A Visit to the Dentist

Last week I participated in the Iowa Summer Writing Festival and took a class led by Doug Goetsch. We wrote four or five short pieces every day spurred by a variety of prompts. We could write in any genre so some were poems, some fiction, and some memoir  The following piece was written when we were challenged to write about something we dislike from a positive perspective.

A Visit to the Dentist

I have really great teeth.

I inherited them from my grandfather. Not his teeth specifically but the genetics that make for good teeth I suppose. Add that to the five years of braces that accompanied me through adolescence and you’ll find the least embarrassing physical trait on my person. So taking care of my teeth is important and going to the dentist is a semi-annual event that I refuse to miss.

I am fortunate enough to have found a dentist that I like. He is personable without being nosy or trite. His staff is friendly and professional. The waiting room is stocked with current magazines but I never seem to have the time to leaf all the way through one before I am called into an examination room. There, I can choose the style of music that is played during my visit. My personal preference is heavy metal but I worry that it sets the wrong tone for someone wielding sharp metal objects, so I choose the light jazz.

The dental hygienist and her assistant do most of the cleaning. I shut my eyes against the blinding, overhead light and they lean over me to pick at the small bits of plaque that have evaded toothbrush and floss. They chat idly about their children’s gymnastics, concern for aging parents, the price of hay, planning a baby shower and which bakery in town has the best butter cream frosting. I silently wonder at the number of times I have had similar conversations to pass the time or just to hear myself tell a story that I want to hear out loud.

 When it’s time to polish my teeth I am able to choose from a list of designer toothpaste flavors that include cinnamon, grape, strawberry, vanilla-mint. I stick with the classic mint. Not once am I asked to “rinse and spit.” Every stray bit of spittle and toothpaste are vacuumed away with a small suction hose. I never have to sit up once.

At the counter on the way out I can schedule my next appointment and they have my bill already waiting, adjusted for my personal insurance program. Altogether, this visit takes less than 45 minutes. I walk out the door proud to have braved another dental visit and aware that the ache of my jaw and tingle of my gums will keep me mindful of the great gift I carry in my mouth.