An Irrational Fear

I think it's safe to say that MOST people hate or are afraid of the dentist.

I had a friend once tell me that she got in the dentist's chair, started crying before he even started doing anything, and she straight up got up and left without saying bye.

I have an irrational fear of the dentist as well (not as bad as said friend^^^), but it's still pretty bad.

My last dentists' appointment in Massachusetts, I tearfully told my dentist in the chair about my horrible experience with military dentistry, and how I had this fear that he was going to tell me that he'd have to pull all my teeth out....irrational, right?

I actually sweat bullets when I'm in a dentists chair....

In my 10 years as a Marine, Navy/Army dental ruined my life, and ruined the chance for any good dentist outside of the military to have a fighting chance with me.

I once had a tooth extracted in Iraq in not so favorable conditions....and it got infected....in Iraq.....

It was horrible.

Trying to keep your mouth clean when there is literally a sand storm every day is nearly impossible...unless you don't breath through your mouth, open your mouth, or talk....

And even then, some of that fine Iraqi desert sand will find it's way into your mouth.

There was also that one time, I had a root canal done by the Navy, only to find out 3 years later by a civilian dentist that I went to while on recruiting duty told me it was the worst root canal he had ever seen, and immediately scheduled to have it re done....

Yeah...I had two root canals done on the same tooth....awful...

And as much as I tried to avoid dental as much as possible in the Marine Corps, we have these things called "medical and dental" hitlists that come out weekly (sometimes daily).

It's a list of ALL Marines in your command that are due for shots, physicals, pap smears (yeah I said it), and of course dental work...everything from cleanings, check ups, and wisdom teeth removals.

Oh, and THEY WILL remove your wisdom teeth whether you need them out or not.

And heaven forbid you get "behind" a little on your shots, physicals, and dental appointments.

They will make you non deployable and embarrass/harass you until you are physically "up to code".

So I have this dull tooth ache in the back of my mouth.

I've been avoiding it, and trying to ignore it the last few days hoping it would magically go away.

But it hasn't.

I finally called today and made an appointment this week to go get it checked out.

Honestly, all morning while I was working out at the gym and on my run, all I could think about was having to make this dreaded appointment.

I seriously hate the dentist....hate them....

Just a few photos from the weekend...

The Aggies finally won this week...yay!

 

It's hard to get this kid to smile in a photo, but I promise he smiles a lot...

Some cuddle time with this princess.

We had our annual family photos taken this weekend.

I become a stress monster around family photo time.

Trying to find the perfect outfits for everyone...

Getting myself ready.

Making sure everyone is dressed the way I want them dressed.

Doing Dannika's hair while she tearfully cries that I am hurting her head while brushing tangles out....

Yeah...I needed this glass of wine before our photos....

Hope everyone else had a great weekend!