  I visited my dentist today for a teeth cleaning and found out I have four cavities. Four! I also made an appointment to have my wisdom teeth pulled out next month. Joyous. My love affair with the dentist began about two months ago, after my first visit in three years. Today was the first visit I didn't leave crying - but then again, it was just a cleaning. In February, I found out that my wisdom teeth had to go and a crown was needed on a tooth I had cracked.
I bawled on and off all day. The day I received my temporary crown - definite eye leakage. The day my permanent crown arrived: "This will be a piece of cake," the doctor said. "You don't get numb, there's no pain - you're in and you're out. " Not only did I have to be numbed, I had to use the special laughing gas mask in order to keep from jumping every time his finger was in the vicinity of my mouth.
Tears followed. For my first (and hopefully last) teeth-pulling experience, I've decided not to go under and instead pray that numbing and laughing gas will be enough to get me through. A co-worker joked that they would get me drunk the night before my extraction. With my track record, it's not a bad idea. 
