Soy Ahoy!

The pirate told me she wants a gold tooth, but according to the dentist, she's more likely to get an orthodontic appliance of some sort. Consolation prize? Chocolate croissant. And for me, soy latte from Allegro, the best coffeehouse in Seattle. Unfortunately the best barista in Seattle seems to have sold his share of the business and was no longer there, after 20 years of excellence. The latte was still excellent, so I guess he passed down the legacy.

open, please . . . yawn

Okay, this one is just a little too easy . . . can you imagine an average day in the practice?
Dr. Dull: Got some plaque here . . . not too bad . . .

Patient: Vague "uh-huh" noise escapes around latex glove-filled mouth.

Dr. Dull: Daily flossing is very important.

Patient: "ggg yah," eyes widening to show agreement

Dr. Dull: How about those Mariners?

Patient: Rising intonation "uhghgh."

Dr. Dull: Have you seen our new software for tracking gum recession?

Patient: Eyelids open suddenly, look of sleepy confusion on face.

How to Survive the Dentist

Step One: Take good care of your teeth so all you're doing when you get there is having your teeth cleaned. Flossing is really worth it, despite its lack of glamor.

Step Two: Schedule your appointment wisely. While missing work may be appealing to some, don't underestimate the power of 3 days off prior to your check-up.

Step Three: Attend this fabulous teacher's class prior to your dental visit. You will be ready to lie in that chair after many repetitions of chair pose. And you will be seriously blissed out from an awesome session on the mat.

Step Four: Go to James of the Gentle Hands (aka James Swanson, DDS). His soft puppy-dog nature in greeting you, handling your teeth and gums, and overall demeanor make the experience so much more manageable than your average dentist.

Step Five: After your cleaning, proceed directly to your massage therapist for a long session on the table. If you are lucky enough to have a spot with James, then New Seattle Massage is just up the street.

Step Six: Go to this fabulous teacher's yoga class after your massage. Or before your massage. Or whenever you can. Unless you're still worn out from the first fabulous yoga session.

Step Seven: When you arrive home, celebrate your healthy mouth with something delicious. I recommend this creation I came up with due to odd cravings and a desire to clean out the frig:
(basically an apple cinnamon coffee cake with the substitutions of Greek yogurt and applesauce instead of eggs since I ate the last egg for breakfast, and sliced apple on top to use up the half apple getting old on the top shelf). Put lots of pecans, butter and brown sugar on top. And yes, you should definitely have coffee cake for dinner, you're on vacation, and you had to go to the dentist today! But don't forget to brush your teeth afterwards.

Too wrong to be right

Today we went to the dentist (joy). It was actually somewhat pleasant and uneventful, as Adelaide loves the dentist and they do both of our appointments at the same time, so it goes fairly quickly. The dental hygienist is quite taken with Adelaide, and today rewarded her with the usual toothbrush. In addition, she gave her a couple of these:Adelaide was thrilled, as she is always asking to floss which requires my help, and with these she could do it herself. But I foolishly thought this product was something which I could re-string with new floss to re-use. After all, it's a big hunk of plastic, most likely non-recyclable, and certainly wasteful in any case even if it can be recycled. I understand the intent, as most children are not as into oral hygiene as mine is (the first job she ever expressed an interest in? Dentist.), and convincing them to floss might be a real battle. But the wastefulness of these things is over the top, as far as I'm concerned.

Tomorrow's project? Finding a kid-friendly flosser which we can string ourselves. And maybe making a diorama of colorful, plastic, toothless creatures.

I'll Be Your Server Today

This morning I had the rare and lovely opportunity to go to a yoga class on a Friday. At my studio you sign in on a sheet and check off a box to say you have a pass. On the top of the sheet, for the office staff and accounting, it has the date and time along with the instructor's name.
This morning the regular Friday teacher's name was crossed out and the name of the former office manager was written in its place. I noticed, but wasn't really sure how that was going to work, as the woman was not a yoga instructor as far as I knew. But I was just happy to be there, and not really concerned, since I had taken many of the same classes as this woman and have a respect for her practice and for her as a person.

So, as it turned out, she did teach the class, and did a fine job of it. Her style was a blend of some of the instructors we had shared, and she was confident and led us through a well-balanced yoga session. I had the good experience of letting go of thoughts and getting into a meditative mindset, for the most part, but I must admit to one line of thinking that I let myself pursue a bit, which was remembering a funny experience from almost five years ago. It was another case of an office manager taking on an unexpected role, only this one was not nearly so pleasant or relaxing.

I know it was about 5 years ago because I had a friend watching my then infant for me, which was one of the first babysitting experiences I had done, and it was killing me that it was happening so I could have a filling put in at the dentist. But during my pregnancy one of my fillings from childhood gave up the fight and they wanted to wait until after I had the baby to replace it, so here I was. Everything started out as usual, with the hygienist setting up the horrid little dental dam and laying out the instruments of torture for the dentist.

After she had gotten me all prepped, another woman I didn't recognize came in and got out the big needle to numb me up. I was a little confused, because this was usually the dentist's job, and as far as I knew he didn't have a partner. But I figured he must have added one, and I couldn't really talk at that point so I had to roll with it. After she finished, she explained to me that Dr. Swanson would do any drilling needed and she would be setting the filling and making any necessary adjustments. I was able at that point to say that I didn't think we had been introduced and was she another dentist?

Now comes the good part. She apologized to me, and said she assumed that I remembered her as she had been the office manager while she was attending hygienist school. She explained that her training had included all aspects of fillings except drilling (hence her wielding the giant needle) and that Dr. Swanson checked her work but she basically did the majority of it.I didn't have a problem with this system, and she was gentle and did a good job on my tooth. But, um, hello, she assumed I recognized her as the office manager? And she didn't explain that she now had taken years of schooling so that she was capable of injecting my cranial nerve and putting amalgam in a hole in my tooth? If I had recognized her and thought that the dentist was trying to increase his practice by giving the office manager the needle full of drugs, I would have needed the apology. As it was, I was wanting to know but not fearing permanent nerve damage.

I wonder what the third case of office manager saves the day is going to be. All I can say is, if the receptionist at the ob/gyn starts to glove up, I am outta there.