I bit the bullet- so to speak - and headed to a nice, new dental office in my new hometown. They quickly fit me in to see the dentist, who was very nice even though I was so nervous that I tears ran down my face the entire time I was there. After he diagnosed my issue, and set me up for cleaning (uggghhhh!!!) and deep scaling (!!@#@!$), I booked another appointment for the next day. I was pretty proud of myself.
So the next day, I headed in to meet with the dental hygenist - let's call her K. She was the sweetest, kindest person I have ever met. I apologized to her for my nervous state and of course the tears. K developed a plan to complete a quarter of my mouth at a time so that I would not have to endure the pain and stress for a long period of time. She was helpful, educational, talked me through each step and let me hold the suction tube so that I felt like I had some control over the procedure.
We got through 1/4 of my mouth after numbing and freezing...I had to book another appointment to do the next section. The office was placing bets to see if I would actually show up to do the next section. I did!!! And I was not tearful this time, just nervous. But we got through it together. K kept up a steady stream of one-sided conversation because it is tough to answer when her hand was in my mouth. K also made sure that if I needed freezing or a break, we would take it.
Needless to say, after 2 more visits, and the purchase of a Water-Pik, I am now in a better position both mentally and physically. If it weren't for the kindness of K, I never would have gone back.
Life Lessons:
- while there are scary things to do in life, we need to do them and will be better for them
- people come into your life to get you through things and teach you along the way
- be grateful for kindness and pay it forward
- there are special people in the world, sometimes you find them, sometimes they find you!
Thanks K :)
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