Phobic

When I was in second grade, I had a loose tooth or two that I simply could not bring myself to pull out. Oh, they were more than ready to come out, but I was terrified at the prospect. I have a dental phobia, you see. I remember that my mother set up an appointment for me that year in second grade. She gave me a note to give to the elementary school office so I could get out of class and go. Well, I figured that if I didn't give the office that note, they wouldn't let me leave for the appointment. It was a nice try, but no. Of course it didn't work.

They got me to the dental office. I sat in the chair under that horrid light with that scary drool bib around my neck. My dentist sat in the stool beside my chair and told me to open up my mouth. I flat out refused. I clinched my teeth and tightened my lips, shaking my head. The man even tried to pry my jaw open, but I let out muffled screams, and still resisted. He wasn't too thrilled with that, but I was completely terrified and determined to get out of the whole situation.

Of course, in the end, with a little monetary coaxing from my parents, I submitted and the dentist extracted one of my loose teeth. I'm pretty sure I cried during the procedure. I also pretended that I didn't know what he was doing in my mouth. Quite the traumatizing experience.

Anyway, I am completely fascinated by anyone with an interest in sticking their fingers in people's mouths for a living. Why, oh why would you want to do that? Well, I'm sure the money is a factor. But still, you have to be a pretty special kind of person to become a dentist willingly, in my humble opinion.

Did you know that Hayfield Dental Care has had over 23,000 different patients since they opened in the mid 1980's? There must be a whole lot of people in the Alexandria, VA area. It probably helps that they have an orthodontist as well....Another traumatizing experience....*shudder*