Smile Please .....

Well, here I am sitting at my lap top, under instructions to rest from my dentist, whilst the results of the anaesthetic wears off and I have to keep checking that I am not dribbling (actually it's gone past that point now and I have weird pins and needles feeling in my face).

So, why the post.... well, here's the thing... it's the first time I've been to the dentist in years....and I am not phobic so really there was no reason for not going.

Only there was....

When I was a kid I we always went to the dentist for check regular check ups and I was tortured for years by an orthodontist until I had relatively straight teeth that I couldn't put a £1coin through the gap between the two upper front teeth.  Then I went to university and while I lived in Preston in Ye Olden Days I still went fairly regularly to the dentist for checkups... then the ex happened.

Now one of the things that she insisted on was having control of the finances... which meant that only things that she deemed necessary got paid for when it came to me....... and my dental care wasn't a high priority for her... we didn't have an NHS dentist available and paying privately would be too expensive unless there was an emergency (though strangely funds were found for her to have her teeth whitened ....) so for 7 years I didn't go near a dentist...

After the split and my move over this side of the country I could, and probably should have found and gone to the dentist.... but at that stage I didn't care... not about me, let alone about my teeth.  After all I couldn't see the point, it wasn't as though anyone else was bothered if I had my teeth, so why should I.... as far as I was concerned, it didn't matter anymore, no one was ever getting that close to my mouth anyway.

So going to the dentist was one of those things that I just never seemed to get round to... probably part of this was although I knew I had a couple of back teeth that needed attention, I have such a high pain threshold that it never hurt enough for me to actively need to seek treatment.......... and again I still couldn't find a reason to care enough to sort it out.

Then recently one of the things my counsellor is making me do is to try and care enough about myself to treat myself well.  So, last week I got the number of my sister's dentist from her and booked an appointment............ that was today...... I need a little work on a few of my back teeth... which started with her whipping out a broken tooth this afternoon... but despite the neglect my teeth are generally healthy and with no decay. I go back again in a week or so for the next lot of treatment.

I am still trying to decide if taking this step, having the treatment etc is going to make any difference to how I feel about me...... though more importantly, right now I'd like something to eat... which will apparently be yoghurt as I am only allowed cold soft food tonight......