Teeth

and visiting the dentist

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Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones Deck Prompts — Let’s talk about teeth. Mention those incisors and everyone has a story. Tell it.

When I was a child, my mother took us to the dentist twice a year. There were four of us for my first ten years, and then we had a fifth brother. Most of the time, no trauma, until the day the dentist said that I needed to have a procedure.

I don’t remember much about what was supposed to happen, but it meant the doctor would give me “laughing gas” to assist with the procedure. To make me more comfortable.

Well, that day came along and I bit that dentist. The story told is that he would no longer take me as a patient in his office. My mother then took us to see a children’s dentist. A program that only worked with children.

After that experience, I was afraid of the dentist and would do my best to get out of going for many years. And because of that, I had cavities that needed to be fixed over the years.

Then, in my mid-twenties, things changed as I started to be concerned about taking care of my teeth again. And my new dentist, I confessed to that I was having anxiety over seeing him. He was great as step by step, he would walk me through the visit. Letting me know every next move.