post-dental visit trauma

my gums were raped!

i know there is no such thing, but that's the closest term i can use to describe what happened to me (or to my gums rather) at the dentist's office this afternoon.

it's my first time to visit a dentist here in the US. yeah, i know i've been here close to 2 years, and we're supposed to visit the dentist every 6 months. well, i skipped an entire year and a half without visiting a dentist. but when we went home to Pinas last March, i paid a visit to my dentist there. that was the last time i had deep cleaning.

last month, i scheduled for a dentist's appointment. i just looked up a pinoy dentist from the list provided by the insurance company. and made sure they can speak tagalog. not that i can't speak english, i just thought it'll reduce the chance of miscommunication when we speak the same language.

off i went to the clinic a little past noon. after i had a spaghetti lunch, i made sure i flossed and water-jetted my teeth. by 1:15pm, i was waiting at the small area of the clinic.

i was called by the jolly pinoy guy receptionist, then ushered into a room with all the dental apparatus. a young lady who introduced herself as the assistant made small talk with me about life in the US. she's also of pinoy roots, but was born and raised here. she understands tagalog but can't speak it.

then began the rape.

she took x-rays of my teeth by section. i dunno what the instrument is called, but she puts it in my mouth, and positions the xray machine at an angle to what section she wants x-rayed. she can only take 2-3-tooth-wide x-rays, so she had several takes, probably around a dozen. after that, she took out her "instruments".

first, she gave me a pair of glass goggles. i wasn't sure what to do with it, but i figured i should wear it. so i did. then she placed a sheet on my chest and clipped it over my neck with a metal chain. that part i know. =D she told me she's going to lower the chair. and boy, lower it she did!

as in low... first few seconds, it was just leaning back, like the usual dental chairs in pinas. then it started sliding me down, and the back of the chair continued moving lower, lower, and i feel like yelling "stop!". it stopped when i was already in a lying down position. hey, i thought, i'm not being operated on, am i? back in pinas, when i was operated on an incisor that didn't grow out, they slashed my gums open with my chair just around 45 degrees tilted. and here i am, on a 90 degree tilt, and i'm just getting a deep cleaning. =P

anyways, the assistant hooked up a suction tube on my mouth, as she cleansed my teeth. hmmm, i thought, no water in a plastic cup to gargle with? then i realized she's doing my gargling by jet-spraying water on my mouth. well, ok.

then she took out her "instruments" and frantically scraped on my teeth and in between! scccrrrrccchhhh! scccrrrrccchhhh! that sound gave me goose bumps. no dexterity at all! just thinking about it gave me goose bumps again. i can feel the end of her "scythe" piercing the gums in between my teeth. and when she paused to change position, my mouth tasted a little bloody. i have no way of knowing if i'm bleeding or not, since the suction tube sucks my saliva and all liquid on my mouth out. she continued scraping for the next 20 minutes. after we're done, i feel sore all over my mouth.

just when i thought we're done, she takes out a yard of dental floss and starts flossing me. hard. to the gums. hastily. have you ever felt pain similar to rubbing nylon thread repeatedly on your forearm? that's how it felt. painful and burning. she slides the floss in between my teeth and seems to pull back and forth downwards, rubbing the floss against my gums, aside from the sides of the 2 teeth she's flossing. i let out a groan, but it fell on deaf ears.

after that ordeal, the doctor examined me. after examining me, she referred me to an endodontist, to get root canal. then i need to go back to get crowned. the bills came whirling in my head. i know a root canal costs $200+, and crown at $300-$400 per tooth. i really need to take care of my teeth this time.

then i was ushered out to the receptionist. he gave me a prescription of a medicine i need to take. then he gave me a contact number of the endodontist they recommended. i was ready to pay for the bill when he said it's covered by the insurance at 100%. wow! free cleaning! although, with my sore gums in my mind, i think i wouldn't mind paying next time.

in fairness to the staff, they are all friendly and accommodating. the lady who cleaned my teeth was very funny and very talkative. i think that's her forte to distract people. =P the dentist was very motherly, although she barely inspected my gums after her assistant raped it. =P and the receptionist didn't do an ambush "re-appointment" for my next visit. he just told me to contact them when i'm done with my appointments with the endodontist. he also informed me that the cleaning is free, the endodontist consultation is free (but the root canal procedure is not), and that the crown shouldn't cost more than $300 in their office. he's also always smiling, like a walking advertisement for their dental clinic.

i was advised 3 things, (besides taking a medicine, getting a root canal and eventually getting a crown):

1. use soft-bristled toothbrush,

2. floss daily,

3. use anti-sensitivity toothpaste.

oh, and they told me, when i have coffee, make sure to brush afterwards, or at least gargle with water. the "cleaning lady" noticed coffee stains on my teeth. hmmm, that's my cue to really stop having coffee. =P