Smile

Um hello. So I had a hole in my tooth for about two or three months. I figured that it was a filling that had come out and needed to be replaced. You see, I could see the exact shape of the hole sometimes when I chewed gum (I know it sounds gross, but hear me out...), and the hole looked like a perfect square, so I figured it had to have been drilled that way. The reason why I let it go so long is because, I would notice that it hurt every once in a while when I was eating something, and I would say that I need to go to the dentist. However, I would usually floss, and then it would not hurt for a few more weeks.
Then, I was thinking about it at work last Wednesday, and I decided that since we're changing insurance providers at work, I had better take advantage of the coverage that I had before the end of the year. So I found a clinic about twenty feet from my apartment (more like a block) that I had no idea was even there. They told me they had an open spot that afternoon.
Long story short (to this point, at least), I wound up in the chair listening to my least-favorite song of all time, "Cat's in the Cradle" by Harry Chapin. I think this was a sign of the pain to come.
After an x-ray and the nastiest taste ever in my mouth from the equipment used to to obtain said x-ray, it turns out I actually had a cracked filling in one tooth and a hole caused by decay in the other, I found out that I would have to get a crown and a get the filling fixed. Luckily, I don't need a root canal, cause I hear those aren't fun. So anyway, I get the tough news that after insurance, I had to pay $550--this, the good doctor told me, was pretty good insurance coverage too.
So I went ahead with the work. Though I was impressed with his thorough explanation of what was to happen, I wasn't too happy with his skills of administering a shot of novicane. It was seriously the most painful shot I have ever received. He was rubbing the gum and said, "this is going to sting a bit." Holy Crap!! It felt like he took a shoved a shoved a razor blade in a was tinkering around in there. I had to clench my fists and curl my toes. It seriously brought tears to my eyes--okay it was one tear in my left eye, but still it was a tear, I have a pretty high pain threshold too.
Anyway, to make this long story a little bit shorter than it could be, we won't talk about my missing out on the gas (my favorite part of any dentist visit), what looked like smoke billowing out of my mouth while he was drilling, or the bloody stump of a former tooth I could feel when he was preparing the goop to take an impression with, and we leave it with the fact that I am going back next Saturday to have the crown permanently cemented in.
And so, my friends, $550 later, I don't have a hole in my tooth, which, in my humble opinion is good, but would have been much better if it wasn't so pricey. Oh, and I've heard that dentists are the profession most likely to commit suicide. I think it must because they feel guilty about making people feel so much pain.