Judecorp.

Punk had her first official dental cleaning this morning at 9am. I actually had to wake her at 7:45, which is kind of like being in Bizarro World. She woke up once at 6 and I snuggled her back to sleep and then she just kept sleeping. Score!

Anyway, the dental excursion was a success. I'd been talking it up for about a week - how she was going to go to the dentist, would have to open her mouth wide and say, "Aaah," how they would be touching her teeth and brushing with a special spinning toothbrush that tickles, etc. I really wanted it all out there so she wouldn't wig out. Usually she's pretty excited about everything but you just never know.

So we get to the waiting room and they weren't ready for her yet and she was super duper antsy, all, "Is it time for my appointment yet?" Finally they called her in and the hygienist put on gloves and Punk opened her mouth and said, "Aaaah!" which was amusing because the hygienist wasn't even doing anything. Finally the dentist came who was very sweet, asked me if I had any concerns, and I let her know that I took Punk to a different dentist (that I wasn't jazzed about) at around 18 months because she has these white spots on her front teeth, but that they haven't gotten any worse. She said she would check.

First she looked at all of Punk's teeth and then she used the pick thing and told Punk she was just counting the teeth, which I thought was genius. She did a little scaling really quickly and then Punk had some buildup on the back of her bottom front teeth so she actually had to dig it out and Punk was pretty chill about it. Then they got to the tooth polishing part and Punk actually didn't like that, saying several times, "I don't like this, Mama!" but the dentist worked quickly and the hygienist and I helped hold her hands. They flossed quickly. Then they painted flouride on her teeth and did a quick rinse. And that was it! She got a toothbrush, 2 stickers, and got to pick a prize from the prize drawer (she of course picked a "fancy" ring).

The dentist said she didn't see any signs of cavities, and that the white spots looked like an enamel difference (rather than a problem) that might be genetic because I have some, too. She said she saw the tiniest overbite that is likely from pacifier use and I let her know that Punk is giving her pacifiers to her pediatrician on Wednesday at her 3-year check up. So that was a non-issue.

We have an appointment in six months and I can't believe my kid is old enough to go to the dentist! One thing that I thought was interesting was that there were three dental chairs all in one big room and three kids got their teeth done at the same time! It was good for peer pressure for Punk (they were bigger kids) but I imagine it could be complicated when there is a freaked-out kid freaking everyone out.

I am super proud of my big girl who sat in the dental chair for her first big girl cleaning!!

I am so exhausted I can barely sit here. Bleh. I got up early to go to the dentist to get those two old fillings redone to the tune of $266 because my stupid dental insurance believes resin fillings are "cosmetic" and therefore covered at a lower percentage. That's annoying. What's MORE annoying is that Dentist of Doom decides to tell me when I am getting my novocaine shot that she "saw on the x-rays" that I have "a little bit of decay" in between two other teeth that "need to be taken care of ASAP." She actually wanted to do them /today/ but I said no. But I don't get it. These x-rays were taken at my cleaning 2 weeks ago. She didn't see it then?

After I get the fillings replaced I go out to pay and ask what it would cost for this new problem. The receptionist hands me a "treatment plan" and my estimated payment is $250 - one filling is listed as a "3 surface" and one a "2 surface." And I'm sorry, if FIVE tooth surfaces are decaying, wouldn't she have noticed it during my exam? Honestly, I do not understand this situation and can't tell if I'm overreacting or not. It just seems like I'm getting scammed into dental work with the "oh, by the way"s. So frustrated. Not sure what I'm going to do.

After the dentist, I ran to work. I had 4 visits scheduled (plus staff meeting), but I got no-showed at one which is majorly annoying. Then I went to the park to walk with Anne and Marti Maraschino, then picked thespian up in Fields Corner, then got Jen, then went to dinner at La Paloma where we had to wait almost 30 minutes. So dinner was late (ugh) and I ended up doing my Follistim injection in the car in the parking lot. Not exactly the sterilest of environments, I'm sure.

I wish tomorrow was Friday instead of Thursday. This has been a freakishly long week.

