Phobic

Spiders. Heights. Drowning. All things that terrify me. Fears that are not so far out of the ordinary, I share them with many others. And then there's this one; I'm terrified of the dentist. Not the actual dentist, the human being, all of them that I've seen over the years have been perfectly lovely people. It is the scraping of my teeth, the noise of the dentist drill, ugh.

I had a dentist appointment today, and the hygienist used a tool on my teeth that I've never seen before. Called a Cavitron, it was not among my favorite experiences at the dentist's office. It uses a high pressure jet of water to blast away plaque that has calcified. Yeah, that's fine, but add to it a metal hook that the hygienist also uses to scrape the teeth on top of that. The hygienist was very nice, and felt bad for me, but it wasn't about her. It is about trying to forget the way it felt when she slipped with the tool from the line of plaque to the back of my lower front tooth and I flinched. It didn't hurt; but it is worse than fingernails down a chalkboard and I can still feel it. It will take a couple of days for the sensation to fade.

As much as I hate having my teeth cleaned, I do like the end result. Human memory being what it is, by the time six months has gone by, I'll have forgotten today's trauma and will be glad to head there again. My dentist has retired and sold his practice to a younger doctor, who is nearly as easy on the eyes as my GP. I've been going to see the old dentist since I was 9 years old and had a high degree of comfort with him. But the fact that the new guy is adorable more than makes up for the loss of comfort.