What is Up with That?

 

            In my last post I mentioned a nasty mouthwash that the dentist gave me to rinse my mouth three times a day – I guess until it’s gone.  I am supposed to swish for 45 seconds and not eat or drink for 20-30 minutes after I spit.  It isn’t terrible swishing it in my mouth, but once I spit it does leave a horrible after taste – and then my teeth hurt.

          I have learned to take the pain killers before I swish.  I am glad I waited on the “one-day” dosage of pain killers.  Thus far I have taken three.  The mar above my lip and cheek that I posted five days ago has faded but I seem to have a small bruise close to my left chin.  (Well there's an grammatically incorrect sentence that Would hurt an English grade) What is up with that?  All the teeth that were extracted were on top.

          And my sinuses have been going crazy.  The dentist said that would happen but should slow down as the abscessed is now gone.  Or perhaps not completely and that is why I have to continue to swish.

 

         

dental pain

 

I have always had a low pain threshold.  I have also been a drama queen exaggerating the results of my pain thus I didn’t always get the sympathy that I sought.  On Tuesday I had three teeth extracted from my mouth.  I was certain I would have to have surgery with at least one – being lost in the gum line and have to be removed in pieces.  That is how it was for my mom.  But then again that was over 60 years ago.  Technology has made things so much easier since then.

            All three teeth were removed within half an hour.  I thought I would be in the dentist chair for at least two hours – or close to it anyway.  I don’t hurt nearly as much as I had expected.  In fact, it only hurts on one side – mostly in the cheek area on my left side.  In time the pain will go away and I will be back to eating solid foods. But as of right now it’s been mashed potatoes, pudding and Jell-o.  Fortunately I’m not all too hungry. 

Chewing solely with my front teeth has been a weird experience for me. Yesterday I slept half the day away.  I hope I push myself to be more productive today.

Busy Day

           Richard had a 9:00 appointment with his doctor this morning and I had a dentist appointment at 11:00.  With only one car we drove to Roseburg together in the pouring rain.  The rivers and creeks are always feast and famine. The rain has made them really high to overflowing.  I smile when I look at the murky brown color as I think of Jaime comparing it to chocolate milk.

         

          I haven’t been to the dentist for over a year and now have an abscessed tooth which will need to be removed.  I set up three dentist appointments for myself.  One in March and two in April.  Ugggh . . .

Too Busy To Be Called “Vacation”

            It feels like a Saturday.  I suspect most of the days this week will feel like Saturdays.  On the 21^st my post gives a little detail about my dental experience.  The Novocain wore off eventually – long after the dentist was closed.  I don’t know when I first noticed that my teeth were not feeling right.  Well, two in particular.  Was it the tooth he just worked on?  The bite on the right side of my mouth made contact before anything on my left.  It didn’t hurt but was quite annoying.

            I remember the dentist and his assistant having me bite on a paper and saw off some more.  Wait a minute!  I don’t think I am finished.  Something is sticking up that’s not supposed to.

            That was Wednesday.  I allowed myself to “deal with it” for the next four days and called the dentist yesterday to see if I could get in before my next appointment in January. 

            I don’t know what time I called.  Something was going on.  Rather put me on eternal hold, the receptionist took my name and number and said she would get back to me.  I think it was forty minutes before she got back to me!

            I was pulling out of my driveway as I had a 10:00 meeting.  I wasn’t even trying to get in yesterday.  It was actually NOT a good day for me to try and fit into my schedule. There had been a cancellation for this morning.  Perfect! 

            The meeting could have gone better, I suppose.  Seemed like we got off track a bit.  We do get things accomplished, but never anything on the agenda. When the meeting was over I returned home and ate a sandwich before Jenna, Roland and I went to the school for parent/teacher conference.  Not much to be said as Jenna is a great, wonderful, awesome student and everybody loves her.  No questions.  Just introductions more than anything.

            Next: the Big City of Roseburg.  Jenna wanted to see Frozen II.  We purchased tickets and then went to get something to eat.  Back to the cinema and  then to Costco to pick up Thanksgiving supplies. 

            Roland allowed me to stay in the car and play on my kindle.  Have I mentioned that I really really really really (that’s probably not even enough really) don’t like shopping.  I was even willing to miss out on free samples (if there were any?) and played a few games before Roland and Jenna returned to the car.

            It was probably only 5:00 when we returned, but it always feels later when it’s dark.  Our usual routine: Roland unloaded the car, Jenna brought food into the house, I put away.

