I had a dentist appointment this morning. It was the first time I’d seen a dentist in about a year and a half, and I haven’t seen the same one twice in a long time. Since moving to Seattle, I’ve had some difficulties finding a dentist I like. The last one I saw told me I needed something like 8 fillings, and I got the feeling that they just wanted to charge me as much as they thought I was good for. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it felt like I was in a cartoon being held upside down and shaken to see what would fall out of my pockets, but it was in that general direction.

That was 18 months ago, give or take. Today’s appointment was at 10 in the morning, and they had told me to block off 2 hours for it, which I dutifully did. That didn’t stop my boss (actually my boss’s boss) from scheduling a meeting at noon where I was giving a presentation and demonstration to about 100 people. There were actually a few different people giving demos, and I wasn’t going first, so I felt pretty comfortable that my dental appointment wouldn’t interfere. I didn’t really expect it to take up the full two hours anyway.

Things went fine for the first hour and fifteen minutes or so. They took some X-Rays, checked my gum levels, polished my teeth, and were almost done scraping them with that scraping-thing they use. I had plenty of time to spare, and was all set for my demo. They’d even given me coffee before the exam started, which made up for the fact that I’d missed my standard morning cup. But then one of my crowns came off.

It wasn’t painful, really - it didn’t hurt when it came off and the little stub that was left under the crown didn’t hurt afterwards, except when I inhaled too much or when they blew that air gun across it. Up until this point, I’d been dealing exclusively with one of the oral hygienists, but now the dentist came in. The dentist saw that my tooth was sensitive to the air, and said she’d probably need to numb me in order to re-bond the crown. The hygienist spoke up and told her that I had a demo to give (I’d shared this fact with her earlier), and asked if we could do it without the anesthesia. The dentist thought for a bit and said she thought it might be possible. This was where I stopped them, called Justin to get one of my co-workers’ numbers, and called and let him know that I might not be able to do the demo, so he could pass it on to my boss if need be. I then told the dentist that she should forget that I had a demo at all, and give me whatever anesthesia she would normally. I figured that I still had some chance of making the demo, but I had a pretty valid excuse if I did miss it.

They numbed me up, and were getting my crown ready for re-attachment when I started shaking. I don’t usually get nervous about stuff like this, so it seemed a little strange. I made an off-hand remark about it, and the dentist informed me that whatever anesthetic they’d used (it started with an E) has the side effect of making people nervous and shaky. So not only was I in danger of missing my demo, if I did somehow make it, half of my face would be numb and I’d be on a drug that made me nervous and shaky. Wonderful.

In the end, they re-bonded the crown with very little trouble, and I made it in time to give my demo. Luckily I got to sit down while doing it so I don’t think the nervous thing was too severe. It went pretty well, and I’m trying to figure out if I want to go back to this dentist or not. I’ll probably take some time and sleep on it, but I don’t think the crown coming off was their fault (it probably was never fully bonded to begin with given how cleanly it came off), and they responded to the situation pretty well. Also, the rest of the visit was pleasant, and I don’t think they’re trying to rip me off.