dental office

I’m at the last stop light, six buildings down from hell. Yes 12:30 in the afternoon I’m on my way to the dentist. As I pull up to the blue and brick building I enter the parking lot waiting for someone to exist so I can park my car. Thiers never any room in this small parking lot. My appointment was made during lunch hour, worse time to come so busy! Ugh, I hate coming to the dentist. I sit in my car after finally finding a parking spot, I see a dad dragging his daughter into the dental office kicking and screaming. You can hear her saying “please daddy no, please.” At twenty two years old I feel the same way this little girl does wishing I had my mom so I could make a scene and hope she’d bring me home. Finally after thinking of all the possible procedures that could go wrong when I go inside for my appointment, I open the door.
The worse smells come from inside a dental office. Ew. Standing in line to check my name in I cover my nose with my jacket. Why does it always smells like bleach and a sour substance? It’s the dentist office; it should smell like crest mint tooth paste and scope mouthwash! I’m next in line, I check my name in with a receptionist named Mandy she’s probably twenty five and seems very smily.She asked me to sign an encounter form. I asked her what the form was for and she said something for my insurance. I have no clue what she means by that. I see three other receptionist next to her, probably all the same age as Mandy except for one that’s looks like she’s in her sixties. They all seem like Mandy, happy, and all in pale blue button up’s with a smiling tooth on the left corner. Mandy, said take a sit in the waiting room. I cringe when I hear the word waiting room. Why does it have to be called that? It should be called the panic room because when you go in there you see lots of people sitting around and you can tell their scared just by the looks on their faces. I take a sharp left in to the “panic room” and take my sit until my name is called.
If you think about it sitting in the waiting room at a dental office is scaring but the again it’s kind of interesting. You sit in this little room with maybe fifteen single chairs with a table in the center filled with magazines. Thiers a TV on the wall that usually plays the news but since I came during the rush hour of the day it’s playing days of our life. Posters on the wells display pictures of teeth, some kind of removable teeth, teeth whitening advertisements, and a bunch of people with beautiful white smiles. Thiers all kinds of pamphlets on ways to brush and floss your teeth and there’s always something that you’ve never seen and makes you want to ask your dentist. Ugh. It always takes so long till your name is called. I don’t understand why if they say my appointments at 12:45 I’m still waiting at 1:15. What are they doing back their? Whats is going on? What's going to happen when they call my name and I enter that scary room I call hell? An older lady enters the waiting room with a big smile and says “chelsie”; I look up at her then walk towards her. “Thank you for waiting we are real busy round this time, all set to see you.” My nightmare begins.
As I take the long walk down in the hall with the dental assistant I ask her, “ what are we doing today?” She giggles and says “today we will take something called an fmx, then the doctor will come in take a look at the x-rays, then from their a treatment plan and fillings.” Excuse me I ask, what’s an fmw. It’s a full mouth serious of x-rays which consist of about eighteen x-rays she states. What about a treatment plan and fillings? I inquire. She replies with a comforting don’t worry about a thing we will take care of you. She never answers my question. Just makes me think awful thoughts about what this dentist is going to do to me today. We finally enter the room, and she tells me I can sit in the dental chair. The room is small, sort of like two bathrooms put together. Their a grayish dental chair for the patient which I’m sitting in. From there on my right head side is a small computer desk like dentist chair and on my left a weird looking round chair which I guessing is the assistant chair. There is a small metal like table which holds tools the dentist will put in my mouth. They look sharp, I get scared again. Above me on my chair is an over head light I guess so the dentist can look in the back of my throat, and a sink, and a lot of cabinets. These cabinets are locked. What are they hiding in them? Knifes, blades, I start to shake a little inside. Once again just like in the waiting room are pictures on the walls of nice white teeth and also nasty yellow teeth. I think to myself, “If they want people to come to the dentist, why can’t they put pictures of rainbows and care bears up? Why these pictures. The assistant comes from behind me put a bib around my neck. “Did I scare you,” she ask. I just shake my head. “We will start X-rays, then the Dr. will come in and we do one filling today,” ok? I shrug, whatever. She puts a heavy blanket on my chest. What is this? Shouldn’t you tell me what your putting on me, I say to myself. She tells me it’s a lead apron and it will protect me from radiation. Then she starts putting some kind of yellow object in my mouth. I think again to myself …what is this. I just stay quiet and let her do her work. After the x-ray she left the room for about five minutes then came back in and hung my picture on a bright lighted box.
The doctor walks in the room. Hello Chelsie, I’m Dr. Lee today we will do a filling. I still stay quiet and shrug. The doctor put my sit back and the assistant sit on the opposite side of him. That’s when all the crazy talk begin. I hear the assistant start by saying “DR. will we be doing amalgam and composite? “ “What is that I ask?” She lets me know that amalgam is a silver filling and composite is a white. I let her know I prefer white. She proceeds on by asking the Dr. what tooth. I think in my head the front one. The Dr. says number six. Again I ask, “what tooth is that?” She kindly points it out. That’s when I look over at the Dr. and he has the needle in his hand. I cringe a little then he ask if I’m ok. I shrug. He moves my lips aside and gives me the injection. Then the assistant puts suctions in my mouth and all the water exist my mouth. I can see them passing silver shinning tools over my head while their talking about what their having for lunch. It’s so noisy from the suctions, drills, and them talking. I can’t wait for it to be over. As soon as I think that to myself, she lets me know that we are done as the Dr. puts my chair up
They ask if I have any questions and I ask if I can eat now or wait till later. Dr says after the numbness wears off. I just say thank you as I ran out the door. Now walking back down the hall way that I entered from I’m so happy to leave this place I called hell.