Two days later, images of fresh oven baked chocolate chip cookies; a single, chocolate glazed donut; and then back to the images of the warm chocolate chip cookies all popped up in my head unexpectedly. As imagined and unsolicited as that was, the smell of home baked cookies overwhelmed my head to the point I could not concentrate. It was around 6 p.m., drizzling, and gray outside. The dark skies affirmed what was in my head. Go get it now!
The nearest grocery store contained a good supply of different brands. I grabbed my favorite brand of cookie dough from the well-lit middle shelf of the freezer section, came home, and rolled the gooey dough into a ball and baked it to perfection in the oven at 350 degrees. If you are into scrumptious cookies like I am, and if you were here, you would not be able to leave this dwelling until you tasted one or two of these warm, crunchy, descended from heaven chocolate mannas.
While savoring each delicious morsel of the cookie, I immediately felt a weird sensation in my mouth. I tried to ignore it, thinking it is going to take some time for my teeth to get used to the filling I had just done. I avoided the sensation for a good 4 months and into early part of the New Year.
With the New Year came a new dental plan. The new insurance did not cover Dr. Tucker or Dr. Peterson because they were not in the insurance company’s network. The carrier’s network dentists near my workplace were not accepting new patients and the new plan offered only a few dentists accepting new patients near my residence. I evaluated if I should just keep my old doctor, but the out of pocket expenses to keep the last year’s dentist was pretty hefty, since “all out of network expenses are the patient’s responsibility.”
Without making too much fuss, I scheduled an appointment to see a new dentist, Dr. Frost. Upon arrival, Dr. Frost’s hygienist oriented me to their office policy, one being that they take extensive dental x-rays on new patients. Oh! Those x-ray bites felt uncomfortable. But, I got lucky in an odd way. Dr. Frost sympathetically told me that she found an ENORMOUS cavity on the side of one of my molars as she took her index finger and pointed to the spot on the x-ray. “WAIT A MINUTE, What?” muttering those words to myself.
For the past 7 months, I mentioned this to an experienced practitioner but it was completely missed on my dental exams and on the previous x-rays. Nothing against my past dentist; they did a great job in telling me about flossing and check ups. Dr. Frost provided disappointing and relieving news. “Let’s see if we can resolve this with a filling. If not, we may need to look into a crown or a root canal. I think there is a good chance that the filling would work. Would you prefer the white or silver filling?” Two choices presented, but I didn’t like either. Maybe more information was needed. “What is the difference between the two?” I asked as looking at her pearly white teeth and then her almond eyes. “The silver amalgam filling is the traditional filling but some are worried about potential mercury that is found in those fillings. The composite filling matches the color of the teeth.” “How long does each last?” I asked as if I only want to do this never again. “Silver has a good reputation of lasting a little longer but these composite fillings are pretty good too. Occasionally, they may need to be refilled.” She didn’t go in to the exact amount of years how long the filling would last but she felt pretty confident that it was going to last for a while.
As I reclined tensely in that aqua green dental chair in the cold bright room, waiting for my white filling, I had no choice but to think of all the times I had eaten tons of delectable cookies, decadent ice cream, and divine specialty pastries. The dentist then injected my molar with a long needle from a couple of different angles. The little sting from the needle got me thinking. I did not realize how bad my sugar habits were until the appointment with Dr. Frost. After the procedure, Dr. Frost asked me “What kind of tooth brush do you use?” “The manual tooth brush. I was using the electronic tooth brush but I stopped that because it was noisy.” She recommended me to use an electronic toothbrush. I was waiting for other recommendations from her, but she didn’t say anything more.
Though Dr. Frost never came out and said what the cause of the cavity was (because you eat too much unhealthy teeth food, genetics, misaligned teeth), I asked myself if I wanted to continue my habit of a high intake of sugar. Still, it was hard for me to even think about giving up my tiny addiction that kept putting me in a hole. Suddenly, I was distracted from my mental review by the petite dental hygienist who said, “Here are a few suggestions for you,” as she dropped a mini toothpaste and a toothbrush in a thick, shiny, white bag.
“Rinse your mouth with water immediately after eating.”
“Do regular dental check ups, suggestion is every 6 months.”
“Make sure the dental providers examine your mouth carefully.”
She then added, “You have a small mouth; so it was difficult for us to place the x-ray biting correctly in your mouth and that was probably why the first office did not see the cavity.”
“Well, thank you so much for being persistent in getting the shot from every angle even though we had some difficulty with it at first,” I said sincerely.
She continued, “If you have funny sensations to too hot or too cold, insist on taking care of it sooner rather than later.” The hygienist with pretty teeth provided practical tips without ever mentioning a word about not eating sugar, which left me some room for interpretation.