Tooth Be Told

I have had my teeth on my mind lately.  

I have not been to see a dentist since my senior year of high school. The reason has been a combination of 1.) never having a decent job that supplied good coverage and 2.) an overall fear of going having not been in a loooooooong time.

Not that I feel that my teeth are that bad, I know that I don't look like this... 

Good God no, far from it.  I might have a little bit of coffee stain here and there.  Plus, my bottom wisdom teeth have sorta come in. The one on the lower left side seems to have come in nicely, but the one on the right came in at an angle.  The angle has caused there to be a small hole in between it and the next tooth.  Food is constantly getting stuck back there.  It gets annoying.

So yes, I should go see somebody.  13 years is a long time to not see a dentist.  What keeps me from going back?

I had a very dramatic experience when I was very very little.  I believe I must have been in the first grade because it was around the age when kids start losing their first teeth.  Anyway, my brother and sister and I saw the same doctor.  At each and every visit I always went last.  It was just easier for my mom to keep me occupied leading up to my check up than after, I guess.  When my turn came up, for some reason my mom didn't come in with me.  The doctor took one look at my front teeth, felt them and and, "yep, those need to come out."  He then locked the door to the room and grabbed what looked like pliers and yanked them right out.  No novocaine.  No nothing.  My mom says my screams were horrifying.  She tried to get in the room, but for some reason they wouldn't let her in.

The one thing that I remember best about that experience is that my two front teeth were not loose at all.  This guy was nuts.  I think he just liked seeing little kids in pain.  A couple years later we started going to another dentist.  Just kidding.  We dropped him right after that. 

Funny enough though, my fear does not stem from that.  I had been to other dentists since and never had any instances like that.  What I do remember is the disappointing tone that some dentists would have when I missed an area.  I remember one guy went on about how he couldn't believe that my front teeth were the dirtiest.  "How could you miss those?  Their right in front."  Man, now I had to worry about pleasing the dentist.  What's he going to do if I really disappoint him?

So now that it has been so long since my last visit, I can't even imaging what any dentist would say to me.  They probably couldn't believe that someone put off going for so long.  I would rather not go than put up with the embarrassment of finally going.  I know this seems like a small reason to not go, but it eats me up.  I'll spend a few days stressing over the need to go, but then stress over everything that I just talked about.  In that time, I brush more than three times a day, go crazy with the floss and mouthwash, and cut back on soda.  Eventually the thoughts fade away and I don't think about it for a couple months.  Then it all starts over.