Smile

I love my dentist. I really do. How many people can say that? I've been to three dentists in my life. My childhood dentist must have been good because I really don't remember much about my appointments. Must have been routine and unremarkable. The second dentist I went to lectured me and scolded me and made me feel really bad about myself--nobody needs that, especially someone who is already self-conscious about their smile.

A couple of months ago, I woke up in the middle of the night with a toothache. It lasted for five days, getting worse and worse until I was absolutely miserable. I walked in to Comfort Dental in the Citadel Crossing and got an appointment. When I went in for the appointment and sat down in the chair, I almost cried because I was so relieved. No one had turned me away because I didn't have insurance. Nobody said anything about the state my teeth were in.

It turns out that Comfort Dental has its own very affordable insurance plan. And now that I'm getting a regular paycheck, I can afford it. So I signed up for the insurance and made my next appointment. I've probably been there five times in the last couple of months.

Yesterday was rough. After two and a half hours in the chair, I had two teeth pulled and a bunch of cavities filled. I was thrilled to look in the mirror later and see the little hole starting to form where my two front bottom teeth meet was gone. Somewhere in all of that, my mouth got cut underneath my tongue, so there is a single stitch in there. That was kind of cool. The whole left half of my jaw was numb, so I couldn't feel anything, but I could watch Dr. Travis tie off the stitch. That's the thing that's probably most uncomfortable--everything else stops hurting when the pain medication kicks in.

So what did I do when all that was over? I paid for it, and then I made my next appointment. Because I am so excited to be on my way to having back my old smile. I would be thrilled to smile for a picture now, since the black tooth I couldn't hide is gone. Except I can't open my mouth that wide yet. Ouch.