Recently Made

My brave daughter finished some truly epic dental work today. Over a few visits she had fillings, sealants, and crowns (oh my!). If you've been reading here for a while you know that I am not a huge fan of going to the dentist so I was miserable at the thought of my poor girl in the chair.

I try really hard not to pass my dental issues on to my kids but I was pretty nervous at the thought of all the work needing to be done. I wanted to give her something to honor what I considered her exceptional bravery and overall good cheer about having people mucking around in her mouth and sticking her with needles. Ideally this something would be small, soft, and smile worthy. Which explains a couple of secretive evenings spent in the basement making.....felt teeth. With faces.

I got the patterns from the book Softies by Therese Laskey which is full of charming little projects. Honestly, these are really pushing the cutesy boundary for me but they seemed to do the trick as Tovah made it thorough both long appointments without even a tear. Maybe it was just due to the skill of my truly wonderful dentist. But I'd like to think my goofy little handmade teeth helped just a bit.

Whew!

With the help of a little Valium I made it through 3 hours in the dentist's chair yesterday for a root canal and two crowns. While the dentist and his staff are very kind and patient but I think what really made yesterday tolerable (apart from the Valium) was that for the first time ever, a dentist actually listened to me about my sensitivity to epinephrine and used an alternative anesthetic. The alternative's effect is much shorter so I ended up having somewhere around 14 separate injections. My mouth is quite sore today, but it's so minimal compared to not feeling like I'm having a heart attack. I really think all my dental anxieties over the years can be directly traced to this one drug which is bad for me. What a different experience when someone actually listens.

So, for anyone in the Portland area, needing an excellent mercury-free dentist, do let me know. I get a $20 credit for each patient I refer. Since I still need another $2000 worth of work before my mouth is mercury free, every little bit will help.