A HAPPY EXPERIENCE WITH THE DENTIST

Can you believe I have had a happy time at the dentist? You know, if you have been reading this blog, that I have virtual panic at the dentist, and have suffered from this since childhood experiences at the hands of one Dr. Fetter (may he roast in hell). I am now 80 years old, and the high anxiety lingers on. My dentist had brought me a long way out of this, and I only had to take one valium instead of two when getting major work done. To my horror, my dentist sent out a postcard announcing that she was leaving her practice. I went to see her and tried to persuade her to abandon this idea, but she said that she was getting a divorce and her life was being turned upside down. (Another man who was interfering with my dental improvement through no fault of mine).

Then I tried a new dentist and had a terrible terrible experience with a root canal gone awry. During this ordeal I felt I was being tortured by Mr. Cheney, and slipped backward from the progress I had made. I think I was in shock, because I was shaking uncontrolably and had a little accident in the chair. I got out grateful to be alive.

And wouldn't you know it, several weeks later I was innocently eating a slice of cold pizza for breakfast, when I happened upon an unusually hard bite of pepperoni. Of course it wasn't a piece of pepperoni, but a piece of one of my front teeth. This made it obvious that I had to try a new dentist (I couldn't go back to the last one) Seeking a referral from a very sensible friend, today was my first experience with this delightful, soft spoken man. And it worked! This morning on my way to the appointment for the crown, I felt like Marie Antoinette in the tumbril. I was really low and all valiumed up - don't worry, I didn't drive. But he, and his assistant, were so competent, so informative, so deft with the gooey stuff that makes the mold, that I survived without a trauma of any sort. I have found the answer! Find the best dentist you can.

Now I am home and the valium is wearing off. My sadness is gone- the Arizona sun is shining bright. I am singing and dancing around the house and playing my Abba record very loud, getting ready to switch to Beethoven's Choral Fantasy which seems like an appropriate end to the day. Goodbye and Good Luck.