Yesterday morning, I had a dentist appointment to have a small filling done and to have the dentist explore another tooth that has an odd shadow on the x-ray. She said it might be a fracture, but she cannot really tell.
At any rate, it was a quick procedure once the anesthetic took hold which was a bit of an ordeal. All my life, getting dentists to numb me up before a procedure has been a little time-consuming.
When I was in my early teens, I went to my first dentist. He identified a few cavities that needed filling and said we would do one a week. These appointments were extremely trying for me because of the pain I always felt. I was vocal about it, but the dentist would not heed my pain. I would grip the arms of the dental chair as hard as I could. He would later tell my mom that I was a terrible patient because he knew he was giving me the approved/recommended anesthetic for young people.
It was not until my first dental appointment in the Navy that I learned it did not need to be painful. A Navy captain was my dentist and, as he started to work, I flinched a bit. He stopped and asked if I felt any pain. I told him it was all right, and that I could tolerate it. He said I wasn't supposed to feel any pain and should never have to tolerate it. He numbed me up some more, and I had my first painless dental experience.
Since that time, I have always been adamant with a new dentist that what they consider adequate numbing would not be enough.
I am wholly recovered from yesterday's visit. My mouth was numb most of yesterday and only returned to normal overnight.
