Tag Archives: dentist

Learning From My Dental Situation (or How Getting A Crown is Educating Me on My Weight Loss)

Posted on September 4, 2012 | 1 comment

I’m writing Tuesday’s post on Monday night because tomorrow morning is part one of my crown procedure at the dentist. I’m horribly nervous and can’t wait for this whole thing to be done.

The only positive that I can see out of having this done is getting an extra day off of work (but that also means less money in my next paycheck). Also, if this wasn’t being done now, it could end up being a root canal (which I’ve never had and never want).

Sometimes, you just have to suck it up and do something because in the long run, it will be a good thing, even if in the short term you are extremely unhappy or stressed.

This crown is costing a ton of money (and my insurance isn’t very good so at most, half of it is covered), but a cracked tooth or a root canal would be way more money.

Yes I’m missing out on another day of work, but my supervisor knows and if any of my customers call in, he’ll take the order for me and I’ll get my commission.

Yes, I hate that I have a ton of weight to lose now and a bunch of debt to pay off, but if I don’t do it now, how much worse will it get?

I’ve talked about the “what ifs” before, and I don’t want this time in my life to be a  “what if” in a year or two. If I don’t take action now, I’m going to regret it later in life. This I know for sure.

I’m going into tomorrow expecting a bad day. It will go one of two ways. Either my mouth will be so sore and so numb that I won’t eat anything all day and that will be that. Or I’ll be in a ton of pain until right before dinner and then I’ll be starving. I’m hoping it will be the first, but I’m trying to prepare my house with foods that are safe both for my crown and my waistline.

Soups, whole fruit popsicles, yogurt, and jello all seem like they are safe in both ways. I’ll have to be careful eating with the temporary crown, but maybe that will help kickstart this attempt at weight loss.

I’m hoping to not get too out of control tomorrow. But I’m also allowing myself to do so and not go into a downward spiral. If tomorrow is a bad day, why does the next day, or week, or month have to be bad too.

This is the lesson I’m hoping to learn from this really sucky dental situation.

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Posted in Food, Tough Stuff, Weight Loss

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My Fear of the Dentist (or Why I’m a Faint Risk)

Posted on August 22, 2012 | 6 comments

Yesterday I was talking about how I’m scared of going to the dentist. I think I should explain my fear a bit more.

As a kid, I don’t remember ever being scared of the dentist. I didn’t like having impressions done or the bite things they put in my mouth for the x-rays, but that’s nothing.

Now, I’m shaking and have to take panic medication before going in.

The main part of my fear is my issue with needles. I tend to faint when needles go in my skin. I’ll faint for flu shots, blood draws, IVs, anything. I’ve gotten better where I can remain conscious most of the time, but I’m still listed as a faint risk at the hospital I go to. I only started having problems with needles as an adult.

This is what I learned in hypnotherapy (don’t judge me for that please) about my fear of needles. When I was in high school, I had a rabbit named Jasper. He was a huge rabbit and my family loved him a lot. Jasper had a jaw abscess and my parents knew that we could handle his medical care with some guidance from the vet. We had to keep the area clean with saline twice a day. Normally my parents did this, but there was a morning where my mom was out of town or something so I was helping my dad. I wasn’t feeling right when I was filling the syringe with saline and I told my dad I thought I was going to pass out. He thought I was just being a wimp and said I wouldn’t faint. Next thing you know, I’m passed out on the kitchen floor. Somehow, my mind now associated needles with fainting.

I’ve had to have dental work in the past where you have to be numbed up, and that involves shots. And yes, I’ve fainted in the dentist chair. I really don’t want that to happen again.

You never know when you are going to have dental work done that involves needles. I inherited bad teeth, so I know that eventually I’ll probably need another filling or have one of my crowns redone.

But my smile has always been one of my better features, no matter what weight I am, so I’ll continue to take my panic medication, go to the dentist, and hope that this time, I won’t faint.

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Posted in Tough Stuff

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