dentist Archives - Adulting: Second- Half

Both

I think that I may have jinxed myself by being so grateful for all of the new things in my life this Thanksgiving. This week alone I found out that our longtime beloved family dentist has brought on a new associate dentist, and plans on retiring soon, and our longtime dog (whisperer) groomer, has moved. (Trip, our spicy Boykin spaniel, who likes only about one-and-a-half people beyond our family members is in for a rude awakening today, and so is the new groomer. Wednesday Bloody Wednesday)

Is it possible that both quotes, shown above, can be true at the same time? Like all opposite statements in this world, there can be truth to both sides. Two opposite “truths” can exist, and even thrive in the same world. Rarely does black and white thinking apply to anything as much as we seem to want it to, for our own feelings of security and control and peace of mind. The truth is, for me, before our longtime dentist and faithful dog groomer, we utilized the services of another dentist and another dog groomer, both whom I thought were incredible and irreplaceable. Both of whose services I seriously mourned when they moved on. Dare I say now, that their replacements turned out to be just as good, and perhaps even better than the ones before them? Is it possible that we will feel the same way about this new set of providers after a period of time? Usually, variety shows that many people have many different strengths, and often you don’t notice weaknesses in someone or something familiar, until you experience the contrast of a strength in someone, or something else.

We love our old, reliable, standbys because we have invested time and energy in them. We have stories with the people and the places and the services that we have experienced year in and year out. We have history. But often we feel unexpected delight and surprise when we try new things and we get new experiences under our belts, which after a while, often become our new favorites, until these “new things” become so familiar that they are transformed into our current reliable standbys. We tend to grow and blossom with the new knowledge and experiences in our lives, but yet the old will always be part of the root system from which we grow. The treasured previous people/places/things give us a format and a platform to better understand the contrasts and the nuances of new things. Plants need strong roots and vital new growth in order to thrive. So do we.

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Sink Your Teeth Into This

So yesterday, I went to the dentist, hat in hand. I have been having tooth pain for about two or three weeks now. I am not the best dental patient. Not even close. My teeth have had lots (and lots) of work. I warned my husband that I would probably be out of touch for most of the afternoon because my guess was that my dentist was going to send me to the endodontist for a root canal.

They got me into the chair. They took an X-ray and I dejectedly waited for the doomful report. “Wow! This is a rare thing! I’ve only seen this one other time in my entire career. I can even remember the patient’s name (Ramon), this is how rare it is!” my dentist (who is several years older than me) exclaimed, calling all of his hygienists in, to look at my X-ray with him. “Should I be worried right now?” I asked my dentist, with a sinking feeling in my stomach.

“No!” he said kindly, patting my hand. Bottom line is that it turns out that I have bone growth, which was my body’s immune reaction to a previously decayed tooth. This bone growth was pushing into one of my tooth’s roots, causing my pain. Everything in my mouth is healthy. There is no decay. Apparently this bone growth only occurs in about two percent of people, and it is a mark of a super strong immune system. All that my dentist had to do was to file down some of my molars and to (once again) remind me to wear a night guard when I sleep. My pain was from grinding my teeth which forced this bone growth to irritate the root of my tooth. I was out of the dentist’s office and free to go home within 20 minutes. I am pain free this morning.

Molar of the story (wonk wonk): Don’t always assume the worst.

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Monday-Funday

I can’t write much this morning. I have to go see about a tooth. It appears that there is a root canal in my future. (sigh) If my writing appears erratic this week, know that it is because I am either in horrific pain, or I am extraordinarily loopy on pain drugs. Could be interesting . . . . I hope that your week is starting out better than mine.

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Conehead

Josie, our 7 month-old collie puppy got spayed yesterday. Since she is an older puppy, she’s already about 45 pounds and pretty tall. She has to wear one of those giant cones on her head for about ten days, so that she doesn’t lick her stitches. She looks like a walking, furry funnel. Josie’s being an amazingly good sport about it all. I already know that I will learn a lot about being good-natured and rolling with the punches, from her. When I feel myself being annoyed when she nudges me, making me feel like I am being sucked in by a giant suction cup, I think about how aggravating it must be to navigate one’s surroundings, with a giant plastic cone wrapped around one’s head, especially, when you are a little loopy on pain meds, to boot. Watching her eat and drink with it, is the most fascinating thing to watch. As a claustrophobic person by nature, I’m in awe that the cone isn’t making her crazy. But that just doesn’t seem to be her way of being. She’s definitely a “go with the flow” kind of gal.

