Visit to the dentist ... Ooucch!

Hmm..Reminds you of your last visit to your dentist? Or are you one of those who never got a chance to visit your dentist. Lucky you!

I have a cavity and had it filled about two years ago. It just wore off and troubled me; not by pain but the food particles simple stuck on to the cavity. I couldn't chew well on my right side. So I thought its time for a visit to the dentist. I told my husband and he discovered that we did not have a dental insurance. However he found a dentist referred in the web site our general insurance. And so fixed an appointment for today. I had my breakfast and brushed again and got ready.

The doctor examined by blowing air into the cavity. She asked how did my filling break. I said that it just wore off. She was surprised by the fact that the filling wore off in just less than two years. Then she asked me if I have taken a shot before. I was taken aback because I did not remember taking a shot when I got it filled back in India. But I do have experiences of taking injections in the mouth (it was when I got my teeth aligned during high school). She applied a gel (it did not taste good, but I was given a warning by the doctor about the taste). I wasn't ready for a shot, but...

The shot was for about 40 secs all over my right upper gum - minute prickles and little pain; thank god it wasn't like the "1 sec but painful" injections which I have had before. She asked me if I was alright and asked me to relax for a while. Then began the cleaning process; the doctor uses a small mirror and the blow pipe to clear your cavity. If you get the shot, there wont be any sensitivity otherwise it may be sensitive or painful depending on how big your cavity is. She went on cleaning for a while and I had to keep my mouth wide open. I have a small mouth, so she couldn't place the separators (some kind of a plastic thing that will hold your jaws open, placed vertically inside your mouth). After every minute or so, she would give me a break and I could close my mouth and rest. She had an assistant who will remove the saliva and the water used for cleaning using a miniature suction tube. Its indeed awkward when you keep your mouth open and things into your mouth and two people looking onto you. I just dread these visits!


Then she asked me to rinse with a weird tasting liquid. The next step was the actual filling. She said that I have to co operate and hold my jaws wide open as otherwise the filling may be sensitive. So I again went into concentrating on keeping my jaws open.. My temple started paining. Jaws were also hurting. The doctor took a little of the filling, spread it and used another device (I am not aware of what it is, probably dried the filling) set it. The device gave a beep once and after a while two beeps. I was happy that its done, but it was not so. She went on repeating this process about 8-9 times. She asked me to bite a piece of paper with the filled teeth. She also kept the piece of paper all over my mouth and checked if I was able to bite with all the teeth; just to ensure that the filling is of a proper level and it doesn't hinder other teeth from biting. Then she polished the filling. And whew..after what seemed ages(The session was forty minutes totally), she was done. My jaws had started paining by then. The doctor said that I can rinse if I want to before leaving. She advised me to be careful not to bite my cheeks or lips as they will be numb for a while but she gave no restrictions on food items. My husband then paid the fee using his credit card. I looked at the figure and regretted at not having done this procedure a few months back while I was in India. Would have been very cheaper; about ten times lesser the cost. But then I should not be making the comparison as every currency has its own value and differs from place to place. I still have the habit of converting the dollar value to the rupees!

My jaws hurt still and numbness on the right side of my mouth prevailed. But yippee..my visit to the dentist was over. Good luck to you if you have an appointment with your dentist. Otherwise keep brushing regularly and avoid these dreadful visits!