Tooth Tales Continued

After the hygenist finished up came the part I was really looking forward to...meeting my new dentist. So far the fellow had been somewhat elusive, considering that the office is on the smaller side and there's really only so many places he could be. While in the waiting area I thought I had glimpsed him, but he had a mask over the bottom half of his face, so I didn't really get a good look. Anyway...it's important to like the person who puts his hands in your mouth for a living, so perhaps you can understand why I was anticipating making his acquaintance.

So finally he walks in. Wow. This guy is young. Like I'm sizing him up to be maybe 26 years old just out of dental school young. This instantly conjures up some unusual and conflicting feelings in me. Well, he's probably not out of his 20's. This introduces the awkward feeling of peerdom. I like to know my dentists have some years under their belt...not just for ease of the professional relationship, but also because that probably means they've been around the block a few times and know their shite. But, okay, whatever. Roll with it.

It seemed as though Mr. Young Dentist DDS was going to dispense mostly with formalities and get straight down to business. Hold yer horses. I made sure I properly shook his hand and had the opportunity to look him in the eye... little does he know just how much I'm already feeling him out. His small talk skills weren't bad. Small talk is the kind of thing that you don't realize is important until you meet someone who has no talent in that department at all. Then you miss it.

So I obligingly opened wide...and he prodded my molars with his little metal tools (ping, ping)...and I took the opportunity to observe that he had very beautiful brown eyes... then he and the hygenist reviewed my x-rays in an obnoxiously low tone, pointing at various teeth and nodding and saying things under their breath...

Verdict: I have two small cavities between two bottom molars. I should probably have them filled. Also, I should strongly consider having my wisdom teeth out. And floss.

So, my sister and I walked away from that appointment ("I loathe youthful dentists!") with sore gums, and I with sore gums and a sore ego. That checkup was a bit of a slap on the hand. So, I went out and bought an electric toothbrush (which I love btw, why didn't I make the change to one of these sooner?) and some floss picks, which I don't like, but which are supposed to help me get between those back few teeth more effectively. Yeah, as soon as that bag is through I'm not buying any more.

Adventures in Dental Hygiene

Let's make tonight a double feature, to make up a little lost time. (Tonight has turned into tomorrow, I see.) The evening's second entry, be the reader warned, is a rather personal journey into my own mouth. Please be advised that I spare no details. Read on or stop short accordingly.

Well, the padre scheduled me a dental checkup for this Christmas break, because what I actually wanted for Christmas was all my teeth, and not just my two front ones. Obligingly, my daddy booked me a gig with our new family dentist. One of the benefits of this situation is that the office is right in town (I live in a small town of about 6,000 people). Before, we had to drive 35 minutes to get up-to-speed on our pearly whites. No longer, my friends. Now I travel but a mere 5 minutes for the unparalleled pleasure of opening wide under the torture devices of a smiling hygenist.

My very favorite thing about dental hygenists is how nice they are. I don't think I've ever met one who wasn't just so sickeningly sweet. Think about it....have you? They just bubble and chatter while they sit there with their metal prongs and suction catheters in your mouth, and all you can do is grunt or "aaah haah" at their inane little stories...hoping all the while you don't squirt them with saliva or inadvertently gag on your spit...or some other equally charming thing. Usually while sitting there I think of witty interjections that might or might not have been appropriate to employ, had I the power of speech at that moment. This entertains me a fair bit...since really, the only thing you can do is stare up at the light above you, and look at all the little holes in the ceiling tiles. Intriguing.

So, it had been two years since I'd been to my last dentist, a really nice early 40's guy who was just starting a family and all excited about having his first kid. That was two years ago. Anyway, he was a pediatric dentist, or whatever they call them. Beside the point. Point actually being, I had some tartar apparently. Horrible! Tartar is something that old people get. And it's supposed to be really obvious, and nasty, and yellow. Right? Maybe not, because apparently I had some. Also, the hygenist told me, my wisdom teeth were not fully erupted, and my gums were showing some inflammation. She proceeded to take a metal tool to my teeth and vigorously scrape up and down along the gum line, all over my mouth. I was picturing in my mind gargantuan scrapes and gashes being ground into my enamel...that's what this felt like. Like someone taking a wire brush to the inside of your mouth. But apparently, this was just the ritual necessary to remove The Tartar. So be it. But for the record, I hate the taste of blood.

.....To be continued.

Ghost Town

A movie I absolutely love. My younger sister spotted it in a drugstore on DVD for $5. I did a little happy dance, snatched it up, and bought it. (Maybe not in that order). Ricky Gervais is just perfectly cast, and Téa Leoni likewise. I also love the Hindu coworker. Priceless. The movie is full of fun little bits of dry humor which are fabulous to quote in everyday life ("that's it, this must be heaven. I've died and gone to heaven - no can't be, you're here"). It pulls off the feat of being very funny and very touching, something i find less and less in films these days. One of my favorite moments is when Gwen delivers this line to the somber Dr. Pincus: "We just get the one life, you know. Just one. You can't live someone else's or think it's more important just because it's more dramatic. What happens matters. May be only to us, but it matters."

count 'em

Your blessings. They are more numerous than you can imagine.

For starters, today: Freedom. Faith. A warm home. People who love me. Health. Education. Many little luxuries. Being safe. Enough food. Clean water to drink and use. Thank you God. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Reality check

The following is an excerpt from NAMI's website (National Alliance for the Mentally Ill).

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The Washington Post reports that the 2009 Army suicide rate is expected top last year's record high.

As of Nov. 16, 140 soldiers on active duty and 71 soldiers not on active duty were thought to have died by suicide. The monthly suicide rate has generally declined since March, which may be in part the result of a campaign to engage more Army leaders in suicide prevention efforts.

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I never gave pause to think of what the suicide rate in the military might be. I suppose I am not surprised that a significant number take their lives each year, thinking of what the horrors of war can do to the human psyche.

In other news, Amanda Knox and her Italian then-boyfriend were found guilty on Thursday of murdering that British exchange student, Meridith Kercher. They maintain their innocence, and I withhold any opinion on their veracity or lack thereof. Maybe they did it, maybe they didn't. Point being, someone took this woman's life, and when any life is lost it is a lamentable thing. I am always amazed at the depths to which the human person can sink, and the darkness we are capable of. My heart also hurts for the millions of young adults who live in ways similar to how I can only assume those students were living. To allow many beautiful mysteries to be unveiled so easily, and by people who don't even care in the end.

I want more from life than that.