On Friday, I had my semi-annual visit to the Dentist's office. Now, I suck at the dentist. The good news on Friday was that I did not have any cavities. The bad news was that I brush too hard.
In addition to the news that I am literally brushing my teeth away, I found out that my usual dental hygienist (Joan) is no longer employed by my dentist. I don't exactly know the reasons as to her departure. The person whom I asked, who happens to be the new hygienist, did not know the reason herself. She just knew that she was asked to work more hours.
Needless to say, the new hygienist is very nice. And interestingly enough, I confirmed something that I thought may have been true, but was never totally certain about: dental hygienists always look at teeth even outside of the office. I naturally had to ask the new hygienist and she was like "Oh yeah, definitely. It's what we do".
And that makes sense. I look at websites and sometimes have critiques in my head. So it only makes sense that a dental hygienist would see a person walking down the street and be drawn to their teeth.
Anyway, it was a good dental visit despite finding out the news about Joan and my hard brushing. Speaking of which, I found out that everyone should use a very soft brush when brushing their teeth. Anything harder is unnecessary.
Showing posts with label dentist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dentist. Show all posts
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Friday, July 30, 2010
I Suck At The Dentist
This morning, I had my semi-annual dental appointment for a cleaning. Now, I suck at the dentist.
I don't know about other dentists, but I am amazed at how much stuff the dental staff remembers about me. I find it simply remarkable that they can remember so much detail about me considering that I only show up twice a year. I sometimes wonder if they make notes in my chart or something when I leave. Either that or my house is bugged. (Damn you, Patriot Act!)
Anyway, the appointment was good. In addition to a cleaning, my dental hygienist (Joan) took x-rays of my teeth. Apparently, these x-rays (known as panoramic x-rays) show the full root and should be taken about every five years. The last time I had those type of x-rays done was nine years ago in 2001.
In case anyone is curious, I have had other types of x-rays since 2001. Those x-rays are known as bitewing x-rays (which are taken about every two years) and are used to check decay, bone loss, etc. I know it sounds silly, but I never knew there were different types of x-rays at the dental office. I just assumed an x-ray was an x-ray. It never occurred to me that there were differences.
Aside from learning about dental x-rays, I also learned from Joan that children should probably start going to the dentist around the age of 3 or so. The reason is not necessarily for cleaning and such, but more for getting children familiar with a dentist and other people probing inside their mouths. Plus, they can better tell if children have actually been brushing their teeth and whatnot.
And proof that I am a clueless parent, I also learned that parents should be cleaning their child's teeth (or gums) with water (with fluoride) up until the child is able to brush his or her teeth to remove bacteria. That never donned on me either. Apparently my baby daughter (Briana) is going to be a mess growing up. She's going to be "the experiment"... probably now with messed up teeth.
Anyway, Joan is a wealth of knowledge. Oh, and apparently parents should never share spoons or clean pacifiers with their own mouths... due to bacteria reasons.
Needless to say, I had an interesting time at the dentist. It was nice to learn about all those things. Plus, it's always a good visit when you find out that you have no cavities... which I don't. Yay!
Although the one piece of bad news that I did receive at the dentist's was that gummy bears (or gummy candy in general) are bad for your teeth. In addition to being candy, gummy bears are bad due to its gummy consistency. That was very disheartening to learn since I absolutely love gummy bears. Oh well.
I don't know about other dentists, but I am amazed at how much stuff the dental staff remembers about me. I find it simply remarkable that they can remember so much detail about me considering that I only show up twice a year. I sometimes wonder if they make notes in my chart or something when I leave. Either that or my house is bugged. (Damn you, Patriot Act!)
Anyway, the appointment was good. In addition to a cleaning, my dental hygienist (Joan) took x-rays of my teeth. Apparently, these x-rays (known as panoramic x-rays) show the full root and should be taken about every five years. The last time I had those type of x-rays done was nine years ago in 2001.
In case anyone is curious, I have had other types of x-rays since 2001. Those x-rays are known as bitewing x-rays (which are taken about every two years) and are used to check decay, bone loss, etc. I know it sounds silly, but I never knew there were different types of x-rays at the dental office. I just assumed an x-ray was an x-ray. It never occurred to me that there were differences.
Aside from learning about dental x-rays, I also learned from Joan that children should probably start going to the dentist around the age of 3 or so. The reason is not necessarily for cleaning and such, but more for getting children familiar with a dentist and other people probing inside their mouths. Plus, they can better tell if children have actually been brushing their teeth and whatnot.
