So I survived my dental appointment! I'm a tiny bit disappointed about that -- I was very much looking forward to haunting all of you out there! -- but I'm glad that the appointment went rather well. Amazingly, I had no cavities, and apparently my gums are healthy as well! w00t!

I also saw a new dentist this time around (apparently the last time I saw a dentist was in August 2006). I didn't much like the last guy -- among other things, he was an unctuous sort who kept going on about my "pretty teeth" as if he wanted to fuck my mouth -- but I think I'll go to this new one again (assuming I'm still in the area whenever I decide I need another teeth cleaning). One thing I liked about her was that she didn't mention any unnecessary work. See, I have an open bite -- in front, my teeth don't meet -- so usually dentists will at least suggest fixing it, even though it's fine in a medical sense and would require them to fucking cut the part with my bottom teeth off of my jaw, suspend it, and let the bone grow back together. My teeth also aren't the whitest, so dentists will usually mention their whitening services or something. This dentist didn't say anything.

She also kept the small talk to a minimum. Growing up I had this dentist who was alright (I don't see him now because I pay out of pocket and he's rather expensive), but -- while I appreciated his friendly manner -- his small talk sort of got on my nerves. He'd go on and on and on about how his son was in such-and-such grade now and played X position on the soccer team and it's like Bloody hell stop talking about your son and get me the flip out of this chaaaaaair! And that last guy going on about my "pretty teeth" was just creepy. This dentist again, didn't say anything. Actually, I probably would've liked it if she'd said a little more -- she came across as slightly cold, though perhaps she was just focused on her job. Still, unless the dentist is telling me about problems in my mouth and things I need to do to fix them, I'd rather have him/her say too little than too much.

There was one odd bit of dialogue where she asked me if I grind my teeth. I said, "I haven't noticed that, no," to which she responded by asking me if anyone had ever told me that I grind my teeth. I found that strange at first -- I mean, if anyone else knew that I grind my teeth, then I'd know too, right? But then she explained that teeth-grinding often happens when people sleep, so people sleeping with them are the ones who notice... and then I'm like, no, there's no chance that anyone would ever be in a position to tell me that! I think she was confused by my response.

Really, do I seem like someone who would be sleeping with people? At least that wasn't as bad as the last dentist, who told me that he just couldn't get into that hip-hop music "we" listen to. Ugh.