so, i'm having some cosmetic dental work completed. the whole thing has taken about a month. last week i went in to have the teeth whitening portion done. it was done with a high-powered piece of equipment marketed as the zoom! technique. it's supposed to be quick and fast. i began to get worried as i sat in the dentist chair and they had me sign all of the waivers. then the technician said, "you're going to be sore tonight, but just take some advil or whatever you use for pain. some people take a tylenol pm to go to bed."

so, i'm thinking sore because my jaw has to be help open with this little plastic device. as i read the paper, it goes on to say that i will have some sensitivity in my teeth. um. this scares me because my teeth are naturally brittle and sensitive due to an extremely high fever i had as a child. hence, the whole reason i'm getting the dental work done.

so, i ask. "i'm going to be sensitive?" the technician replies, "oh yeah, but just take some medicine." the technician's assistant, "and we'll give you some fluoride to brush with. we recently went to a dental convention and they said that it really helps."

i'm feeling really anxious now, but i'm already here and have taken the time off from work. so the little tech. assistant start prepping me for the whitening, which takes about 30 minutes. all the while i can feel my blood pressure going up. so, she explains there are normally four rounds of 15 minute whitening sessions, but my dentist has prescribed three for me because my teeth are already fairly bright.

ok. session one. i'm listening to my ipod with my eyes closed. the room is dark. i'm pretty relaxed and comfortable. i'm about seven minutes in and feeling fine. i think to myself, "this isn't so bad, it's actually kind of relaxing."

tech. assistant comes in after the buzzer goes off, "how was that?" me, "it wasn't too bad." tech. assist., "yep, you can just get a little nap in." alright here we go for the second session. things are going pretty well. about three minutes in i feel a sharp pain in my tooth. by the seventh minute i'm thinking something is going seriously wrong because the pain is excruciating. at about minute 13 the tech assistant comes in, and i say, "excuse me, is this supposed to be hurting right now?" she replies, "are you in a lot of pain?" me, "yeah." her, "is it unbearable." me, "yeah." her, "do you want to stop?" me, "yeah, i think so." so, she immediately stops everything and gets my dentist. as he's walking in i hear him say to her, "yeah, she has really bad sensitivity which is why i prescribed the three sessions."

so, we stopped and they are all disappointed because my teeth didn't get as white as expected. but whatever, i am so not into pain for vanity. i want to look good with as little pain and money as possible. i honestly don't see how people do this all the time. my dentist says he's going to make some bleach trays for me to use at home. which i will, if they aren't too painful. and from now on i'll just use whitening toothpaste or something similar.

after i left the dentist i was pretty bad off for the remainder of the work day. that night i was in terrible pain. i think gorgeous thought i was near death. but today i'm doing ok. this tuesday is the final appointment. maybe i'll post pictures if it doesn't hurt to smile!

:-)


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