Novocaine soup, anyone?

Wednesday, January 05, 2005 | comments (2)
I recently went to the dentist to have my six-month checkup. I'm pretty good about dentist visits. Generally, it seems like a wise thing to do. In Dallas I had a GREAT dentist: Dr. Scott. But I hadn't been to the dentist here in DC yet, so I was a bit nervous about finding one that would be as good as Dr. Scott. I finally found one through a friend of mine at work. I like him in so much as he's a nice guy and in general does not inflict unnecessary pain, but I'm not sure I'm going to stay with him. For one thing, he made me worry about this stupid little white thing on my tongue. Had me convinced I had cancer or something. Then I go to the oral surgeon and the guy just shrugs and says he's 'not impressed.' He didn't even think it was necessary to do a biopsy. Okay, so maybe it's good that my new dentist is overly thorough and wants to get things checked out to be on the safe side, but on the other hand, shouldn't he have known it was nothing? Second, I had to get a filling done by the new dentist. Everything went very well. Quick and painless. But now the filling hurts. I bit into some moderately crunchy cereal the other night and felt a sharp nerve pain in the tooth that was recently filled. Tonight I bit into a very soft cookie and felt the same thing. So now I'm a little pissed. I had no problems before seeing this dentist and since seeing him I've developed two problems: One that turned out not to be a problem and another that shouldn't have been a problem but is turning out to be a serious problem.

So I may have to look for a new dentist, but not before I check to see if this one will fix the filling he did at no extra cost.

One thing I've noticed about having a cavity filled is how my attitude has changed over the years in regard to novocaine. When I was a kid I hated not being able to feel my mouth. It really bothered me to be numb. Now I don't mind it at all. Numb is good. If I'm numb, then there is no pain. And no pain is okay by me. It seems that most feeling involves some degree of pain these days. Even pleasure brings about pain because there is always the awareness that the pleasure will stop at some point. I like the idea of not feeling for a time. Then there's no reason to be sad, happy, angry, disappointed, or . . . anything. Of course I wouldn't want to always feel this way. Indifferent. But it's nice for a little while . . . you know . . . to have a nice litte reprieve from sensation.

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"Even pleasure brings about pain because there is always the awareness that the pleasure will stop at some point."


This is part of what Buddhists call the Four Noble Truths. All life is dukkha, or unsatisfactory-ness (frequently translated as suffering), and this idea is key to understanding how ALL life is dukkha.


Sorry to hear about your filling. :-( I think there is a Craigslist in DC; I find it a great place to get recommendations.

Posted by sparkle on Jan 13, 2005 at 10:10:19 AM
Guess I have a little buddha inside me after all. But don't we all?

The nerve pain is actually subsiding . . . turns out it may just be a bruised tendon. Didn't know we had tendons in our gums. If it's not that, then it's a cracked tooth, but the dentist saw no evidence of such a thing. Will give it a couple of more weeks before I raise more hell.

Posted by Rothko on Jan 13, 2005 at 12:25:41 PM

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