Hell turns down it's thermostat

Is it wrong to enjoy a visit to the dentist? Cause I think I just did. I'd had a miserable visit to my regular dentist back in November, and was dreading my upcoming cleaning.

The hygenist at my old dentist's office was a nice lady, but she had lead hands. I think she was probably one of those people who talks with her hands, gesturing and gesticulating to punctuate every story, and she probably should have shut up while poking my gums with sharp metal objects. Again, nice lady. But I'd never let her near my mouth again. So much blood. So much pain. And then the salt water sandblasting? I almost vomitted. This is not an experience I cared to repeat. I mean, it wasn't surgery. All she had to do was scale a little tartar off without making me cry.

And I'm tough in the chair, too. It takes a lot to make me flinch. This woman about broke me. When I had to tap out because I thought I was going to throw up, I knew she'd won. As a reminder, my mouth throbbed for hours afterwards.

I was beginning to think that's just what cleanings were supposed to be like.

Turns out, not so much.

I was lured away from my former dentist with the promise of sonic cleaning, and a really nice dentist who I'd met socially and really liked. Well, she didn't actively lure me to her office. It's not like she was outside with a van and candy. But I was curious about the idea of not having my gums ripped to shreds, and this "sonic cleaning" sounded cool.

Turns out, I think my old dentist did sonic cleaning too. Because the procedure was the same, but damn if the hygenist wasn't a million times better at the new clinic. For example. When flossing my teeth, he applied enough pressure on the floss to get it between my teeth, but managed to stop it from crashing into and cutting my gums. While scraping, he didn't miss my teeth altogether and just go right for the throbbing gums. This was a huge moment!

Everyone was friendly, I got to listen to Mary J Blige in the chair, we all had a good laugh.

This is dentistry I can get behind! We consulted on a few dental concerns of mine, and I didn't feel like I was getting the used car salesmen pitch. I hate being "upsold" by health care professionals, I really do.

I honestly had a good time, and I'm not in pain. And the cherry on top? When I went over the bill and my insurance printout, they charge exactly the allowable amount by my insurance provider. My old dentist charged a good 15 - 20 % over the allowable amount, which really dinged me when we did big procedures. Now I'm all for people setting their own prices, and charging what they think they're worth, but they're just not the dentist I can afford to go to.

To quote Annie's song as she arrived at Daddy Warbuck's mansion for the first time; "I think I'm gonna like it here".

Did I really just quote Annie?

No, I didn't have any nitrous oxide.