My trip to the Dentist

I went to the Dentist this morning. I do not like the Dentist, much in the same way that I do not like doctors or cats. However, things went pretty well, mostly in part to my chatty hygenist/dental assistant.

Jane (name changed to protect the innocent) entered the waiting room and called my name. I put down the recent issue of People and followed her back to the dental cleaning room. And then she got to plaque-pickin'. Not a big fan of the pickin' and the scrapin'. Thankfully, she didn't have to do too much for that. She asked me if I had had braces and then she asked me if I used a teeth whitener. I said no. She said "You have great teeth." I said thank you. Then she asked if I did tobacco or coffee. No and no. "I can't survive without my coffee" she said. I didn't comment. Some of you may know that I have pockets in my gums from some tooth negligence earlier in my dental life. So I mentioned to her that my pop has pockets too and I asked if it was hereditary. She said no, but she believes that it may be contagious. She was reading some type of dental journal where they discovered two young children (ages six and seven) had advanced cases of periodontal disease with really deep pockets. They examined their parents, and neither of them had any sign of pockets or other trouble. But guess who else they examined? The family dog. That's right. They believe that the children got the disease from kissing their dog. How about that for crazy? And then Jane says to me "I guess I should stop kissing my cats." How do you respond to that?

I had mentioned that I had had some sensitivity in the upper right area of my mouth. I first started feeling pain after I had my first couple of in-between-teeth cavities. And it's come and gone since then. Well, when the dentist came in, he couldn't find anything structurally wrong with me teeth (Yee-haw!), but he suggested that the sensitivity was due to recession. That's what I get for brushing my teeth too vigorously! He suggested Sensodyne (which I currently use), as well as some kind of Fluoride mouthwash from ACT. So since the Sensodyne only works moderately, maybe we'll try the ACT stuff.

So there you go. My exciting trip to the dentist which took all of 37 minutes (which included scheduling my next appointment).

And for the "Ed Rendell Must Go" (ERMG) club, here's a link for you to relish.