Years ago, a dentist tried to pull off a temporary crown without numbing it first. He only tried a moment before I waved him off.
But, that was ten years ago, and I was a baby about dental things then. I went in for a temporary crown replacement today, and I decided — given what happened to Gary years ago — I would avoid the Novocaine and just gut it out.
The assistant grabbed the temporary, wiggled it, and it fell out. “That’s nothing!” I thought,”Why have I been such a baby?”
Little did I know the fun was just beginning. The rest of it was … not painful … but unpleasant. You know that feeling when someone applies a cold adhesive to virginal gum tissue? Oh, you don’t? See, you haven’t had a crown replaced while sober. I mean, it didn’t really hurt, just that my sensitive gums were very raw and touchy.
The assistant and dentist were very good about letting me know what things were going to feel like. By the end, so many things had been puffed and painted on my tooth stump that it ceased to care.
Still, I did feel proud of myself at the end.