            Roland was tired and so I took Jenna with me to the dentist.  I spent an hour in the dentist chair last visit.  I think it was only ten minutes this morning.  The tooth was filed down!  No more grinding!  Evenly chew.  Well sort of.  I have jagged teeth.  Mostly where it can’t be seen. 

            Jenna and I did not return home right away.  We hit a bunch of stores – the same that we can find in Myrtle Creek, but in Winston we could have walked to each of them and stayed parked in one space.  But the weather hasn’t been too friendly the last couple of days – not just here but all across the nation – probably the entire globe as well.  Not a lot of traffic.  I appreciated that.

           

            Roland wanted to do a trial run of the food so that he knows how to time it Thursday.  When Jenna and I returned, “lunch” was ready.  We had Waldorf salad (not a part of my Thanksgiving tradition, but Roland said he really wanted to have some) yams, turkey and stuffing.  I was hungry and enjoyed the food.  I think the stuffing will taste better on Thanksgiving after it’s been inside of the turkey (what we had today was from a boneless breast)

            Roland decided to go to the barber and asked me if I’d like to come along for the ride – just to get out of the house.  He obviously had a nap and maybe hadn’t notice how long I’d been gone.  I’ve been out.  I got wet.  I’ll stay home and create a new post.  I’m good.

            Now he is on his way to purchase three big propanes in case the power does go out again – like it did in February.  It sounds as though blow out before I get this posted.  He is the one that freezes when we don’t have any power.  I am still opening the window (if only a crack) when it’s only 30 degrees outside.  I don’t like the electric heat that is the only source of heat we have to warm our house.

            The hilltops are capped in snow now.  The wind is howling.  I hope it doesn’t blow the shingles off our roof (or whatever else is up there). The elements sound very unforgiving right now.  It’s rare to hear the wind howling as we’ve not heard much of it the entire time we’ve been in Oregon.  We did in Salt Lake.  Don’t miss that at all.

Dental Tools and Novocain

          I went to the dentist yesterday so that he could fill/replace my tooth.  I was loaded up on Novocain – I think it affected my mental state.  I remember going to another dentist many years ago.  He was my very first dentist when I lived in Midvale.  He would ask patients if they wanted gas to help them relax or the walkman and maybe something else.  I wanted it all.

How the right side of my mouth felt each time I tried to eat

          I don’t know why when my mouth is getting worked on, I somehow feel so relaxed in the dentist chair.  I’m really not.  I could sense my body tension as I sat in the dentist chair yesterday, but in my mind, I thought I was relaxed.  Somehow my mind detaches from my physical body when I am in the dentist chair.

          They had given me sunglasses to block out the glare.  I had also closed my eyes and went back in a time when I had gone to the dentist in Midvale and also when I was loaded up on epidural the time I gave birth to Jenna.  They kept telling me on telling me to push.  In my mind I was pushing.  Apparently I wasn’t making any physical effort.

          My mouth was open wide.  It felt like I had nine different instruments in my mouth in addition to gloved human fingers. They had invited another person to assist.  Are you kidding me?  How many hands can I fit into my mouth?  The one called to assist was operating another machine and was never directly in my mouth.  Even if I had had my eyes open and there’d been a mirror, I don’t think I would have been able to see as the doctor hands would have been in the way.

This is sort of how it felt - but no tie around my head.  It felt like gauze on the inside of my mouth

          One instrument felt cold against my mouth – as though it had just been removed from the freezer.  One assistant held my tongue – my overly long tongue which has pushed my teeth out and most likely undone three years worth of braces torture and expense.  What a waste.  What a shame.

https://www.nowlaugh.com/6-reasons-dentists-are-evil

          My face itched.  I tried scratching but my face was so numb I wasn’t even feeling it.  I drove myself home and tried to enjoy the turkey dinner that Roland had prepared.  Just when I thought my taste buds were coming back from the D3 problem I mentioned here, the Novocain has set me back again. I could not taste what I was eating and therefore didn’t finish.

          I will be staying away from crunchy stuff for a while so as not to upset my tooth.  The Novocain has since worn off my face – though I suspect I may still have some in my mouth as things still don’t feel back to normal for me.  Roland starts his vacation today.  The work assignment I had set up for today fell through.  Just as well.

