Take that Tooth Fairy

The last time I visited the dentist I got knocked out via a good gassing and woke up spitting blood into a bucket with 9 of my baby teeth missing. So, you can't really blame me for not wanting to go back to the dentist any time soon after that. However, after 25 years of shameful neglect I finally decided to pay the dentist a visit once more. OK, truth be told, this was out of necessity rather than shame. My bottom left molar had started to hurt me within the last few weeks and someone scared me into it by suggesting that I may need a root canal.

So at lunch time today I decided to pop into the dentist around the corner from where I work to make an appointment. As luck would have it he had a cancellation just as I walked in so the dentist could see me straight away. Considering that this was my first dental visit in a quarter of a century and that I rarely brush my teeth at the best of times (never mind the fact that I hadn't yet brushed my teeth that morning) I was expecting the worse.

As it turned out it was a rather pleasant experience. After a quick x-ray and finding nothing wrong with my teeth, it seems that the culprit for my recent tooth discomfort was the area over my wisdom tooth, which hadn't come up properly, thus leaving a gummy bit which in turn was being bitten down upon by the top tooth. The result of this was a slight infection in that general gum region causing my tooth pains. So I was given the choice of either having the top tooth pulled or else rinse my mouth out with disinfectant mouth wash 3 times a day (and then perhaps getting the top tooth pulled in the future if I felt like it). I happily chose the latter.

I was then told by the dentist that I had very good teeth and that I didn't need any fillings. At first I thought I had misheard him. Surely after 25 years of neglect and very little brushing I was expecting the dentist to take one look into my mouth and then either jump back or run away in utter disgust. I had never expected to hear this little bit of good news. My surprise at the news was such that I was very briefly tempted to protest. In fact, the state of my teeth were so good it was suggested to me that I would only ever need to visit the dentist every 18 months to 2 years considering I'm such a "low risk case"!

So it would seem that this time around its Hanging Hat : 1, Tooth Fairy : 0. Go me!