And proof that I am a clueless parent, I also learned that parents should be cleaning their child's teeth (or gums) with water (with fluoride) up until the child is able to brush his or her teeth to remove bacteria. That never donned on me either. Apparently my baby daughter (Briana) is going to be a mess growing up. She's going to be "the experiment"... probably now with messed up teeth.
Anyway, Joan is a wealth of knowledge. Oh, and apparently parents should never share spoons or clean pacifiers with their own mouths... due to bacteria reasons.
Needless to say, I had an interesting time at the dentist. It was nice to learn about all those things. Plus, it's always a good visit when you find out that you have no cavities... which I don't. Yay!
Although the one piece of bad news that I did receive at the dentist's was that gummy bears (or gummy candy in general) are bad for your teeth. In addition to being candy, gummy bears are bad due to its gummy consistency. That was very disheartening to learn since I absolutely love gummy bears. Oh well.
Friday, January 29, 2010
I Suck At The Dentist
It was quite the interesting morning today.
I had an appointment scheduled with my dentist today. The appointment was for the usual recommended six month cleaning. Like most appointments that I have in Quincy, I drop Karen off in the morning at the train station and then hang out with my parents until its time for my appointment. Today was no different.
Needless to say, I walked from my parents' house to the dentist's office. Normally, it's not a bad walk. The problem, however, is that this morning was absolutely freezing. With the cold weather and the howling wind, the walk to the dentist's was terribly harsh and cold.
Luckily, I made it to my dentist's office okay. Unfortunately, when I walked into my dentist's office, the office was also cold albeit a little warmer than the temperature outside. Apparently, the furnace went out at my dentist's office. It turns out that one of the employees accidentally flooded the basement this morning. With the water all cleaned up, the furnace did eventually kick back on. Unfortunately, it takes a long while for the office to actually get heat. (I think when I left, one of the radiator ribs produced heat.)
If the flooding/lack of heat weren't a sign of things to come, my dental hygienist (Joan) then walked in with a cast on her arm. Joan had dislocated her pinky finger during a freak soccer playing incident with her family. She had been out all week. And it just so happened that I was her first patient since dislocating her finger. Lucky me!
I must say, I was quite impressed with Joan. She was still able to clean teeth with no problem. It almost reminded me Rick Allen, the drummer for Def Leppard who lost his left arm yet still continued to play drums for the band. Sure, it's two totally different situations. Joan wasn't using her feet to scrape the plaque from my teeth. But the fact that she was still able to perform with one arm was pretty amazing. At least, I thought so.
Anyway, when the cleaning was complete, my dentist came over to take a look at my teeth. The good news: no cavities! Unfortunately, I suck at the dentist. The bad news is that there are a couple of possible trouble spots that need to be monitored. Bummer! That was disappointing. Oh well.
I had an appointment scheduled with my dentist today. The appointment was for the usual recommended six month cleaning. Like most appointments that I have in Quincy, I drop Karen off in the morning at the train station and then hang out with my parents until its time for my appointment. Today was no different.
Needless to say, I walked from my parents' house to the dentist's office. Normally, it's not a bad walk. The problem, however, is that this morning was absolutely freezing. With the cold weather and the howling wind, the walk to the dentist's was terribly harsh and cold.
Luckily, I made it to my dentist's office okay. Unfortunately, when I walked into my dentist's office, the office was also cold albeit a little warmer than the temperature outside. Apparently, the furnace went out at my dentist's office. It turns out that one of the employees accidentally flooded the basement this morning. With the water all cleaned up, the furnace did eventually kick back on. Unfortunately, it takes a long while for the office to actually get heat. (I think when I left, one of the radiator ribs produced heat.)
If the flooding/lack of heat weren't a sign of things to come, my dental hygienist (Joan) then walked in with a cast on her arm. Joan had dislocated her pinky finger during a freak soccer playing incident with her family. She had been out all week. And it just so happened that I was her first patient since dislocating her finger. Lucky me!
I must say, I was quite impressed with Joan. She was still able to clean teeth with no problem. It almost reminded me Rick Allen, the drummer for Def Leppard who lost his left arm yet still continued to play drums for the band. Sure, it's two totally different situations. Joan wasn't using her feet to scrape the plaque from my teeth. But the fact that she was still able to perform with one arm was pretty amazing. At least, I thought so.