Aliens in my Mouth

                I don’t know how many months I have lived with this incredible pain on the bottom right side of my mouth.  I wasn’t even sure which tooth was causing the pain.  The last time I was at the dentist earlier this year, I pointed into my mouth at where I thought it was – somewhere between my wisdom tooth and front teeth.  But when the dentist touched each tooth and moved toward the front, the pain became more severe.  I made an appointment to have my teeth looked at by a dentist I had never been to before (one who is in our insurance network whereas the other is not) not realizing that Monday was a holiday and both Roland and Jenna would be off for Veteran’s Day.

          In Salt Lake, Veteran’s Day seemed like just another excuse to take time off, whereas in Oregon, they really go all out to honor those who served our country.  I always feel a happiness when I see the flags out revealing the patriotic pride that goes with – not just Veteran’s Day, but every day there is a reminder to display the flag.

          The Elk’s club is responsible for lining the streets and bridges with flags.  It looks really cool and respectful.  Veteran’s Day means something.  There are parades and ceremonies and other events that take place throughout the state.  I think that is great.

          So back to my tale of woe.  Whenever I would eat, I would try to keep the food on the left side of my mouth in order to avoid the blown up amount of pain that became more painful with each passing day.  It wasn’t even hard food for the most part – nothing that crunched.  On Sunday I was in so much pain that there were tears falling out of my eyes. 

          My stomach started sending me messages that it needed food and I had a light snack shortly after six.  I kept the food on the left side of my mouth.  Before I swallowed, I could feel something hard.  I knew it was a tooth – or partial tooth anyway, but could not find a place in my mouth where it might have come from.  But the pain was gone!

          On Monday morning I met some friends for breakfast, and for the first time in months was able eat my meal without having pain.  I could chew on both sides of my mouth.  It was great!

          Two hours after I returned home, Roland took me to the dentist in Winston.  I showed the doctor the tooth part that had come out of my mouth and he said it was from the bottom left wisdom tooth.  I really didn’t think the pain was that far back in my mouth.  He said the root is solid.  And unless wisdom teeth are removed before the age of 20, it is a painful procedure to have them removed at my age.  Fine.  I’ve already dealt with pain.  I really rather not pay through the nose to be tortured.

          Thus we set up another appointment to have the gap filled in next week.  Roland will be on vacation and will be able to drive me again (though I do now know how to get back there on my own) and so I will have an dental update to maybe write about next week (isn’t that exciting?)

          When we drove back into town we saw a crew starting to take down the flags.  It was only 3:30, but with all of the flags put out, it probably takes over an hour to set up and take down.  Going back to standard time may have given us a bit more daylight in the morning.  But now it appears to get dark early.  (I consider between 4:30 and 5:00 early).  That sight is sad like taking down the Christmas tree at the end (or very beginning of) the year.

Not Your Average Teen

          Our swim instructor retired from teaching in public education but has agreed to substitute on occasion.  She happened to be subbing for one of Jenna's teachers and had mentioned to me how Jenna is well liked by so many of her peers.  She is admired because she is herself.  She hangs on to the things she likes and disregards things she doesn't like and refuses to play games of "following the leader" unless she's the leader.

          There are several times that I've called Jenna "crazy" or "weird" referring to her personality differences and not necessarily with Jenna herself.  There have been a few concerned about "labeling" - but my family understands what I am saying and in many cases will agree with me.

          Take today for instance: Jenna has an opportunity, along with several other honor students, to go to the cinema in the big city of Roseburg.  They will see "Wonder" which we have read and I think she would like to see, but not today.

          Yesterday a dental team came to the middle school to check the teeth of sixth and seventh graders whose parents had given permission to be checked.  Today is the eighth graders turn. It kills me that she would even consider staying with the school in order to be checked rather than to see a movie.  Man, when I was her age, skipping school alone would have been enough incentive to push me to the movies.  Adding the dentist would have been even greater incentive.  I don't know a child who loves the dentist more than Jenna.  I've mentioned that before.  But then again I would not have been in her predicament anyway as I never received the high grades that she does.

          When she was in second grade, I volunteered to escort the class to Mrs. Cavanaugh's chocolate plant.  That was also the day Harmon's would be doing their food samples at the school.  According to Jenna, Harmon's produced the best tasting oranges.  She was bummed about going to the chocolate plant rather than being present for the produce.  I assured her that we would still be sampling - but it would be candy instead of produce.  She still felt gypped.

