Monday, November 23, 2009

In Which the Offspring Are Braver Than the Parental Unit

I never made that appointment my husband said I needed to make since we've already met our dental deductible for the year. So my husband made it for me. He's helpful like that.

With T minus 2 hours until I would be putting my life and teeth in the hands of Dr. Curington, DMD, I whined stated the fact that I had to leave soon to be tortured by metal picks and scraping tools for my cleaning.

My daughter matter-of-factly responded, "Well, at least you don't have to have a big metal thing put in your mouth."

She's right, of course. This afternoon was Alex and Michael's appointment to have their jaw extenders inserted.

Now I don't know this for a fact because Mark took them to their appointment, but I'm pretty sure they did not have to have 18 x-rays done using a huge, ginormous THING that made me gag each time it was inserted in my mouth. And I'm sure they did not endure the terrible sound of plaque being meticulously scraped off of each and every tooth. Nope. All they had were metal contraptions put in their mouths

I was not shy about sharing with all of the dental staff my feelings as a dental patient (not to be confused with mental patient). They were still nice to me. In fact, my dentist told me that my teeth are so yummy and delicious despite the fact that I haven't had a cleaning in 4 years that it would be OK if I only had them cleaned once per year instead of the standard every-six-months. I think I almost like her.

The hygienist asked me if I still wanted the scheduled 6-month reminder sent to me in light of what my new dentist friend had told me. "Yes," I said, "because it will take me the other 6 months to work up the courage to come in again."

Meanwhile, my children were indeed having metal torture contraptions installed in their little mouths. And they really are so brave indeed. These things do not sit against the roof of their mouths, but rather create sort of a bridge halfway between their tongue and the roof of their mouths.

If I had one of those things in my mouth, I would be whining so much the thing would jump out of my mouth out of pure fatigue from my mouth flapping. But they haven't complained much. Alex only says she can't swallow, but then, I haven't seen much drool, so she must be swallowing when she's not thinking about it. She didn't eat much for dinner. I'm a little upset about their eating restrictions. For example, the list says they cannot have apples or carrots...really the only two fruits/veggies Michael will even eat. And everything they have eaten gets stuck between the contraption and the roof of their mouths.

It will be an interesting next several months with me trying to convince myself I need to be tortured another cleaning in a year, and my dear children trying to eat and talk normally with this Thing in their mouths. Then, of course, it's on to braces. My sweet little babies. They sure are brave!

Sorry...I could not get the apparatus without capturing up his nose as well.

12 comments:

Unknown said...

Ahhh...the orthodontist. Brings back memories. It took me years to stop pulling my sandwiches apart, bite by bite, with my fingers.

Unknown said...

And quite the prodigious beak it is!

Just kidding.

Nice airways, though. Easy breathy.

ballast photography said...

I am glad you went--wasn't that sweet of your hubby to look out for you? But you didn't answer the burning question I had as soon as I saw that this was a dental post--Did you get your free chocolate??

dclouser said...

To hear you go on and on about hating to go to the dentist, I would have thought you had to have major work like root canals done or something. How anti-climactic to hear that you only had x-rays and cleaning! Hope the kids adjust quickly to the expanders and that Michael learns to enjoy other fruits and veggies.

CrossView said...

Ok, so maybe you're not related to my 20-yr old. She loves going to the dentist. But you could be related to my 13-yr old who has a list of complaints of the indignities she has to suffer through. And that's just regular check-ups. I can't imagine what we'd go through if there were braces involved.
I'm neutral on the subject.

I am glad you survived. Very brave of you. LOL!

Unknown said...

I'm with you! I have sensitive teeth coupled with overcrowding. (We could not afford the luxury of orthodontia when I was young and now I'm just too old!) The dentist wants to see me 3 times a year! Yikes! I can think of better things to spend my out of pocket $ on!

Kathleen said...

Cynthia ~ But OF COURSE!! I wanted to snatch two candy bars, but the receptionist was watching.

Susan Berlien said...

We had such a horrible first dental experience I can't even imagine Weston going to the orthodontist in a few years..but I'm pretty sure it will be needed. I had braces as a kid.

tsinclair said...

I totally relate with your apprehension on visits to the wonderful dentist.

I never had to have my teeth pulled, but I have had quite a bit of work done and for some reason I never get completely numb. This creates a large unwillingness on my part to go back which in turn creates more work that needs to be done when I do go. I never ending vicious cycle.

As for the extender, tell them I am sorry. Austin had one and I agree it appeared very unpleasant. It took him several days to learn to eat with it. After a week or so though, he seemed to forget about it...as much as possible that is.

Amy said...

His extender looks different than Abbi's. Do you have to turn a key in it everyday?
They will learn how to swallow and eat again. But the eating will be agonizingly slow. It takes Abbi twice as long to eat meals now because the food gets stuck up there. She's used to being the first one done. It's been hard for her.

Kathleen said...

Amy, no there is no turn key on ours.

And, yes, it takes so much longer for them to eat! I think Alex lingered over her dinner for about 2 hours last night. I guess we won't be going out to eat as much!

Anonymous said...

HA HA TOURTER!!! ( at least you don't have a metal thing still in your mouth!!! HA HA!!!