Thursday, September 26, 2019, 10:00 a.m.
Rescheduled for Monday, November 18, 10:00 a.m.
I had set my alarm for 7:30 a.m. but I was awake at 6-something, in spite of not coming to bed until 1 o’clock. But I couldn’t get back to sleep. The covers were too hot. So I pulled my arms out. Then I had to go to the bathroom and couldn’t wait until the alarm rang. Again.
I turned the coffee on for Linda then sat down to check my blood sugars and take my morning meds. Checked Facebook, nothing urgent. I showered then put on my top and skirt that I bought to wear on the cruise (just because I wanted to feel better). I brushed my teeth, planning to get coffee after my appointment at 10:00 a.m.
I left the house at 9:33 and got to Golden State Smiles at 9:40. I signed in then waited. I was called in at 10 o’clock. Dr. Dharaben is still there, but I didn’t recognize any of the other office staff. I noticed that they no longer had the poster for Philips SoniCare electric toothbrushes.
When I mentioned that to the assistant who was working with me, she said, “Oh, no. Here is the one we recommend.” She pulled out a unit on the table behind her. “Oral B…” she continued with all the great features. I’m sighing inside! My first electric toothbrush was an Oral B Braun. I got it because that’s what Scott recommended when he came to our house for a visit in 2009. I used it until it was hard to find replacement brush heads, and then I bought a Phillips SoniCare because that’s what my dentist (SmileCare Dentistry at that time) recommended!
Dr. Dharaben came in and did a quick check. Then she hit me with the bad news. I need fillings in two teeth, lower left, outer side. She put a mirror in my hand while she showed me the ugly black lines going all the way across two molars.
Next the dental hygienist came in to do the cleaning and fluoride and to instruct me to not eat or drink for 30 minutes. And it was over, except for payment. Then the dental assistant came back in with the bill. I saw that it was going to be $300 for the two fillings, and I told her I couldn’t pay for the fillings today, that I would have to make an appointment in January.
She ushered me out of the dental exam room into the office where previously 4 or 5 young Latinas had sat. Now there were only two: the one who checked me in at the reception window and this one here at a desk spread with a lot of stuff, looking like she was probably doing the work of 3 other people! She was on the phone with a patient as I stood waiting by her desk.
The dental assistant had not told this woman that I wouldn’t be paying for (or getting) the two fillings today, so she had to re-compute today’s charges for just the exam and cleaning. I handed her the VISA card, hoping today’s charges would not max out the account!
I had to ask for a printout detailing today’s services, as I did last time. She sent a file to the printer, wordlessly. She then scheduled me to come back for the two fillings on January 6 and for the next routine exam and cleaning on May 21. May 21. That was the date in 2012 that we moved into our “new home” in Mission Bay. May 21 was the date in 2010 when I got my first electric toothbrush (the Oral B).
Well, I am screaming at the Universe on my way home. WHY?!? After I’ve spent all these months with extra careful brushing around the molars, outside, inside, and the backs, and swishing for 30 seconds with Listerine Zero EVERY DAMN TIME I brush! WTF?!?
When it came time tonight to enter something in my Gratitude Journal, I had a hard time thinking of anything. I just wrote, “I’m thankful that my dental appointment is over. But I have to go back in January for two fillings.” *sad face emoji*
