Going to the dentist

When I was young, I never enjoyed the dentist. The scraping of my teeth and having fingers and odd tools in my mouth was scary. I did not know that it was very important to make sure to go to every dentist appointment until I grew up. The dentist’s office I went to as a child had a fun waiting room. It helped relax me before I was called back to have my cleaning. 

The dentist’s office I went to as a child had a very fun waiting room. They had an Xbox and a PlayStation to be played. There was also a small section that was for the younger children than me. They also had those puzzle boxes where you had to match the object shape to a hole in the box. Additionally, they had one of those cool sand magnet tables. You could put a pen with a magnet at the end of it to move things around the box. I remember there was a bulldozer in there, and I really enjoyed trying to use that to push all the sand to one side. 

The Xbox and PlayStation were also a very cool thing to have in a waiting room. They always had Crash Bandicoot on one of the systems, and I enjoyed playing that one the most. I always avoided sports games because I never had any interest in playing them. I was an odd kid and did not like sports. To this day, I still don’t really like them. 

When it got called back to the operating room and set in the chair, I was approached by the dental surgeon. She introduced herself to me and said she was going to be cleaning my teeth today. I never liked the dentist, and I always tell them that. Today was no different. She then told me that there was nothing to worry about and she would be as careful as possible. She first started off by cleaning in between my teeth with a small pick metal tool. After that, she had to clean the face of my teeth. This was the worst part. 

As she scrapped my teeth, I could not help but wince every so often. I do not like this part of the cleaning, and of course, it is the longest part. As she was nearing the end of the cleaning, she accidentally nicked my gum and caused a bleed to happen. That did not help my not liking the dentist. To finish off the cleaning process, she said she needed to put fluoride on my teeth. This would make my teeth look super shiny and clean. The downside is that I can not eat or drink for the next hour after the fluoride is put on. This stinks because my mom always takes me to get something to eat after the dentist for being good. 

As a child, I never liked the dentist, and as I grew up, it never really got better. Now I don’t really mind going to the dentist, but I still am not enjoying it. I do not like people’s fingers in my mouth, along with strange metal tools that are used for scraping my teeth. I make sure to go to each appointment regardless of my dislike, but I know the risks I have if I do not go and do not want to risk any of those problems. 

My wisdom teeth extraction

When I was advised to have my wisdom teeth extracted, I was pretty worried. I personally do not like the dentist. I hate having people’s fingers in my mouth along with metal tools for poking and prodding. My mother reassured me that I could get put under general anesthesia. This medical gas or liquid puts the user to sleep until the procedure is completed. I had the option of getting a numbing shot or being put under, and without any thought, I chose to be put under, so I was not conscious of the fingers in my mouth. 

One day at the dentist, the operator told me that I should get my wisdom teeth extracted. I was not too keen on that as I do not like the dentist already. Any long-lasting procedure would be a problem for me. The surgeon gave us a recommendation to an office that could perform the process, and we set up an appointment. When the appointment was nearing, I got nervous because I did not fully understand what was going to happen. The morning of my mother drove, my older sister tagged along and me. When we arrived at the office, we spoke to the receptionist, and they had us fill out some paperwork. My mom chose to do it herself. When she turned in the paperwork, it was only a few minutes before I was called back. 

When I was called back, a cute surgeon brought me to the operating room where my extraction would take place. They ran me through what the procedure was going to entail. Once they finished explaining to me, they inserted a needle into my left arm and told me to count down from ten to one. When I began counting down, I felt my veins by the needle get cold. I only got to seven before passing out.

The next thing I knew, I was awake and in pain. Being loopy, I asked them to remove the sword from my arm. I had thought the needle was a sword. I was in some pain, but I was very loopy. When you get off of general anesthesia, you are left with a high. I was saying some rather funny things. I remember the pain I had behind my molars. The dental surgeon told me that I could not quickly eat or drink for the next five or so hours as the pain would be too much. They gave my mother a prescription for pain medication. When we left the office as we were driving, I remember saying some peculiar things. I made my older sister laugh for almost half an hour. We went to steak and shake to get me a shake. I got a cookie and cream one as it sounded amazing. I realized the dentist was right, and it was a bit more challenging to drink the shake, so I opted to use a spoon to eat it. For the next few days, I was just sitting around and taking pain medication. 

I am glad to have had my wisdom teeth pulled at a younger age, so I won’t need to worry about it as I get older. Our insurance was able to cover almost the whole procedure. We only had to pay a few hundred, which, if you ask me, seems great for a dental procedure. The pain only lasted for a few days. Plus, I got to miss a few days of school, and who is going to complain about that?