I think it's the sound....

If they'd had all that horrid, high-pitched, ultrasonic dental equipment during the Spanish Inquisition, every one of us walking the earth today would be a faithful, Pope-abiding, rosary-toting Catholic.

(Because no one suspects the Spanish Inquisition.... bwahahaha....

.....

Sorry. I had to do it.)

So, I'm back from the dentist. Today was just a new patient assessment, x-rays, and a cleaning. Not that scary, right?

I think my cataract surgery was easier (I think my ophthalmologist told me it was easier than going to the dentist, actually - turns out he was right).

It wasn't bad, really. My gums are a bit sore, from the cleaning and so on, but there wasn't anything terrible about it. It was just... nerve-wracking. Very nerve-wracking. Like hyper "fight or flight" the whole time. The hygienist, Allison, was incredibly nice, and very understanding of the fact that I was so nervous I wanted to cry, which helped a lot. It was really busy there, and so I didn't get much of chance to really meet with the dentist other than when he came in to do an oral exam; he seems pleasant and personable enough. I hope so, because I'm going to be seeing rather a lot of him over the next little while.

I was very impressed with how understanding they were of my need to do this all on a budget. I also don't need nearly as much work as I had thought. I was having nightmares of crowns and bridges and thousands of dollars; it may add up to that in the end, but really, it's just a lot of fillings, extracting wisdom teeth, plus a couple of molars I knew needed to be pulled.

I went ahead and made an appointment for the first couple of fillings (front teeth that have really been bothering me) and one extraction for mid-March, which is thankfully after my new health insurance kicks in. It's crappy health insurance, but it'll help some. I also have to have another appointment to finish out my cleaning, because it couldn't all be done in one appointment. Yay. Don't I sound thrilled.

But I made it through. And I didn't even cry. And... I got a new toothbrush. And toothpaste. And floss. How awesome is that? Maybe if they'd given me more free crap when I was a kid, I wouldn't have waited so long to go back. (Yes, I am amused that easily. It's okay, I know it's sad.)

Personal training session with Shawn tomorrow, dog show on the weekend, and then my chiropractic report with Dr. Mike on Monday. At least my quest for wellness is keeping me busy!