Crevasse
One of my molars just felt very odd. I kept running my tongue over it, and it felt like someone had cored out my tooth while I was sleeping. I could no longer pay attention to what they were talking about in conference, and instead I busied myself trying to figure out why my tooth felt funny.
It could be one of two things: a massive sinkhole of a cavity finally collapsed, or a filling came out.
Sure enough, when I went into the bathroom to look at my tooth in the mirror, there was a deep gully running through one of my lower molars. One of the old silver fillings had worked itself loose and fell out.
So, I get on the phone with a dentist, trying to schedule an emergent visit to get this hole in my tooth refilled. At one point he asks me about my previous dentist. Considering that I haven't been to a dentist in over 3 years, I can only conjure up a fuzzy memory of his face, and can't come up with his name. Embarrassed, I admit that I don't remember his name.
The dentist on the other end of the phone then asks about my last dental visit and the last time I had my teeth cleaned. I hesitate. I can't imagine that after years of daily coffee and wine consumption without a formal scheduled cleaning by a dental hygienist, there would be much of a difference between teeth that have gone 2 years without cleaning versus those that have gone over 3 years. So, trying to maintain some degree of dignity and concomitantly wanting to crawl into a hole from embarrassment, I lie, telling him it's been less than 2 years since my last cleaning.
There's a bit of silence from the phone. I cringe, wondering what this guy thinks of me, and knowing that he's going to rat me out for a liar the minute he sees my teeth and my dumb molar with the hole in it. As I stood there, holding the phone to my head wondering why I lied about my teeth to someone who's earned a doctorate in dental care, I debated whether or not to chime in that for what it's worth, I do floss regularly.
It could be one of two things: a massive sinkhole of a cavity finally collapsed, or a filling came out.
Sure enough, when I went into the bathroom to look at my tooth in the mirror, there was a deep gully running through one of my lower molars. One of the old silver fillings had worked itself loose and fell out.
So, I get on the phone with a dentist, trying to schedule an emergent visit to get this hole in my tooth refilled. At one point he asks me about my previous dentist. Considering that I haven't been to a dentist in over 3 years, I can only conjure up a fuzzy memory of his face, and can't come up with his name. Embarrassed, I admit that I don't remember his name.
The dentist on the other end of the phone then asks about my last dental visit and the last time I had my teeth cleaned. I hesitate. I can't imagine that after years of daily coffee and wine consumption without a formal scheduled cleaning by a dental hygienist, there would be much of a difference between teeth that have gone 2 years without cleaning versus those that have gone over 3 years. So, trying to maintain some degree of dignity and concomitantly wanting to crawl into a hole from embarrassment, I lie, telling him it's been less than 2 years since my last cleaning.
There's a bit of silence from the phone. I cringe, wondering what this guy thinks of me, and knowing that he's going to rat me out for a liar the minute he sees my teeth and my dumb molar with the hole in it. As I stood there, holding the phone to my head wondering why I lied about my teeth to someone who's earned a doctorate in dental care, I debated whether or not to chime in that for what it's worth, I do floss regularly.
posted by THW at 9:56 PM
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