In celebration of having dental insurance, I made a slew of appointments for March and April. Three appointments, every other Friday – general check up, teeth cleaning, then filling some teeny tiny cavities.
Today was the final appointment, filling the cavities. A new (to me) dentist was working with me. He asked if I wanted to do the fillings on the top today and the bottom one at another time, so my whole face wouldn’t be numb. I let him I know I had been coming to their office every two weeks, and unless there was a risk to doing it all at once, I was fine with doing it all today so I wouldn’t have to come back.
I don’t mind the dentist. I am not freaked out and I like it when they clean my teeth. But I must admit, that when they prepared my gums to give me the shots (in three locations), I got a little bit anxious. And when they were giving the shots, I really wished my sister was there to hold my hand. Not that they hurt that much, but my sister took care of me when I had my (6!!!) wisdom teeth removed, and it was really comforting.
The dentist told me “I only put a little bit of anesthesia in the bottom, so when we are working on that one, you’ll have to let me know if it hurts.” Uh, great. He told me that, then left the room with his assistant to give me time to get numb. Of course, it was just time to think, ” how much will it hurt?”
I was sitting there, pondering the pain, and flipping through the stations on the ridiculously large but ridiculously slow plasma tv, when a different assistant came in the room.
She told me that my normal dentist doesn’t work there anymore (explains why I was seeing this new guy) and that he was the only “in-network” (or whatever they call it) dentist. So if I used this guy, today, it would cost more.
Uh. No thanks.
She was really apologetic, which I appreciated. And I told her it was no big deal, and made an appointment for May 15* when the other in-network dentist comes back from maternity leave.
I would rather use an in-network dentist and save myself the money, especially since these cavities are so small and probably don’t even need to be filled. Thank heavens she caught it before they started working on me.
But now I have a numb face, and for nothing. I just tried to drink some water… yeah, that was amusing. And I’m super hungry, but I am not sure if I should eat anything? Ha ha. Maybe this numbness will help me relax!
*Sister, will you come hold my hand?
Ugh, I hate how the dentist has to do everything in steps: a checkup; then cleaning; then fillings if necessary. I wish it could be done all at once sometimes. I just had a tiny cavity filled about a mth or so ago. I hate that numb face feeling. I took a sip of water and drooled all over myself. Awesome.
Dangit, if only you’d gotten the laughing gas–you’d be super relaxed! 🙂
That’s funny, Stephanie and I were just talking about the dentist. She thinks the needle is the worst part and for me it’s the drilling. But, I’ve had needles stuck in just about every place on my body so I’m kinda over the needle thing. I don’t, however, like people going spelunking in my mouth.
I’m glad I have dental insurance because it makes me feel better about not spending a ton of out of pocket money (except for crowns) for something I know I need to do but don’t want to.
The dentist is one I’ve always hated. As a little kid and even in my mid-40’s It’s not even the pain. It’s sitting in a chair forever and not being able to breath properly and having fluoride drool running down my chin.
Anything with the words “dentist” and “costing more” should be avoided.
I’ve been there… sort of. One time my lower jaw didn’t get numb enough and he ran out of time so we rescheduled. Went back… not numb enough again. 3rd time did the trick with a different anesthetic. Least I didn’t get charged for the stuff that didn’t work well enough.
wait… SIX wisdom teeth?? wtf??
I’m with Alice six???? Suppose it evens it out since I only had two.
Tell me they didn’t charge you for the anasthesia.
I’m on my way! 🙂
When I had my cavities filled the shots of numbing stuff felt SO weird! I was really scared as usual, and was all by myself. 🙁 I wish you would have been there to hole my hand. I hate needles and injections, they scare the crap out of me. But I kept my eyes closed the entire time and listened to Jon & Kate Plus 8 (on the headphones they provided, what a nifty dentist!!). Our new dentist is really concerned with making the patient SUPER comfortable and was so nice to me. Even though I was scared out of my mind he made me feel better and I didn’t even cry or throw up when they gave me the shots. (I swear it was like 6 shots.)
ANYWAYS, I love you and miss you as usual. Please visit me soon. I will even let you watch Twilight with me. You just have to promise not to make fun of it…. To my face 😉
Okay, I’ll bite (haha) – SIX wisdom teeth????!!!!
Gina (Mannyed) – I hate the step process too! I don’t remember this from when I used to go to the dentist! LOL! Did your water dribble at least happen at home?
diane – The needle was kind of freaking me out, so I closed my eyes. I will have to let you know about the drilling, since I didn’t get to that part! Ugh. You should have seen me today. Today would have been a FUNNY day for a lunch date!
martymankins – I used to really feel uncomfortable there (as a kid) until I learned how to breathe through my nose and move my tongue so I wouldn’t taste anything. I feel like I am relearning that now since I haven’t gone in so long!
claire – Three frickin’ times?!?!? What a pain the butt (or is it mouth? LOL)!!! Were you super frustrated?
Alice – Yeah – four on the top (two on each side) and two on the bottom (one on each side). SO WEIRD. They had to knock me out.
Nat – Hey! Now I know why I had 6! 😉 They didn’t make me pay. I would have been bitching about THAT!!!
Christina – Yay! You’re out of school then, right? Maybe we can go to a Cubs game that weekend or something. That’s cool that the new dentist is so nice! I was scared and closed my eyes too. I hate how the light is so bright and it makes my eyes runny and my makeup gets messed up! I wear the sunglasses they give me, but my eyes still water! We will visit soon! And I won’t tease you about Twilight! I bet you think some of the movies I like are LAME-O!
*lynne* – LOL! You crack me up. Yeah, six. It was a big ordeal and took me a long time to recover.
I am PETRIFIED of the dentist. However, my new guy is very good and gives me the good drugs for both the night before and morning of my appointments. I totally see why people get hooked on pills. That reminds me…might be about that time again!
Seriously, you think they could check into these things PRIOR to you even showing up for your appointment. Boo to un-necessary ouchies!
Hotch Potchery – The night before? I’ve never heard of that! But I can understand that some people need it. You feel so out of control, sitting in that chair, with your mouth wide open!
Scale Warfare – I KNOW! The lady tried to act like normally they would, but it just slipped through the cracks THIS time. Uh huh 😉
I hate going to the dentist. Just the smell of the dentist’s office makes me sick.
Stacey – It does have a VERY specific smell! And after your last post, I can understand why you wouldn’t want to go – just the prices would scare me away!
i love going to the dentist!!! but momma is my dental hygientist so i think that has a lot to do with it… i’m glad that she caught the fact that the new dentist wasn’t in network before they started all the fun!!!
=^..^=
CourtneyInControl – All the fun? HA HA HA! I am happy they noticed too. But unhappy that my face STILL hurts today. 🙁