On a recent trip to my new dentist, Dr. Frost, I received some bad news. I knew it all along, there was something lurking, but my last dentist, Dr. Tucker could not find it. Dr. Tucker’s office was always in a hurry; they had tons of patients to see and procedures to perform. Still, they did not dismiss my complaint. It’s just that their dental x-ray machines did not pick up what was causing the problem inside of my tooth. “There is an uneasy sensation every time I eat something sweet or drink something hot or cold,” I reported to the dental hygienist and then again to Dr. Tucker. The dental hygienist scanned my mouth with x-rays and Dr. Tucker examined my mouth with her curious light brown eyes. Neither the oral exam nor the x-rays detected anything to validate my complaint. Dr. Tucker afterward stated “If you continue to experience the sensations, please come back and see me.” In the meantime, I continued to do my usual activities in life, including enjoying my small addiction: sugar. Sugar in the morning, sugar after a quick lunch, sugar especially on the stressful long weekdays, sugar on hot summer days, sugar on the rushed weekends, and sugar on those earned vacation days, and I found them all to be well deserved. For a quick moment, I seriously considered my relationship with sugar but really could not come to an agreement with myself to give up the delightful sensations that it brings.
The next day, I woke up attempting to think rationally about my feelings regarding this long-term relationship that I had built with sugar and wondered “What if?” Breaking up a long-term relationship is painful. I felt unstable about severing a relationship that had comforted me my whole life. For right now, if anything, I’d rather treat the symptom than the cause.
A couple of weeks had passed, and I went back to Dr. Tucker’s office with the same complaints. Dr. Tucker was on vacation on the day of my appointment, and the covering dentist, Dr. Peterson, was filling in her place. After a brief greeting, I confessed to her in a half contrite tone, “I noticed that I eat a lot of sugar, you know food with lots of sugar.” The covering dentist nodded as she listened. Her indifferent nod compelled me to speak more.
“I am hoping I don’t have to give that up,” regretfully stating to her as if she were in control of the decision about my sugar future.
“Let’s take a look and see what is going on,” she said, as her white gloved hands holding pointy and round silver dental instruments moved closer to my lips. She asked me to open my mouth wider as she poked and tapped on a few teeth.
Honestly, I didn’t think she found anything but she was genuinely concerned that I came back with the same complaint a second time. From my history she could see that I had been an exemplary patient for them. For many years, I had come in for teeth cleaning every six months, for the occasional filling of a few cavities, and for replacement of a crown, never missing any appointments. Naturally, a valid complaint from a loyal patient warrants further investigation, which could only be rewarded by prodding my big mouth more!
To appease me this time, the covering dentist assumed the role of my primary dentist and said, “You know, looking closer, there might be a little hole on this tooth,” as she prodded around my “upper right tooth number 3.” She continued as if she were heading a major project, “We can fill this in few minutes; it is just a tiny cavity.” A simple head nod was sufficient for her next action. She then left the room and had the dental hygienist come in and prepare the area faster than a fast food drive through
service. Dr. Peterson then wasted no time. She gave me a quick anesthetic, and started to drill and fill the supposedly tiny hole. No less than sixty minutes later, the hygienist removed the rectangular blue dental bib from around my neck and said, “we are all done here.” Positive phrases spun in my head, Yea, Yea, Yea, no more cavities!
A couple of weeks later, my sugar crave hit me again. A handmade apricot pastry, a ginger cookie, and an eight-ounce latte with 3 teaspoons of sugar from the French bakery in town would satisfy the beast for the entire day.
