So there I am, minding my own business one day…when I was lured into a discussion as follows:
Jane: “So, Nicky, have you a made a decision about braces?”
Me: “Yes, I think it should be done. I really do want to get those few issues fixed.”
Jane: “Well guess what we have had a cancellation so c’mon…in the chair…”
Me: “Excuse me????”
In retrospect I would probably have procrastinated and you know ‘not wanted to be an inconvenience to anybody’ by making an appointment to have the things fitted, so realising that this was the only way, my dear co-workers grabbed the bull by the horns so to speak and dragged me to the chair.
So I was reclined back, complained that it was too far back and I would get a headache…yep it’s already started they thought!!!!
First up is the pumice – straight from the volcanic slopes of Mt Etna…or so I was cheerfully informed by Dr Levinson! So I could lay back and pretend I was in Italy…a-huh!!! What he did not know was at that point I was nowhere near Italy, I was dislocating my thumb joint from squeezing the arms of the chair so tightly with my dentist phobia in full swing.
Any dental implement whizzing in my mouth causes me a great deal of anxiety due to aforementioned dental phobia.
So that done, a tooth conditioner was applied to the surface of the upper teeth just on one side. This ensures that there is no saliva, plaque, and bacteria, anything that might interfere with the bonding of the bracket to the tooth.
As it is washed off….ewww it has a really bitter taste and you just want to spit it out not swallow, but it is forbidden as to do so would then coat the teeth in more saliva and the process would start again. Deciding that to be just too repetitive I did as I was told and pretended that I was not going to choke to death on my saliva, which of course only made more saliva to mix with the bitter stuff…mmmmm.
Not overly pleasant, but on a scale of 1-5, only about a 2 – in retrospect….
A piece of card is positioned to stop my cheek slobbering up the clean teeth and my new hardware is applied with a stinky glue…smells a lot like superglue to me…maybe they ran out of the real stuff? It is cured with the UV light and within about 4 minutes, one half of my upper appliance has been fitted….guess there is no going back now!
OK so drink, swallow…are you sure this stuff is safe? Yes quite sure (with an evil grin….) and prepare for part 2. At least I knew what was coming this time.
