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I Have a Cavity.
I have a cavity. There, I’ve said it. I’m not proud of it, but it’s there so now I have to deal with it. I have never, ever had a cavity. In fact until my most recent dental appointment, I never really knew what a cavity actually meant. “Ohhh, cavity as in cavity,” I said with astonishment finally realizing that the word is not just some esoteric medical term used to describe a bad tooth. It actually refers to what it actually is, a giant hole in my tooth.
I have been blessed with good teeth. In fact, I’m one of those rare people who has permission from her dental hygienist to floss only 3 times a week because my teeth are in such good shape. So where the heck did this cavity come from? My dentist assured me it has nothing to do with any act of omission or commission on my part. It has to do with the fact that I had braces many moons ago.
Well no matter. What’s done is done. Today at 11:15 a.m. I’ll be sitting in the dentist’s office waiting for my cavity to be carved out and filled. I generally don’t mind my trips to the dentist, but this one has got me on edge. Hope they put me in the far back room so that the little kids don’t hear me scream.
Doctor Teeth is the leader of the muppets band The Electric Mayhem. He has a gold tooth claimed to be fashioned by melting down his gold records.
Since I’m having a filling, I figured it’d be like one of those big gleaming gold ones, something kind of hip and cool. I thought that might add to my mystique as a nun. But sadly, the dentist said it’s silver or white. I decided I’m going with silver. I think it’d be cool if I can pick up an extra radio station or two!
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{ 12 comments }
Best blog post title ever?
“I Have A Cavity.”
Best blog post photo?
“Dr Teeth.”
(I have good teeth, too, but I did get one gold filling years ago when I had GREAT insurance and a dentist who believed in doing it once and for all. It is was way back on the bottom on one side. When I first got it and when I would really laugh out loud, I always hoped there was a Dr Teeth sparkle* and flash! to fully emphasize just how great it feels to laugh like that).
Again, I vote for this title in “Best of….”
Jean
Jean
My sympathy! (But only one?) Because I had braces as a teenager, I have had constant visits since and two crowns. The last one was a surprise and when my dentist of over twenty years got to $1,100 and he wasn’t finished I asked if I could pay $100 a month. His acceptance took away a lot of my pain. I am down to about $400 and on my last visit I only needed a clean. it is very good to have a dentist whom one can trust completely.
I hope he only has to fill it.
Blessings,
Joan
In an act of vanity, I had all my silver fillings removed and replaced with white ones. It changed my life.
I hope it went well!
JMJ+
~Betsy
Totus tuus Maria!
I was told that “silver” fillings were no longer done bc of the mercury in them! And where is this cavity that you hope the silver will show? All of my many cavities have been in my molars (Wailing and gnashing of teeth lead to lil’ cracks which invite the bacteria in which result in cavities. I now have a night guard to protect my teeth, but alas, the damage has been done.
I hope it went well. I hate the novacaine shots, esp the ones in the lower jaw. They are worse than the drilling, imho!
My favorite after-a-filling meal is Cream of Wheat, made with milk, sweetened and with a mashed banana and nutmeg. It’s like a bowlful of warm banana bread! And it’s soft so you don’t have to worry about biting your numb tongue.
As the good Sisters used to say: “Offer it up!”
As a child, I had dental work done only when it got so bad it could not be avoided or delayed. Back in the day, the dentists did not always believe in giving children novocaine. I ended up needing laughing gas just to get my novocaine shot as a young adult. Nowadays, I have had several great dentists and their work is virtually pain-free. I am no longer terrified.
And, according to my dentist, getting a shot in the upper jaw (by the front incisors) is the worst spot. I can second that opinion.
LOL! One of your best posts! And I love the cream of wheat with a banana and nutmeg meal from Another Sister Julie. Cream of wheat is a favorite! Have you ever tried it with chocolate? Yum!
LOVE it! Of course, I saw it the day after I got 2 crowns on my 2 (top) front teeth–at the end of a summer which saw me getting 2 other crowns, a filling, and a root canal. And I never wore braces, and I try to take good care of my teeth. Apparently some of this is hereditary. Thanks, Mom! And my birth father was a dentist!
I hope your cavity-filling went well!
My teeth have always been a lot of trouble because after I lost my baby teeth, my adult teeth on the front-top came in on the wrong side of my pallete when I was a teenager… so lots of surgery/chains to pull my teeth down out of my nose and into my jaw. I am really disappointed because after all that torture during high school trying to save those teeth, now my two front teeth are dying because the roots were just too traumatized and impacted. It’s awful to be needing implants already when I’m only 20, and I’m upset because its going to cost a whole lot to put something in there so I’m not toothless in front. Sometimes I don’t understand how health issues fit in with divinity in the world…. I mean, I always try to see how challenging things can lead us to God, but what good are people supposed to learn from health issues they can’t control? I’d so much rather do good things like buy textbooks or donate to charities than buy stupid teeth so I can chew – it seems so dumb, and yet that’s just a small case. Imagine people who have cancer or muscular dystrophy or something… Wouldn’t it be lovely if those health issues were healed so we could harness all the thousands and thousands of dollars that go to health issues and put them towards something productive like charities! Anyways, sorry to hear about your cavity situation and I hope the filling fixes it! Good luck.
You’ve my sympathy and [prayers!! I’ve thankfully only needed two fillings; inherrited good teeth, it would seem, but I likewise had braces as a teen…hmm. In my opinion, ‘gumnumb’ is the best development that has occured in modern dentistry!!!!!! (without it, I’d rather have ‘teeth pulled’ (excuse the pun) than that needle full of something that can only be described as liquid pain)!! I need two goes round with the gumnumb then two needles and I still feel the drill!! (not painfully, per say, but there, nonetheless!) If your dentist is good at listening to the patient’s concerns and happy to accept your input, by all means ask for a bit more, so to speak, and ask them to do the ‘scratch test’ at each stage before going in with the diamond-tip… then you can be virtually guaranteed a much more comfortable procedure; to the young lady in danger of losing her two front teeth due to long-standing developmental and nerve damage, my heart goes out to you!! and I’ll pray for your strength; Yes, I can see where you’re coming from re the frustration factor with the health hurdles that crop up in front of us all, some more than others…..much more so, as in the examples you’ve given. Knew a girl at school who had to have chains; we were all off to the orthadontist around this time for braces (wire-tightening should be banned by the Geneva Convention!!!!!
) and her plight served to ensure we all experienced a certain degree of dread, because we knew just what could happen. To all facing dental challenges or other health issues, whatever they may be, I’ll be praying for you.
blessings,
Sarah,
Sydney,
Australia.
Aw, you’re a cavity novice!! As someone who has had over 35 cavities, I resent your ridiculously healthy teeth.
I’m such a veteran I don’t even use novocaine, which freaks out my dentist to no extent. When his hygienist sees me coming, she runs.
Have a good time at your cavity profession! Welcome to the club.
Thanks, Annie!
It seems to be a very big club!