          Seriously?  I mean, it's cool that my child actually prefers produce to candy but still . . .  given a choice between oranges and chocolate - I'm going for the chocolate.  When we returned to the school after having spent a glorious day at Mrs. Cavanaugh's, the representatives from Harmon's were still passing out samples and so Jenna did not miss out after all (besides  from what I understand, Harmon reps were there each month or every other month; Mrs. Cavanaugh's turned out to be a one-time thing)

          She says she did get to assist with foot traffic during the dental demonstration yesterday and was awarded a toothbrush or oral hygiene kit or something.  Still, she would like her mouth cleaned by professionals.  Silly girl.  I like Jenna's uniqueness.  I really do.  I'm happy that she lives outside the box and sticks to her guns.  When I use the words "weird" or "crazy" to describe her, it's actually a compliment.

Did You Think To Pray?

            Jenna left the house at 5:15 on Wednesday.  I told her she could stay out for an hour and gave her my phone so that she would have it when the alarm went off. 

            She returned home at 5:30 and I told her she could continue to play for 15 more minutes.  Not even two minutes passed before I heard her wailing. Had we been prepared for disaster, both of us would have made certain she had stayed in.

            It happened so quickly, she's uncertain of just how it happened.  evidently she took some kind of fall on her bike in which her mouth was gruffly introduced to the asphalt at high speed.  She came in the house with her mouth bleeding.  Roland and I both thought that the tooth had broken.

            I gave her a wet cloth to hold over her mouth.  She was crying, coughing, disheartened with the sudden events that disrupted our plans for taking her to the church. 

            Roland was immediately on the phone in hopes to find an emergency dentist while I said a prayer.  I felt inspired to take her to the activity anyway.  But Roland seemed more interested on relying on his own instinct. 

            I called a counselor in the young women's to explain or situation and let her know that Jenna would not be attending.  I then called her "Ma" to ask if she knew of any dentists in the stake.  I left a message on the voicemail of the first one.  I did get a hold of the second dentist - who sounded a bit put off by my questions.

            By the time the blood stopped, the damage didn't appear to be as bad as we had suspected.  Her right front tooth was pushed out of alignment.  Actually, it appears that her lip got the worst of it. As I was explaining this to the dentist, he indicated that nothing could be done about the tooth itself right then, but that I could meet with him the next morning.  Meanwhile he recommended IB Profin and Tylenol.

            Roland frantically continued to call numbers for dental and the insurance company while I was making calls to ward and stake members for assistance.  At least I was talking to actual humans and not just copying down numbers given by a machine.

            Roland was finally contacted by someone on the other end of the supposed emergency number.  Roland gave a similar description as I had with the dentist in Roseburg - but the caller at Roland's end was actually able to call in a prescription for antibiotics for Jenna to take in the meantime.

            While Roland was out picking up Jenna's prescription, I received a phone call from the first dentist I had tried contact.  He was calling from the stake center in Roseburg - where Jenna would have been if we had gone with my initial thought - the one that I'm guessing God must have planted.  She had already missed the activity by the time Roland had returned - or would have by the time he got her to Roseburg.

            I sent an email to all of her teachers to let them know that Jenna would be staying home yesterday - hoping we'd be able to get her into the dentist.  She was actually upset with us for having made her miss school.  I was willing to take her in late as the soonest that we get her into the dentist was 10:20, but Roland said it wouldn't be worth having her go for less than two hours just to check her out again. 

            All of the staff was impressed with how well Jenna handled herself.  I too am pleased with her  overall behavior.  She didn't try to milk it.  She was very brave about having the dentist touching sensitive parts inside of her mouth.  The dentist put on a temporary brace and explained that the root may heal and not be disjointed after all.  But there's also a chance that her tooth could start to darken, in which she'll have to have a root canal

            Jenna no longer has the perfect teeth she did 18 months ago.  I don't know if I've ever had perfect teeth.  I had chipped my front tooth when I played on the monkey bars.  Same blood.  Same drama.  I lived with a chipped tooth for many years.  Before my mission, my dentist sawed my two front teeth away and gave me porcelain ones.  I cried when he let me look in the mirror. 

            Jenna has had quite a healthy attitude.  He philosophy:  "God is good, and he'll help me through this . . . so why should I worry?" 

            Good for her!

So Glad I Took That Zyrtec

            While on vacation, I noticed a pain in lower left side of my mouth.  I was guessing a cavity – but I didn’t know what tooth.  After we returned home and I’d wake up with a sore mouth, I broke down and made an appointment with the dentist that I’ve been taking Jenna too.

