Teeth

I went to the dentist yesterday for my regular cleaning. I always dread this even though it's usually completely painless. Well, except for the X-rays. I've got to think this is an uncomfortable experience even for someone with a normal-sized mouth, but mine happens to be small. So they put these sharp-edged plastic things in your mouth and tell you to bite down and hold still while they shoot you with radiation. Meanwhile, my eyes are watering because the plastic thing is stabbing me in the gums and my jaw is starting to ache from holding this oddly shaped contraption in my mouth for so long.

Well, yesterday they started out with the X-ray torture and then the hygienist started poking around at my teeth with the Metal Hook from Hell. The only thing I hate worse than the X-rays is that awful scraping noise that the metal utensils make on my teeth. [shudder] I'm about to gag just thinking about it. I don't know how many times I've had to answer the question, "Does that hurt or is it just the noise making you wince and squirm?" And don't even get me started on the joys of having your teeth cleaned while you're pregnant and your gag reflex is 100 times more sensitive than usual and they have you tilted back in that chair so that all the blood is rushing to your head and the baby is flipping with excitement over all the organs that it's never gotten to kick before...

Anyway, I was about to tell you the really exciting part of my visit, but my child just woke up screaming -- gotta go!