When I was a kid, my siblings and I called the Dentist visits D-day, or "Doomsday".

Since my insurance kicked in August 1st, I went to the dentist for the first time in about 7 or 8 years yesterday. While my foster mother was wonderful about making sure we went to the dentist every 6 months, when I moved with my biological mother, she refused to take me to the dentist.

Boy am I paying (quite literally) for it now.

Little bit of dental background for me.

I have a very small mouth. When I was younger, I had 4 baby teeth and 2 permanent teeth removed (in two visits) so that there would be room for my wisdom teeth when I got older. Around this time, my adenoids had gotten too large in my nose so I was constantly breathing out of my mouth when my teeth were growing in. Which resulted in them growing in wrong. Then as all my teeth started growing in, my teeth became very impacted, caused a "point" in my two front teeth and a tooth on my bottom to hang out a bit. Since my teeth are so impacted, it's hard and as of recently, nearly impossible to floss.

So I went in for a cleaning. When I sat down for my scrub, the assistant looked at my mouth and made a horrible face. He said to me "You don't need a routine cleaning, you need a DEEP cleaning." He then said "I'm going to dumb your mouth for this." At which point I started sweating bullets. He numbed my gums (which I can't stand) and proceeded to take one of the claw thingies and scrap inside each and every one of me tooths and under the gum. He told me that because my teeth are so impacted, there was "rocks" of sediments between my teeth. I would have to come back for a deep cleaning which required me to be completely sedated and takes two visits. He also says it was nearly impossible to tell if I had an cavities from my x-rays because of how close together my teeth are.

So in comes the doctor. He starts spouting off numbers to the nurse. He looks at me and says "You need to have your wisdom teeth removed".

No big deal...

Then he says something that makes my heart sink.

"I'm making you an appointment with the Orthodontist. You need braces.

Braces?!?! At 21?! I'm nearly 22 years old. I don't want to be in braces!

So trying not to cry, I take my appointment cards and leave. I immediately call my insurance company.

I'm allergic to metal.

She says there's no age limit on braces (lots of companies cap it at 19) and they may cover plastic braces since I cannot wear metal for long periods of time.

My consultations are at the end of this month. I'm heart broken, but I know this is the best. I'm incredibly self concious over my smile. And my gums are being squeezed so tight they are very swollen. My teeth also cause my headaches.

I now declare whoever does not take their children to the dentist bad parents. And the asshole dentist who told me I wouldn't need braces when I was older needs a good fist shaken at him.

And that's my long ass story on my trip to the dentist.




Please, share your dental experiences with me. Anyone else have horrible stories of the dentist? I'm sure they are TONS.