I had my semi-annual dental check-up today. I go to the most annoying dental office ever. It seems like each dentist in the practice is there one day a week, two days tops. And they don't let you see any old dentist, you have to keep seeing the same one. So if you're going twice a year, that's not so bad, but if you have to go more than that... yeah, annoying, especially when you have a job where you tend to see the same people on the same day of the week every week.

So my former dentist (who only worked on Tuesdays) is on maternity leave and I now have a new dentist (who only works on Wednesdays). I found this out today. Today, when I waited in the waiting room for 30 minutes before they called me for x-rays, and then sat at LEAST another 10-15 in the chair waiting for the dentist. So I have this new dentist and as much as the Tuesday Dentist was annoying with her lack of personality, Wednesday Dentist is a Dental Fatalist.

TD always told me I had good teeth and gums, which is very affirming since I am a brushing and flossing nazi. When I saw her for the first time (after 5 years of no dentist), I had to get some work done but not a terrible amount, and everything has been fine ever since. Now WD starts off by saying she wants to replace two of my old fillings in case there is decay under them. Mind you, they have a LASERBEAM to check for decay at this dentist, but apparently WD doesn't use the LASERBEAM, she just eyeballs. The LASERBEAM did not find decay under my fillings. But whatever, I like white fillings better anyway, and these are old, and I know the old metal fillings can crack and be bad and all of that.

And then she starts telling me that I have these majorly receding gums and she wants me to see a periodontist. She asks me several times if my gums bleed when I brush (no, nor when I floss). She asks me several times how old I am (30). She continues to tell me that I am so young to have all of these receding gums, especially around this one tooth. I tell her that around the one particular tooth the gum had split once (I can't remember if it was from an injury or a food mishap or what) and it had healed that way, at least 6 years ago. She said that was not possible. But hello, I was there. So whatever.

So I ask her, "What causes this sort of concerning gum recession?" and she tells me gingivitis. I tell her that I don't see how I can have gingivitis when I floss every day, and she doesn't answer. So we start the cleaning with that scraper thing, and she's digging around (yuck) and when she is done, she says, "Wow, your gums are really good, didn't bleed at all," and I wanted to say, "Gee, I guess I don't have gingivitis then," but instead I just said, "That's good." But I do believe I covered the 'don't bleed' part of the conversation a while back. (And yes, I am still 30. And no, for the third time, I do not go to school, I work full time. In Dorchester. And by the way, I am supposed to be at work RIGHT NOW but I waited nearly 45 minutes for this appointment.) I asked what the periodontist could do to fix it and she said that she didn't know but she didn't think there was anything reparative, only preventative. Which I think is called FLOSSING.

I've decided that for now I do not want to consult with a periodontist. I agree that there are areas where my gums are a bit low, but they have been like that as long as I can remember, at least for the last several years, and TD certainly never said anything about it. And I don't have gingivitis.

I just hate dentists so much. I am annoyed about going in for the two filling replacements (especially about PAYING) but I know that it is better to just do it before I could be knocked up (I go in August 9th. I might do my first shot of Follistim on the 9th if I get my period on the 7th on schedule, but I will definitely not be in the world of knocking up.) in case a filling DID break and you're not supposed to get dental work done when you're pregnant. Ugh. I just hate the dentist. I hate having random people be all up in my mouth.

Also, they let a brand new hygienist (I think she might have beeing doing an internship) do my cleaning (with the polish) and it was the worst cleaning I ever had. I think she missed whole teeth, and she couldn't control the spinner thing and was spraying polish everywhere. When I was done, my face and shirt were COVERED with red goo.

That feeling when you're partially numb and partially not-numb is the weirdest ever. My tongue now feels mostly normal but my lower lip (left side) feels gigantically swollen and tingly. ARGH MAKE IT STOP!

After I got my wisdom teeth surgically removed in 2000, my chin was tingly-numb for about 5 months. I guess they nicked a nerve or something. I used to poke at it all the time, and for a while I was really worried that it would be permanently damaged.

Then one day I noticed that it wasn't tingly anymore. It was like the last 5 months had been a dream. Isn't it totally weird when that happens?