Please relax your tongue!

Or – why I hate the dentist.

I had to go to the dentist today. I hate going to the dentist. I’m pretty sure I’m not alone on that one. I truly admire people who go on a regular basis. I have a tendency to go only when I’m in pain and then – and only then – getting everything I need at that time.

Today’s visit was no different. Toothache – abscess – misery. Call the dentist. I was having a root canal done. I thought it would be a simple root canal, but it turned out that some of the tooth or whatever had calcified so there was a real struggle going on between dentist and tooth. I wasn’t afraid. I was fine. – for about 5 minutes. I think my behavior today was the worst I’ve ever had. I was the dentist’s nightmare.

I actually had tears streaming down my face during the work. I actually cried. The assistant was wiping my eyes – my chin was shaking – and I was making primal animal noises with every push, pull and noise. And, WHAT is with this “relax your tongue”? Who knows how to relax their tongue when half of their face is totally numb? I thought it was relaxed. Guess not. The assistant had to plop a tool on it to keep it out of the way. Later I asked if there were any exercises I could take that would help me understand what a relaxed tongue was. I even asked if they knew anything about tongue yoga? Evidently tongues are not a subject for amusement for a dentist who has to push them out of the way all day – everyday.

You know you must have been a real problem patient when your dentist comes back into the room when it’s all over and asks you if you hate him. Me, who hates to ever make anyone unhappy said, “no, of course not”. I may have been lying. I have to go again next week to have the job finished. I won’t be seeing that dentist again. He’s turned me over to someone else he calls “the specialist”. Doesn’t sound good to me.