kicking puppies is bad

I used to have fantastic teeth. When I graduated from college, I had never had a cavity. But graduate school was disastrous for my teeth. And I have four fillings now. It was a combination of graduate school related factors that killed my teeth:

• No Dental Insurance meant I would have to pay full price for dental cleanings
• I was living on my graduate stipend ($10,000 a year). Having no disposable income meant I couldn’t afford to pay full price for cleanings.
• High Stress (and no money) meant my diet that consisted mainly of gummi bears and diet coke.

Since graduate school, I have made an effort to be nice to my teeth. I brush them for the full ADA recommended 2 minutes (every time). I got a fancy sonic toothbrush. I haven’t stopped eating gummi bears, but my diet now includes some healthy, non-sugary, non-sticky, less decay-inducing foods. And I have regularly scheduled dental cleanings. Unfortunately, at my last regularly scheduled cleaning, I was informed that one of my fillings needed to be replaced. So this morning, I went and had it taken care of.I’m not scared of the dentist in a normal odontophobic way. I don’t mind the drilling (even when it makes that nasty burning smell). I don’t mind the grinding. I don’t even mind the pain (I asked them not to use the local anesthetic, because I hate the numb feeling). But dental work *does* make me distressed. And my dentist could tell and kept asking me if I was OK. And I kept stating that I was fine. I just couldn’t think of a polite way to say, “I’m not odontophobic. I just don’t like strangers in my personal space. And every time you lean in further, pat me on the shoulder and ask if I am OK, I want to kick you. So just BACK THE HELL OFF…”

So I said, “I’m fine” instead. And my dentist thinks I am odontophobic. I hate going to the dentist. On a completely unrelated note, I miss my pediodontist. He had a pac-man game in the lobby. I like pac-man.