Anyway, when the cleaning was complete, my dentist came over to take a look at my teeth. The good news: no cavities! Unfortunately, I suck at the dentist. The bad news is that there are a couple of possible trouble spots that need to be monitored. Bummer! That was disappointing. Oh well.
Monday, July 27, 2009
I Suck At Dental Appointments
Today I had my semi-annual appointment with my dentist. After all, oral health is very important. (There is a joke in there... somewhere...) Whenever I go to the dentist, I worry that I will hear those dreadful words: "You have cavities". Speaking of which, that reminds me: "We make holes in teeth!"
(The video below is a commercial for Crest.)
My dentist is located in Quincy. I like my dentist and my dental hygienist (Joan). Too bad I suck at dental appointments.
As usual, I arrived early for my appointment. It turns out, I was the first schedule person today. Lucky me! I got to be the first person to christen that white drain thing next to the dental chair where you rinse your mouth out.
Anyway, I found out that my dentist brought his daughter to SkyVenture New Hampshire yesterday for her birthday. For anyone curious, SkyVenture is an indoor simulator for sky diving. The place sounds really fun.
I think I would like to try SkyVenture someday. If the whole free falling within an indoor tunnel seems okay, then perhaps I would do the real thing and actually jump out of a plane. That would be wild. Of course, jumping out of a plane would probably give Karen a heart attack... so I may need to rethink that.
When all was said it done, my dentist told me the good news: no cavities. Yay! Granted, he also told me to ease up on my brushing (as I have been apparently brushing too hard), but at least I have no cavities.
(The video below is a commercial for Crest.)
My dentist is located in Quincy. I like my dentist and my dental hygienist (Joan). Too bad I suck at dental appointments.
As usual, I arrived early for my appointment. It turns out, I was the first schedule person today. Lucky me! I got to be the first person to christen that white drain thing next to the dental chair where you rinse your mouth out.
Anyway, I found out that my dentist brought his daughter to SkyVenture New Hampshire yesterday for her birthday. For anyone curious, SkyVenture is an indoor simulator for sky diving. The place sounds really fun.
I think I would like to try SkyVenture someday. If the whole free falling within an indoor tunnel seems okay, then perhaps I would do the real thing and actually jump out of a plane. That would be wild. Of course, jumping out of a plane would probably give Karen a heart attack... so I may need to rethink that.
When all was said it done, my dentist told me the good news: no cavities. Yay! Granted, he also told me to ease up on my brushing (as I have been apparently brushing too hard), but at least I have no cavities.
Friday, March 6, 2009
I Suck At Fillings
this morning, i paid a visit to my friendly neighborhood dentist. and by friendly neighborhood... i mean quincy. yes, i know... i do not live near quincy anymore. but, i grew up with my dentist in quincy and have thus continued going to him after moving to norwell... almost six years ago. in my defense, karen does the same thing... just with her dentist.
anyway, today's appointment was for a filling. too bad i suck at fillings. when i went for my routine six month cleaning, a cavity was discovered via x-ray. i thought i was cavity-free after the cleaning... until they took the x-rays. bummer. so needless to say, today was my filling day.
new at the dentist office waiting area is the peg board puzzle iq test. the peg board puzzle iq test is that triangular peg board that is filled with pins... with the exception of one hole. jumping over a pin allows you to remove a pin... and the goal is to remove as many pins as you can. i enjoy doing that puzzle... probably because i'm an idiot and can't figure it out.
unfortunately, i did not get to finish the puzzle as it was time for my filling. so there i sat, with my dentist and his assistant... mouth open... numbed from novacaine... the drill buzzing... smoke emanating from my mouth... a vacuum in my mouth... other tools being inserted and stuff. by the way, the smell of drilled teeth... is not that pleasant.
amazingly, my dentist was done in about twenty minutes. everything was quick and painless. i sometimes wonder what it would feel like to not have novacaine. i like my dentist.
when all was done, my dentist told me that the filling was very tiny and that i would probably not be able to see it because... 1) the filling was white and 2) the cavity was very tiny. i think he may have sanded part of my teeth down too.
anyway, when he asked if i wanted to rinse my mouth following the procedure, i said sure. so naturally i took the tiny cup of water that they gave me... and threw it in my mouth. well... let's just say all the water dribbled down the side of my mouth that had been numbed with novacaine. my dentist got a chuckle and told me that the novacaine takes some getting used too.
but at least i can still do a mean billy idol impersonation as i type this.
