Saturday, March 6, 2010

Cookies and Dentists


What an interesting combination -- cookies and dentists.

First off, March 6th is the anniversary of the first time the Oreo cookies went on sale in 1912. I had no idea that they'd been around that long. I used to enjoy Oreo cookies occasionally, but I haven't had one in years. My hubby is not an Oreo fan so we never buy them. I think I had one in a sundae sometime in 2009 and I used Oreo baking crumbs to make a dessert a couple of Christmas's ago, but otherwise I haven't had the privilege of enjoying one in a long time. Hmmm -- maybe I should just pick some up for a treat for the children.






Today is also Dentist Day. I'm not sure if that means you should have gone out and hugged a dentist or sent one a thank you note, or if it is a day when you should have gone to the dentist. Hmmm ... Since it is Saturday I'm not sure how many dentists are open, and I doubt any are at this hour. I know mine isn't.



I have a really nice dentist now. My husband went to him for a long time and then I started going to his dentist after we were married. Our dentist is always very friendly and very gentle. Whenever I've needed to have work done I've never experienced any discomfort. He even had to fix a broken tooth when I was pregnant and even though I didn't have any freezing for it, I didn't feel a thing. I'd highly recommend him.

I unfortunately couldn't say the same thing about the dentists I had previously. The dentist I had for most of my childhood was really annoying. He falsely believed that I wanted to hear all about his stuck up snobby annoying children while trapped in the chair. And he'd ask me stupid questions when he knew I couldn't possibly answer them because he was working on a tooth so I couldn't talk. He was really nosey too -- always asking very personal questions about myself and my family which I felt very uncomfortable answering. His receptionist was always PMS'ing and miserable about it. She never smiled and she never sounded happy to see anyone. I couldn't figure out what possessed him to hire her to be the first person his patients saw when they entered the building. But I needed a dentist and that was the one my parents insisted I go to, so I went. I'd probably still be going there (my mom still goes there and feels the need to torture me with all the things his children are doing) if it hadn't been for my last experience with him.

I had to have a small repair done to a chipped tooth. He was always what I considered "freezing happy" and seemed to put in way more than he should. Well the last time I was there he put the freezing in several spots despite the fact that it wasn't a deep cavity, just a small chip. Then he poked my gums with something sharp and I winced because it wasn't frozen where he poked me. So he put in several more shots of freezing. My entire head ended up frozen --- my mouth was numb, I couldn't breath through my nose, and my eyes were droopy --- I couldn't even feel my ears!! I tried to tell him I couldn't breath through my nose, but he was too busy talking about his bratty kids and my mouth wouldn't work because it was completely frozen. I had to breath through my mouth and his assistant kept telling me to stop doing that. So I tried to hold my breath, which mean that I'd suddenly gasp for breath every so often then she'd tell me again not to breath through my mouth. Thank goodness it was only a quick repair. When he was done he finally noticed that my mouth was just hanging loosely open while I gasped for breath through it. I had to write him a note saying that my whole head was frozen and I couldn't breath out of my nose. What does he say to me?

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

I could have kicked him -- and still wish that I had. I ended up with a wicked headache and my face was still partially frozen the next day.



So I found myself a new dentist, using the excuse that I wanted one more local to where I lived at that point. I found a dental office that had several dentists in the same place. They were advertising themselves as using some technique that eliminated the need for freezing. I thought this was great after my last experience and signed up. At my intake consultation I told them that I had had a negative experience with freezing and really wanted to try their alternative method the next time I needed any work done. They told me that wouldn't be a problem. I was assigned to one of the dentists and went for my first appointment. My new dentist spoke very poor English, so I had to keep having his assistant translate. A minor annoyance really. Then came the day that I needed to have some work done. Did I get this alternative to freezing? Nope. Turns out I was assigned to the one dentist in the place that didn't think the alternative was a better idea so he insisted on freezing. Thankfully he was very gentle and didn't go overboard with the freezing. I went to him for almost three years. Then I had a tooth break and it was quite painful. I called them for an appointment telling them how much it hurt. I was told that they couldn't fit me in for several days so if it was really bad I should see if another dentist could take me. That's what I did. I found an emergency dentist who fixed my tooth. Easy peasy. That was until I went back to see my regular dentist. He yelled at me for going to someone else behind his back and felt that I should have put up with the pain until I could have gotten in to see him. That was the last time I saw him.

So now I go to see Dr. Parks and he is fabulous!!! I think he is the best dentist in the whole wide world. Happy Dentist Day Dr. Parks!!!!




(On a slightly different note, I went to see an orthodontist when I was in secondary school because I had to have braces. He was a really nice guy. But strangely enough he always had Culture Club's "Do you really want to hurt me?" playing on his stereo whenever I went to his office. It was on repeat play and he always hummed along with it. Nice guy, but that was quite strange).


Enjoy your Oreo --- but don't forget to brush!!! :)

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