Lunch at the Sweat Lodge

Back when I was 16 or maybe 17 I had a filling put in one of my front teeth. This was one of those tooth colored versions meant to match; and for a long time it did. The majority of this filling sat behind my tooth with only a small portion wrapping around the side and into the front. Just a sliver really, which over time has turned a yellow grey and no longer matched the color of my tooth. Or maybe it was the other way around, my tooth no longer matching the unchanged filling. Either way, for the past several years my dentist has gently pointed out this small discrepancy, suggesting I might consider changing it for something more up to date. She’s a heavy, amorphous thing with gentle hands and a pleasant way about her and whether it’s her professionalism or simply her personality, she’s always seemed cheerful to me. I’ll call her Joy and I like her. Still, there’s no way I’m having a filling removed and replaced just because of a little color mismatch.

A month or so ago while having a routine check-up and cleaning my dentist, I’ll call her Joy, noticed the filling in question was beginning to fail and her suggestion became more of an insistence. “You really need to change this filling now Christian. It’s beginning to leak a bit around the back which, if left untouched, will begin introducing decay into the tooth.” I set up an appointment.

On Wednesday I arrived during the lunch hour expecting a quick in-and-out visit. I figured my tooth had begun the job itself by initiating the separation and how difficult could it be to remove that? I went so far as to imagine there’d even be limited if any drilling. I completely forgot about the needle part.

“Just a little pinch as we numb things up,” Joy explained. “Now with the very front tooth like this most people experience numbness in their nose as well. It’s just the way the nerves work and it’s totally normal. Only about 10% of patients don’t have this sensation,” she added. “Now, sometimes it helps to wiggle your fingers and toes. It’ll help keep your mind off the injection.”

Wait, what? Something didn’t sound right about that and so I’m going to come clean myself. Smile or no smile, cheerful or not; I hate the dentist and typically begin sweating the minute I sit in the chair. Depending on the duration of a particular visit I can, at times, come away looking like I’ve laid down in a puddle, which essential I have.

And then the stinging began; not so much from the needle Joy stuck into the thin gum line just above my front tooth, rather from the poison she was injecting into them. I could feel the burn run from inside my upper lip straight to my nose, which began burning so bad my eyes started watering. Next, as the pain increased, my watering eyes turned to crying eyes and as tears poured down the side of my face I wondered whether my hair was getting more wet from the tears or the sweat.

“You’re doing fine,” Joy said. “Tears are fairly normal too.” And then she added, “Though I’m not sure I’ve witnessed so many before.”

Her comment worried me. “Is it that noticeable?” I wondered, which in turn made me sweat even more. I would have liked to respond but by this point the burning had spread along the roof of my mouth to the back of my throat making it not only burn but also leaving it numb and unresponsive. An hour later, just as I gained sensation back to my throat Joy finished. Drenched from a combination of sweat and tears, I stood wondering if Joy was thinking to herself, “Everybody sweats a little when they come see me, though I’m not sure I’ve witnessed anyone sweat so much before.”