it's receding

I have been trying for weeks to schedule my dentist appointment for a routine cleaning. I had to cancel a few times, finding a day and time that worked for both me and the hygienist seemed impossible. Finally, in my last attempt to make an appointment, the receptionist said...well, we could do Wednesday but your appointment would be with the doctor himself, not the hygienist.

Well that to me sounded like a win-win situation. I get to make an appointment on a day that works for me and I also get a real dentist to do my cleaning? Perfect. Great.

Wednesday rolls around and off I go. Proud of myself for being 15 minutes early for my appointment, I settle into the dentist chair. Who likes a visit to the dentist? No one. They are probably one of the least liked doctors to visit. I mean no one can look good with their mouths pried open and lips stretched so far you fear it'll stay that way. And that suction water vacuum? The worst! Dribble everywhere, hoping there is only good news after this visit, one that sounds like, "Great, I'll see you in another 6 months for your next cleaning."

The doctor finally comes. Puts on his gloves and goes to work, stopping literally every 30 seconds to ask me to close my mouth so that suction vacuum can clear the saliva, telling me to only breath through my nose. And then it hit me. It wasn't a win-win situation to have a doctor do your cleaning. They have the hygienist do it for a reason. And one of the MOST IMPORTANT of those reasons is this: you can at least semi-enjoy your cleaning and get all the bad news at the end when the doctor comes in for a few minutes. But not today. While his hands were wedged DEEP inside my mouth to scrape and pick, he also gave me the diagnosis, every step of the way. "You feel that? That's a cavity." "Yup, there is another one." "How do you brush anyway?" "Do you have soft bristles or hard ones?" And finally, my personal favorite, "Your gums, they are receding".

WHAT?!!?

I had to try HARD to smile when he finished and said, "Don't your teeth feel so smooth now?"

"And you need to make two more appointments in the next months..."

I sprinted out that door.