            It has been a while since I’ve been to a dentist.  I know I should go twice a year, but we haven’t always been able to afford it.  Not to mention I am an incredible wimp. (If you look “wimp” up in the pictorial dictionary, you should know what I look like)

            I did not send Jenna in as a guinea pig to find my dentist.  Jenna LOVES to go to the dentist whereas I can't even admit to tolerating the dentist.   And it's nothing against the dentist himself.  I have a highly sensitive mouth, I guess. 

           Truth is, I’ve only been to three or four of them in my lifetime.  Whenever I have moved or insurance changes, I stop going to my current dentist and often take three to five years to even bother searching for another.

            So Thursday night I took a Zyrtec because I wanted to be relaxed while in the dentist chair yesterday morning. After Jenna and I parted at her school, I walked to the dentist office. 

        

     I was led to the dentist chair, I was told I’d be getting x-rays of my mouth.  I mentioned that Jenna and I have been blessed with the same gag reflexes and that I am not near as brave about my mouth as my daughter. I was just getting a cleaning. It really helped that I still felt drugged. Why should I want to be awake to have someone go and explore my mouth?

            I’m always amazed at the positive results I’ve had – even with waiting so long.  No cavities were found.  The dentist said my mouth looks good – he didn’t say “perfect” as he had with Jenna – before he removed three of her teeth and they still haven’t grown in.  I’m concerned as to why.

That Tooth Fairy Better Darn Well Leave a Huge Amount of Riches Tonight.

As I have mentioned in this post  Jenna LOVES to go to the dentist.  Seriously.  Often times when she says she really has to go to the dentist, I treat it much like “the Little Boy who Cried Wolf” I never really know whether she needs to go.  Usually I dismiss that she does not.

When the dentist office called me, I made an appointment for the semi-annual cleaning.  Her dentist had told me that she had perfect teeth and that there were still nine baby teeth.  Really?  I was certain that she had already lost them all.  Guess not.

The cleaning that she had in November – or was it December? – revealed a small cavity.  In April the office called again so that they could fill the cavity.  But apparently it was NOT a permanent tooth and so the dentist didn’t want to fill it.

She had lost three teeth from when we were told there were nine.  But her dentist said he would need to pull the remaining six. They could have done it after the cleaning, but she was going to be in a program.  She didn’t want to miss school – which is advisable when getting teeth pulled.  I set something up for the afternoon for the following week.  

   Jenna was late getting her act together that particular day as I mentioned in this post and we missed our bus.  The school called and I ended up changing her appointment to today.

Jenna lost a tooth at school sometime after the program.  The next day she lost two more.  So by the time I got her to her appointment today, there were only three teeth left to be pulled.

Both the dentist and his assistant had come into the lobby to inform me how impressed they were that she was being so brave.  The dentist had pulled out two teeth.  She hadn’t flinched.  But oh-oh.  That third one was a doozy.  And it hurt and she cried.  And the dentist said that he had wanted to cry with her.

I had asked her three times if she had wanted to go out to see her cousin, Anna.  She said she did.  She also said she was hungry, but I knew she couldn’t chew.

I bought her a milk shake at the drive at the corner.  She was told not to use a straw but it was too painful for her to eat it.  I wrapped up the shake and surrounded it with items in my backpack and we stood outside to catch the bus. 

I had her change shoes with me as both of our feet hurt and I thought switching shoes might be helpful.  It was.  I wouldn’t be able to wear her shoes for very long.  She hasn’t even had them for two months now and they look quite worn out.  She’ll be wearing my shoes on Saturday when she runs the 5K

I asked her again if she wanted to go out and see Anna or if she wanted to go home and lay down.  It was getting late and I knew we wouldn’t be to my sister’s house until well after 5:00.  The pain kicked in enough that Jenna wanted to go home.  And so we crossed the street to catch a bus going the other direction.

She has a plastic case that contains her three pulled teeth.  I couldn’t believe the size of them.  

She also had a glittery case shaped like a tooth and asked if the tooth fairy might take it also.  I suggested that if she left it on her dresser the tooth fairy would fill it up with whatever amount she’d be leaving.  

Actually, it’s already taken care of.  I can’t seem to sneak into her room or else I forget to try.  I think Jenna might be too old for the tooth fairy.  But I think she deserves some kind of reward for the pain that

Whose brilliant idea was it to create the tooth fairy anyway?  Syd Hoff wrote a tooth fairy book that is evidently out of print.  I wanted to buy it for Jenna when she was younger, but I couldn't find it.  It is a cute book.

