Monday, January 6, 2020, 11:30 a.m.
I have been stressing out about this dental appointment for weeks! But the holidays are past and I have no more excuses for not getting these fillings done. So I set the alarm for this morning and did exactly as planned before leaving.
I signed in when I got there. No one was at the reception desk at the time. And there weren’t any other patients in the waiting room. But I was called in at 11:28 a.m. and ushered into a different room. Apparently, there was a treatment room that was not used as one of the exam rooms. The dental hygienist seated me in the chair and fastened the blue paper bib around my neck.
Dr. Munjpara Dharaben came in soon after that, confirmed that she was doing two fillings today. She told me what would be happening (shot) and then preceded to do it. She said (predictably), “You will feel a little pinch, so take a deep breath.”
So I started mindful breathing during the process and I believe it worked! It was not that I didn’t feel the “pinch” of the needle, but I could acknowledge its presence and then let it go without letting it affect me.
She came back after 5 or 10 minutes, told me to let her know if there was any pain while she worked. And she started drilling. Again, I kept the mindful breathing going (while trying to remember to keep my mouth open). It seemed like the whole procedure happened very fast. (Is that just because I’m old and time passes faster?) I could tell when she began the filling and then apparently “cured” it with some kind of light. And then she was out!
The dental hygienist gave me a cup of mouth wash and told me to hold my head over the sink so I could rinse and spit. And then he removed the bib and then he was out.
I stopped by the desk of the receptionist to make payment and to wait for my printout of the receipt. When I got into my van, the clock said exactly 11:58 a.m. I would be home in the afternoon, as I promised Linda and Emily.
