I went to the dentist yesterday. A bit of pain and scraping, but for the most part, a good check-up. No high pressure sale of expensive whitening treatments, like my last visit, so I was relieved.
I think I started going to the orthodontist in the 2nd grade, though my Mom jokes that I was going before I was even born. All three of my older sisters had the full orthodontic treatment of retainers and braces and even, GULP, one of them had the instant geek-maker: head-gear! Let’s face it, we all had rat-teeth. Crooked, spaced apart and generally hideous.
My first series of retainers were to fix a cross-bite and, if you can believe this, a too small mouth. I wore these fairly unobtrusive retainers until the 7th grade and then got braces in the 8th. Midway through my short 9 months with braces, my orthodontist retired and was replaced by the young, and oh-so-dreamy, Dr. Fernandez.
Dr. Fernandez could have told me to braid those pesky little rubber bands in any torturous fashion and I was happy to oblige. Every time I would go for an appointment I eagerly awaited his praise, “I wish all of my patients followed instructions as well as you.”
It wasn’t long before I didn’t have to visit the orthodontist anymore and Dr. Fernandez became but a memory. Around the same time, my family’s dental plan changed and I got a new dentist. He looked like Clark Kent and though not as dreamy as Dr. Fernandez was equally as mysterious. He was always very complimentary of my smile and said that my orthodontist had done a very good job. Indeed.
I continue to go to the dentist every 6 months and try to take good care of the smile that my Mother and Father undoubtedly sacrificed new shoes and clothes for. My current dentist is part of a dental partnership and I can have any one of four dentists. In case you are wondering, I don’t find any one of them the least bit dreamy.
And… they didn’t try to sell me the $500 whitening treatment. They didn’t quiz me on how much soda, coffee and tea I was drinking. They didn’t tell me my teeth were stained. And when I say I felt relieved, I guess I really feel like I won. Obviously, the 52¢ baking soda I’ve been using every other day must be working…
That was a funny read. Don’t you just love it when the dentist has hardly anything to say? Katty
Did you know that in ancient times all dentists were cosmetic dentists?