anyway, today's appointment was for a filling. too bad i suck at fillings. when i went for my routine six month cleaning, a cavity was discovered via x-ray. i thought i was cavity-free after the cleaning... until they took the x-rays. bummer. so needless to say, today was my filling day.
new at the dentist office waiting area is the peg board puzzle iq test. the peg board puzzle iq test is that triangular peg board that is filled with pins... with the exception of one hole. jumping over a pin allows you to remove a pin... and the goal is to remove as many pins as you can. i enjoy doing that puzzle... probably because i'm an idiot and can't figure it out.
unfortunately, i did not get to finish the puzzle as it was time for my filling. so there i sat, with my dentist and his assistant... mouth open... numbed from novacaine... the drill buzzing... smoke emanating from my mouth... a vacuum in my mouth... other tools being inserted and stuff. by the way, the smell of drilled teeth... is not that pleasant.
amazingly, my dentist was done in about twenty minutes. everything was quick and painless. i sometimes wonder what it would feel like to not have novacaine. i like my dentist.
when all was done, my dentist told me that the filling was very tiny and that i would probably not be able to see it because... 1) the filling was white and 2) the cavity was very tiny. i think he may have sanded part of my teeth down too.
anyway, when he asked if i wanted to rinse my mouth following the procedure, i said sure. so naturally i took the tiny cup of water that they gave me... and threw it in my mouth. well... let's just say all the water dribbled down the side of my mouth that had been numbed with novacaine. my dentist got a chuckle and told me that the novacaine takes some getting used too.
but at least i can still do a mean billy idol impersonation as i type this.
Monday, January 26, 2009
I Suck At The Dentist
this morning, i had my semi-annual dentist appointment. like my dentist recommends, i have a dental cleaning every six months. so today happened to be one of those days.
too bad i suck at the dentist. don't get me wrong, i like my dentist. my friend (jen) loves her dentist. i think jen would go every day to the dentist if she could. the thing i dislike about going to the dentist is wondering if i did enough in those six months to prevent cavities.
aside from that, my dental experience is always great. my dental hygienist (joan) usually tells me stories about things happening in her life. currently, her car is leaking oil. so, she had to take it to the mechanics this morning which caused her to run a little late.
joan is funny. she told me that for christmas, her present to her daughters was the removal of their wisdom teeth. nothing says merry christmas like the extraction of wisdom teeth, anesthesia, blood, and gauze.
among the other things i learned about while at the dentist was that there is a dental convention this friday... and that there is a sucking machine located in the basement of the office. the sucking machine is like a vacuum in that it sucks everything downstairs and empties out into the drain/sewer system. apparently, there used to be a trap for the "solids" that had to be emptied out ever so often by the staff. fortunately, that has been done away with thanks to modern technology. i was told that i would probably find out about the sucking machine because it is used during the filling of cavities.
speaking of which, i unfortunately have a cavity. i almost escaped scott free thinking that i did not have a cavity. after joan cleaned my teeth, she didn't notice anything. she then asked to take x-rays just in case. (it has been two years since my last x-rays. apparently, x-rays should be taken every two years. so joan quickly took my x-rays.) when my dentist came in, he checked my teeth... everything looked good... and then he looked at the x-ray.
as it turned out, there was a cavity forming between two of my teeth. both my dentist and joan were surprised because the location of the cavity was somewhat peculiar. (for some reason, my dentist and joan seem to think that i have very good strong teeth.) unfortunately, my dentist believes that my teeth are curved in such a way that plaque got trapped between the teeth... and hence caused the cavity. damn those x-rays.
anyway, i sadly have to get a filling... albeit a little filling as my dentist put it. but he said it definitely needed to be done. go figure...
too bad i suck at the dentist. don't get me wrong, i like my dentist. my friend (jen) loves her dentist. i think jen would go every day to the dentist if she could. the thing i dislike about going to the dentist is wondering if i did enough in those six months to prevent cavities.
aside from that, my dental experience is always great. my dental hygienist (joan) usually tells me stories about things happening in her life. currently, her car is leaking oil. so, she had to take it to the mechanics this morning which caused her to run a little late.
joan is funny. she told me that for christmas, her present to her daughters was the removal of their wisdom teeth. nothing says merry christmas like the extraction of wisdom teeth, anesthesia, blood, and gauze.