Ralphie, our lab, seems a little disturbed with the conehead chasing him around. His new friend seems a bit more ominous with a big plastic vortex surrounding her head. It’s kind of like when a lizard expands its throat or a bird fluffs out its feathers, even though you know that logically, it’s the same small animal, you can’t help but give it a little extra respect, wide berth and a little more breathing room. Maybe Josie is focusing on the positives of this conehead experience – more power, sympathy and respect.

I have a dentist appointment this afternoon, that I’ve been dreading. It will involve some drilling. I’ve already rescheduled it three times. As I look at my fluffy puppy, sweetly trying to gnaw at her chew toy while not being able to hold it steady in her paws, I am gaining some courage and inspiration. Josie is just happy to be home again with her new family who is crazy about her. She’s focused on the positive.

“You’ll have bad times, but it’ll always wake you up to the good stuff you weren’t paying attention to.” – Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting

The Grind

I’m going to the dentist today. Obviously, I’m not excited about that fact. I didn’t put an exclamation point on that sentence. Yay! I’m going to the dentist today! I have to get a crown because my back molar chipped. My dentist insists that this is because I refuse to buy an expensive, bulky mouth guard to sleep with every night to protect my pearlies as I grind away at my teeth at night. I insist that those high priced hunks of rubber are only going to add to my dust collector collection, as I won’t be able to sleep with wax lips in my mouth.

For years, my dentist and I have had a love/hate relationship. He thinks I’m stubborn and foolish but he loves me because I’m the one who has made sure that all six members of the family have seen him regularly for seven years. I say, “Here I am, your favorite, know-it-all patient!” and he says, “Great to see you, my retirement savings have just gone up.” He has taken the impacted wisdom teeth out of the jaws of our two older boys, and created the beautiful smiles, with years of pricey orthodontics, for our two younger children. He has filled fillings, created crowns and lectured all of us to do a better job with flossing. (As much as I have tried to “walk the talk” and be a good example to our children, this is an area where I may have fallen a wee bit short.) My dentist knows my family and due to the fact that dentists mostly can only “talk at” you, I feel like I know his family and their adventures, too.

Which brings me to the sad part because today I am going to see a dentist I have never seen before. Our dentist has retired from this practice. While I understand that change is the only constant in life, it’s hard when the foundation people of your community start leaving and moving on. We have had to move our family for better job opportunities a couple of times over the years and I always enjoyed the excitement and novelty of exploring a new town. However, to make sure that the family feels secure and safe, there are some staple professional people you pick out when you first move and you make them “your own.” I remember being truly surprised when my eldest son got his “college shots” at the pediatrician and we were told that he would need to find an “adult doctor” now. What?!? Why?!? There is nothing disturbing about seeing a 6’2″ man with a beard waiting in the waiting room, watching Dora the Explorer with the other kids. Where are his Teddy Grahams for being a good boy?!? There have been a couple of occasions where three or maybe even four of our kids have even had the same teacher. My daughter recently told me that one of these teachers said that she was his favorite out of all of our family’s kids. I am pretty sure that he said that to all of our kids, but I kept that to myself.

Why is it that we accept that changes in our own lives are inevitable but feel angry and confused and bewildered when others go on with their changes in their lives? Why does it feel insulting when one of our long time neighbors move? Why do we understand that our kids are growing up but feel utterly bewildered when we get Christmas cards portraying previous members of our kids’ play groups in graduation robes and wedding gowns?? It’s like we want to explore and grow and learn, but we need everything else around us to remain the same, to be our “rocks of stability.” I think it’s like when my kids first started to crawl and to then walk and then to run. They always crawled, walked and ran back to me to make sure that I was still there, holding their security blankets to melt back into when they got tired.

I’m sure that the new dentist will be a nice, competent person and I sure that I will continue to be lectured on mouth guards and gum disease. I’m sure that we will all be okay and adjust accordingly. We’ll keep smiling. Life goes on, even though one of our “rocks of stability” has become a rolling stone.