(26) Baby's first cavity at 27 years of age...

It looks like my days of bragging on never having a cavity has come to an end. A couple weeks ago I went to Cedar Lane Dentistry for a checkup and they said they found a cavity between two molars in the far back of my lower right jaw. Fast forward to August 19th, and I'm sitting in the dentist chair wishing I had taken my elders' advice on flossing. I'm about to embark on a new experience in life, having the dentist drill into my teeth.

I was actually not really nervous at all until I got done with my cleaning and had about 30 minutes in the chair before the dentist came. I started wondering what all was involved in getting a filling. Well, all my questions were shortly answered. The dentist came out and picked up a nice big needle to numb my jaw. He wedged the needle between my teeth, jammed it in my gum, and worked it around as he injected the numbing serum into my jaw. I'd like to think I've got a pretty good tolerance for pain, but this particular feeling was such a piercing pain and it felt like someone was trying to pry my teeth apart. I think nearly every muscle in my body contracted as I absorbed the pain of the shot. It really only lasted about 5 seconds. When we finished I let out a 'whew!', and he asked me how it went. I said 'that was a hell of a prick!'. I sat there for about 20 minutes until he returned and asked if my bottom lip was numb. It sure wasn't, so guess what that means: another shot! The second one was slightly less painful as I was fairly numb, but the pressure and piercing were still there.

Next, a dental assistant (I guess thats what they are called) came in to perform the drilling. She packed my mouth with the cotton cheetos to soak up saliva and prepared the drill. At this point, I'm assuming the rest of this procedure is going to hurt worse than the needle. She gets to drilling, and luckily it really wasn't that painful at all. It was just awkward to sit there trying to keep my mouth still as she drilled away. It was very hard not to swallow, and the smell of the powdered tooth smoke bellowing out of my mouth was strange. After she got it all drilled out, she rinsed and vacuumed my mouth out and began to fill them.

I opted for the 'upgraded' resin fillings that are white to match my teeth. She fitted the resin into the holes and used an ultraviolet light in my mouth to harden the resin. Next was to grind down the excess resin so that it did not protrude past my teeth. I had to bite and grind my teeth on some carbon paper which was to mark any resin that was still protruding. After the final grinds, she rinsed me out again and I was on my way. Thanks to United Concordia I only had to pay $46 for the whole shebang. Unfortunately my days of bragging about never having a cavity are over, and you'll find me in the bathroom every morning flossing my teeth in defeat.

Until next time...