among the other things i learned about while at the dentist was that there is a dental convention this friday... and that there is a sucking machine located in the basement of the office. the sucking machine is like a vacuum in that it sucks everything downstairs and empties out into the drain/sewer system. apparently, there used to be a trap for the "solids" that had to be emptied out ever so often by the staff. fortunately, that has been done away with thanks to modern technology. i was told that i would probably find out about the sucking machine because it is used during the filling of cavities.
speaking of which, i unfortunately have a cavity. i almost escaped scott free thinking that i did not have a cavity. after joan cleaned my teeth, she didn't notice anything. she then asked to take x-rays just in case. (it has been two years since my last x-rays. apparently, x-rays should be taken every two years. so joan quickly took my x-rays.) when my dentist came in, he checked my teeth... everything looked good... and then he looked at the x-ray.
as it turned out, there was a cavity forming between two of my teeth. both my dentist and joan were surprised because the location of the cavity was somewhat peculiar. (for some reason, my dentist and joan seem to think that i have very good strong teeth.) unfortunately, my dentist believes that my teeth are curved in such a way that plaque got trapped between the teeth... and hence caused the cavity. damn those x-rays.
anyway, i sadly have to get a filling... albeit a little filling as my dentist put it. but he said it definitely needed to be done. go figure...
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
I Suck At The Dentist's
today, i had my routine cleaning at the dentist's office.
i suck at the dentist's. every time i go to my dentist, i am alway amazed by the people who work at the dentist's (including the dentist). after all, i see them basically two times a year (for the routine cleaning), yet they seem to remember so much about me.
granted, they know my name and all that beforehand because i'm scheduled for the appointment. perhaps i'm just envious because i wish i had that great of a memory. heck, i wish i had any memory. i'm like that guy in the movie "memento". maybe i should start doing brain exercises or something. damn you booze for killing my brain cells... or whatever little brain cells i had to start with.
anyway, i think i may have been the only one scheduled today because i was there for quite some time (almost an hour). i basically ended up talking to the dental hygienist for most of that time. (incidentally, the dental hygienist used to be karen's dental hygienist at karen's dentist's office.)
basically, i got to learn about how the dental hygienist (joan) was dog sitting and the dog, named lily, had lyme disease (like my bff) and how the dog earlier had heartworms. her kids, by the way, also want a dog. i learned that her husband started a new job and loves it as he has every other friday off during the summer. (i'm obviously writing this down so that i can review this blog posting the next time i have a cleaning and show them that two can play at this memory game!)
i even had a nice conversation with my dentist, who also lives in the norwell area. my dentist and his neighbors are currently trying to fight a developer from building over twenty apartments on some nearby wetlands. i think the development is near circuit street and white barn lane. apparently, the neighbors have to spend about $100 a month for the lawyer fees. very interesting.
anyway, all things considering... i had quite an enjoyable dental cleaning. the good news too is that i didn't have any decay or cavities. plus, i got a goody bag of whitening toothpaste, a toothbrush, and floss. what could be better?
i suck at the dentist's. every time i go to my dentist, i am alway amazed by the people who work at the dentist's (including the dentist). after all, i see them basically two times a year (for the routine cleaning), yet they seem to remember so much about me.
granted, they know my name and all that beforehand because i'm scheduled for the appointment. perhaps i'm just envious because i wish i had that great of a memory. heck, i wish i had any memory. i'm like that guy in the movie "memento". maybe i should start doing brain exercises or something. damn you booze for killing my brain cells... or whatever little brain cells i had to start with.
anyway, i think i may have been the only one scheduled today because i was there for quite some time (almost an hour). i basically ended up talking to the dental hygienist for most of that time. (incidentally, the dental hygienist used to be karen's dental hygienist at karen's dentist's office.)
basically, i got to learn about how the dental hygienist (joan) was dog sitting and the dog, named lily, had lyme disease (like my bff) and how the dog earlier had heartworms. her kids, by the way, also want a dog. i learned that her husband started a new job and loves it as he has every other friday off during the summer. (i'm obviously writing this down so that i can review this blog posting the next time i have a cleaning and show them that two can play at this memory game!)
i even had a nice conversation with my dentist, who also lives in the norwell area. my dentist and his neighbors are currently trying to fight a developer from building over twenty apartments on some nearby wetlands. i think the development is near circuit street and white barn lane. apparently, the neighbors have to spend about $100 a month for the lawyer fees. very interesting.
anyway, all things considering... i had quite an enjoyable dental cleaning. the good news too is that i didn't have any decay or cavities. plus, i got a goody bag of whitening toothpaste, a toothbrush, and floss. what could be better?
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