A Year of Blogging: February 9, 2011

February 9 was Toothache Day. That seems like a lousy thing to celebrate. Toothaches are not fun. Dentists are not fun. I hate dentists. Well, not the person, but the profession. When I was 13, I had to have braces. I actually had my first consultation with the orthodontist on my 13th birthday. Happy Birthday! When our dentist told my mom I needed braces, she wasn't really surprised. It was what he said next that floored her. "Amy has a small mouth." He meant this as an explanation- my teeth were crowding each other out and overlapping. They were going to have to pull four molars to give more room for the remaining teeth. My mother, however, said "Are you sure you're talking about MY Amy? Her mouth is NOT small". Haha, Mom! About a month after my first visit with the orthodontist, it was off to the dentist one Saturday. He removed a molar from the top and the bottom on one side of my mouth. The following Saturday it was back for the other side. In another couple of weeks, it was time for the first of over three years of visits to the orthodontist. Most times my mouth hurt so much after an orthodontist appointment, I wasn't able to eat solid food. We always made a stop at Ted's Fish Fry, because they had the best coffee milkshakes. My mom also got really good at making milkshakes. It's a wonder I wasn't 300 lbs, because there were many days that my only nutrition came from milkshakes, pudding, or jello (I don't like soup, so I wouldn't eat it). In true Amy form, I was allergic to the metal on the braces, so I had to wear special rubber bumpers and use lots of wax. I don't know anyone who's enjoyed having braces, but for me, it was pure hell. When the braces finally came off- the orthodontist delivered the final punch: they took the braces off, I went into another room for an xray, and then he said 'your wisdom teeth have to come out, or your teeth will move again because you'll have the same crowding problem'. My wisdom teeth hadn't even started coming in, and they wanted to take them out! I think I ran out of the office screaming. I refused to let them take my wisdom teeth. I had had enough of dentists, orthodontists, and those miserable chairs. My parents felt I had been through enough, and if I needed the wisdom teeth out later, we'd deal with it then. 19 years later, I still have the wisdom teeth. They've never come all the way through. My other teeth have shifted a little, but it's not really noticeable. My jaw was realigned so much that I have TMJ, and there are still days my jaw hurts so much I have to resort to a milkshake. Milkshake dinners aren't as fun as they were when I was 14!