Gyju and I went to the dentist yesterday. On the ride there, Gyju was getting pretty nervous. She went on and on about how she hates going to the dentist and how she thinks they're scary. I just thought to myself 'whatever, it's no big deal'. So we got there and sat in the waiting area. As I perused some issues of KoreAm mag, Gyju was preoccupied with who should go first. I told her that she better go first and get it over with....then afterwards she'll feel relaxed while she's waiting. So they called in Gyju first.
But then 5 minutes later, she walks back out with a huge smile on her face. "What happened?" I asked. The dentist said that she should come back later after delivering the baby (she's 7 months now). So now she's all sitting pretty and carefree. 'Whatever' I thought to myself. Next I heard my name called.
So I walk in and sit in the chair. The dentist asks me the routine questions and I quickly respond with routine answers, except for the fact that one of my fillings had fallen out a month ago...no big deal. So the dentist gets ready to do scaling of my teeth as well as give me a new filling.
He fiddles around with something and I see him coming with a long cotton swab...'ah, that must be the topical anesthetic to make the huge needle less painful' ...I was right. Then after a few minutes, he pulls out that long needle for the nerve block....and I took it like a champ....no big deal. Then he says he'll do the scaling of my teeth first and then replace the filling. Fine with me.
So he pulls out that scaling tool thingy...the one that looks like a hook and shoots out water, and it vibrates and makes that hideous screeching noise. But I knew the protocol...I was no amateur. I just looked up at the light as he started cleaning, seeing little particles of water spraying into the air, small bits of tartar flying all over the place. But then slowly I started to realize something....this was starting to hurt pretty bad. I had been thru scaling before with this guy without flinching. But as he dug the tool under the gums and in between my teeth, I couldn't help but grimace. I could feel the sweat starting to ooze from my pores, my hands clasped together over my belly, my toes curling up. Then I did something I rarely do....I closed my eyes. The sharp pains from my gums were shooting up into my brain, so I think I was subconsciously starting to shut down as many of the senses in hopes of decreasing this sensory overload.
I was proud that I did not quiver or whine once. I lay there motionless with just intermittent facial expressions of anguish. But what was sorta embarrasing was the tears. You know, not the sobby boo-hoo kind, but the uncontrollable tears that spring forth when you yank out a nose hair, after you sneeze, pop a huge zit, or after you gag on your toothbrush. I didn't realize it at first. But as I had my eyes closed, I felt something soft blotting around my eyes. The assistant was blotting away my tears with a tissue! Then as if the tears knew I became suddenly aware, the flow increased, and I felt the tears running down my cheek.
Anyways, the scaling was finally over and then he started drilling to prep my tooth for a new filling. That was fine. As I got out of the chair, I realized how sweaty I was as the air hit my back.
The dentist told me I should make a followup appt soon to replace a couple other old fillings. 'Fillings? No problem, just please no more scaling'. I made my appt and walked out of his office, my chin up, shoulders back. Gyju looked at me with continued astonishment as to how I don't fear the dentist. As we got into the car and buckled up, I just looked over towards her, my expressionless face now morphing into one of agony, and said, "I thought I was going to die today." She responded with a sympathetic but chuckling, "Oh no! Are you ok?!" and then laughed at me all the way home.
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