost for this? Well maybe you’d rather have a new car.

i visit my dentist’s office 3 times a year for cleaning by the hygienst, Bella. She is very pleasant, and begins our one-sided conversation:

Bella: So Sue did you go away anywhere this summer?

Me; hoo wah la na gah goh

Net week is my annual visit with the actual dentist. First she takes x-rays. She stuffs as much equipment into my mouth as she can, and then runs out of the room to take a picture while I gag. Then she pokes aroudn with a sharp pick. And finally she pulls my tongue way out, twists it around, and looks underneath. What on earth is she expecting to find under there?

The dentist huddles with the hygienist, staring at the x-rays and whispering. Finslly she announces, “OK. You’re good to go until next year.”

I head to Tim Horton’s for a maple-glazed, cream-filled, doughnut.

Sue