The Dentist

   So yesterday I went in for my first filling at the dentist. All alone. My dad dropped me off at the door at precisely the same time the lady was opening it for the morning. I was a little freaked out cause this was the first time I was going to the dentist alone, at least for something this big. No mom to look to, no dad to talk to and no siblings to whine to. It was kind of intimidating. Some nice things about our dentist place is that we have TVs over the beds so we can watch something while having holes drilled into our teeth. Another is that it's right next door (and I mean in-the-same-building next door) to where our big Christian radio station resides, so if your extra nice and mannerly you can just barely slip past the receptionist and get a quick peek at the DJs.
  Our doctor is also very nice. His name is Dr. Kooiker and I pronounced it like the word "kooky" for the longest time until somebody kindly pointed out that you say it like the famous brand, Quaker (Oats). Yeah, like I was supposed to know that. All these Dutch names up here continue to confuse me. Anyway Dr. Kooiker had me sit on a table and from there proceeded to numb my mouth. He wanted to know if I wanted a certain gas that would make me feel relaxed while he drilled, and I, the little naive girl, was like, "Sure!" Other than the feeling of nearly dying while riding a roller coaster at our local amusement park, the gas gave me the weirdest feeling I had ever felt in all my 17 years on this earth. I felt like I was slowly falling into a large cushion, kinda like a cloud, with my vision slowly dimming into darkness. Before it pulled me down to the depths of I dont know where, I asked them to take it off. Just in time for the numbing needle. Perfect timing. After the painful shot I didn't feel anything else... for two hours. He drilled and stuffed, stuffed and drilled until it felt like my jaw was coming unhinged. Just when I thought I couldn't open my mouth any wider, he would ask, "Just a little wider, please." The whole time I had three questions I desperately wanted to ask. First, why was it that every time he put a tool or his fingers in my mouth I had the strongest urge to swallow? Second, had anyone ever been fully prepped and ready for the dentist and suddenly had a really bad case of the hiccups? And third, why was the family taking so long to pick a house on House Hunters? (The show I was stuck watching during my filling) Sadly I was not able to ask all my wondering's, because by the time he was done, I didn't want to open my mouth for anything unnecessary. I just wanted to sit and try to feel my mouth and tongue. The whole left side of my face was completely and utterly numb, making it so that every time I closed my mouth I would chomp down on either my tongue or cheek. I didn't feel the pain then but I definitely did when the shot wore off. To the amusement of my coworkers, I had to go directly to work right after the appointment. My slurred words and constant water dripping chin made for many laughs. And guess what? By the time the left side of my mouth has recovered and healed, I get to go and do the right side. Yay!