Going to the Dentist

My dentist was a good man.  I have always known that.  But the very idea of his profession made me cringe.  He would do his very best to keep gentle.  But no matter how he tried, it was always a painful experience for me.  The word “dentist” to me means “torture of the mouth”

There were two dentists at that particular location.  Mom had picked the location due to convenience of short distance – she could walk there really.  The two dentists were father and son who shared the same receptionist.  When my mom said she was there to see Dr. Rigdon, the receptionist asked which one.

Now here’s a unique way for selecting your dentist – both had uncommon first names – neither of which mom cared for – but chose the name she liked better of the two.  He actually turned out to be the better pick of the two – but not because he had a better name.  He was the son who used the latest in modern equipment, while the father seemed to have the original tools that one may find in the old west.  Scary.

Dr. Rigdon had told me that I was one of his juiciest patients.  I think I must have been his juiciest female.  My dad held the record of being the top patient with the wettest mouth.  Perhaps that’s more than you, the reader, care to know.  Oh, well.

He was good at trying to ease the pain.  There was the laughing gas that would make me forget that my mouth probably hurt.  He also provided his patients with headphones – the ones who preferred listening to music or just to drown out the sound of the drill or pick or whatever.

As an adult I remember having burned the roof of my mouth one night before seeing Dr. Rigdon – and so my mouth was extra sensitive.  To his credit, he really did have a lot of compassion.  He really worked as gently as he could.  Tears streamed from my eyes and he would wipe them for me.

The hardest part was when I left the dentist chair and passed the waiting area to the parking lot.  A little boy looked up to see my tear stained face.  What a frightening thought that must have been, to see an adult leaving the dentist office in tears.  What kind of torture would be in store for him?  I cried about having cried.

Dr. Rigdon’s not fully retired. I understand he stops by the office once a week now – though it’s been years since I have personally gone to him.  During my married life there have been a huge number of dentists.  Usually based upon whoever would take whatever insurance we happened to have at the time.

My boys were weird.  They would ask me to make dentist appointments for them.  I always had to be in excruciating pain before I would even suggest a thing.  But my boys were concerned with hygiene.  They WANTED to go to the dentist.  Weirdoes.

And then there’s Jenna.  She absolutely LOVES going to the dentist.  It hasn’t even mattered which one.  She has loved them all!

Her first dentist was a pediatric dentist.  Of course he had the most inviting waiting room ever.  The play area for the children was designed like a pirate ship.  She was big into steering wheels and would position herself at the hub.  Oh, she was the cutest thing!

She had only four teeth the first time we went to him.  She laid on the baby dentist chair and assisted him with looking into her mouth.  We saw him only one other time before our insurance changed and forced us to find somebody else.

A family dentist for all of us.  I was told he would look at children, but there was a concern with Jenna’s age.  Apparently he had never had a patient quite so young. But as it turned out, everybody in the office loved Jenna just as much as she loved going to the dentist. 

His office was not quite as exciting as the pirate ship.  There was a “skills” toy in front and a list of videos to request to watch while waiting and being worked on.  Jenna would assist and follow the aides around.  It seriously got to the point where the aide would physically have to walk out of the door that led to the parking lot just to get Jenna to follow.  But she was a joy.  She really had become a favorite patient.

Jenna’s first dentist now accepts a variety of insurances.  It’s still a weird location for me as it is awkward making a left hand turn on a busy road quite near the intersection.  Our family dentist seems so far away right now – though I had planned on returning, we never did.  I sought a dentist closer to where we currently live.

We do pass a dentist office on the way to her school.  Jenna had her first appointment with him.  His waiting room is set up with chairs.  There are no toys or set ups or videos – nothing inviting for a child.  And yet she still thrives on going.  This one tells us that Jenna has perfect teeth.  And she does.  She hadn’t with the other two.  We thought her permanent teeth would come in crooked as her baby teeth seemed to be.  But they are straight.  There are no cavities.  They are perfect.  And we both like our new dentist.

Well, I have actually not been to him myself.  Our insurance (as it turns out) is not that great.  Perhaps when the economy is over its downfall and we are more financially stable, I can return to the dentist and have him explore my mouth.

I am so grateful that Jenna likes going to the dentist and that she doesn’t view it as a traumatic experience as I did (and still do) and that I have never had to drag her there.  In fact, she is usually the one to insist I make an appointment.  Sometimes I’ve had to tell her, “NO”  Can you even imagine?