8.14.2006
end of an era
For 35 years, I looked forward to each dentist visit. Yeah, I sometimes had a lot of tartar build-up, but in all that time I never had a cavity.
Until today.
The dentist seemed sort of sad giving me the news. I asked, "Does this mean you'll have to use a drill, like in the movies, when someone goes to the dentist?" Yes, he told me, it does.
It's as though I'm losing a part of my self. It used to be one of my things, part of a triumvirate of boasts: "I never learned how to ride a bike, I've never eaten a pickle, and I've never had a cavity." Now that there is decay in my dentin layer, am I still the same person I used to be? This is kind of how it felt when I realized I needed glasses--like part of me that I'd always trusted to work perfectly was letting me down. Like I'm rusting.
Until today.
The dentist seemed sort of sad giving me the news. I asked, "Does this mean you'll have to use a drill, like in the movies, when someone goes to the dentist?" Yes, he told me, it does.
It's as though I'm losing a part of my self. It used to be one of my things, part of a triumvirate of boasts: "I never learned how to ride a bike, I've never eaten a pickle, and I've never had a cavity." Now that there is decay in my dentin layer, am I still the same person I used to be? This is kind of how it felt when I realized I needed glasses--like part of me that I'd always trusted to work perfectly was letting me down. Like I'm rusting.
