Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Does the Toothfairy pay interest?



I have always been a bit ashamed, but yet readily admitted to being a big baby when it comes to needles. From the time I was little I fainted whenever I would get a shot. My mother has told me a story about when I was small, and getting a shot at the doctor's office. If I remember correctly, I was about 2 years old and I apparently fainted when the nurse gave me the shot. She went into histarics at the sight of my limp little body but my mother just calmly told her that it was Ok because, "She does this all the time." I am still very much that way. I am never too proud to keep it to myself when getting blood drawn, or an IV, or any other form of torture the medical community calls "treatment". I always inform whomever is my tormentor that I will likely get woozy, and could possibly pass out....they are very thankful that I prepare them for the possibilities instead of just falling out on the floor without warning! In fact, I have fainted so much that I am very familiar with the signs and can even tell you when I have gone so far into the process that there is no turning back. I have even fainted lying down! Did you know that could even happen?!? So when I recently got dental insurance after years (and I do mean YEARS) of having none, I was scared. I had been having tooth pain for at least a year and there was a large hole in the surface of the tooth that was causing my pain. I was fine at the initial appointment, but then I found out I needed 5 fillings, and the tooth that was hurting so badly needed to be pulled. Strangely it was a baby tooth...one of my 6-year molars to be exact. An adult tooth never formed under it, and so my body held on to my baby tooth all this time! The dentist told me I was lucky to have kept the tooth for 32 years, as it was designed to be a "disposable" tooth. Even so, I was not happy that I was going to get so many shots! Luckily I had chosen a dentist whom performed concious sedation. Hmmm, I thought that was a contradiction in terms!?! But who the heck cares...as long as I dont know whats going on, you can call it anything you like! The morning of the appointment I was nervous and sick....trying not to run to the bathroom and barf! I woke at 4am and couldnt get back to sleep. I jumped on my email, facebook, and surfed the web a bit just trying to keep my nerves in check. Then at 7AM I took my meds....all three of them. Usually patients are instructed to take one .25 mg pill an hour before their appointment and then once at the dentist office, they are given another .25 mg pill. But when I told the dentist I would rather give birth for a 6th time, than have a single shot of novecaine in my mouth, he sent me home with three .25 mg pills to take all at once...plus they were also using laughing gas during the appointment, and still giving me the shots!!!! Anyway, I took the pills at 7 AM. By 7:20, I was feeling pretty good. I remember my husband asking me to go get into our truck right then because I was getting really relaxed.....but I dont remember getting in the truck. I remember my friend Patty (our baby sitter for the day) arriving in our driveway...I remember seeing her lips moving...but I have no idea what she said. She told me later we had an entire conversation where I was slurring my words and smiling like the Mona Lisa the whole time....she also said it was all she could do not to laugh in my face! I remember being in a wheelchair, but I dont remember how I got there and I have no clue if the memory of the wheelchair was before my appointment or after. I vaguely remember 2 shots, and thinking "Oh they are giving me 2 shots....hmmm...ok" and thats it! My husband told me he wasnt worried until on the way home from the appointment I began talking about yard gnomes and mailboxes and chuckling a funny kind of laugh. I dont remember any of that...but he said he never saw a single yard gnome on the way home. The meds kept me out til 8PM!!! After arriving home, I have a few moments of memories...but not much at all. Once I came to, I looked through all the stuff the dentist sent home with me. I was out of it when I left the office so it was kind of like a mini christmas. My dentist is super high tech, and while most of you go home from the dentist with a small tube of toothpaste, floss, and a standard toothbrush.... I got the most awesome, rechargeable, muti attachement, cordless ORAL-B tooth brush with remote brushing sensor....it tells you if you are pushing too hard on your gums and other cool stuff!!! HOLY CRAP, its cool! And since then, I have found out it generally runs about $165-$185! Wow, never got a toothbrush like that from a dentist before!
But that wasn't the coolest....in a toothshaped, clear, acrylic box was my little, 6-year molar! My kids oooohed, and aaaahed over it. Then my 5 year old yelled with excitement, "You gonna put it under your pillow for the toothfairy tonight mommy?!?" I laughed...but my husband winked at me and said, "You never know, maybe the toothfairy pays interest!"

1 comment:

  1. LOL. I feel your pain about dentist. I had a lot of work done in the past year and its the pits. I hope the tooth fairy left you a nice surprise, though.

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