ouch

so, i spent half of last night with the left side of my face numb & puffy; and, i spent the other half of last night trying to forget i had a left side of my face because it hurt. honestly, i’m just really glad i didn’t manage to bite my tongue off while eating my medicinal tomato soup.
the nerves i was feeling about this dental visit were unfounded. i had a funky reaction to the freezing when i went to get a crown last year. i had weird chills down my left side and my heart was palpitating like mad. after talking with a friend in dental school, we sussed out a probable sensitivity to the epinephrine they put in the injection now. i had reported this to the dentist when i went back and it was written on my chart. i saw it there when i went for a cleaning last month!
anyway, i was chatting with the assistant (christine) and denis (my dentist) swoops in and before i can say anything, he’s given me the freezing. as i’m sitting there, i look at christine and casually inquired whether i got the stuff without epinephrine. her eyes bugged out. she looked at me with terror and said “no, we gave you the same stuff. are you okay?!” i took mental stock of my bodily processes and besides an increased heart rate due to anticipatory stress, i seemed to be fine. i grinned as best i could with a half-numb face and said “if not, at least we’re close to the hospital”. she laughed, but i could still tell she was concerned. she immediately went and highlighted the note on my chart. when denis had to give me more freezing there was this silent exchange where she pointed out the newly highlighted information, he read it and grunted assent. she later told me the non-epinephrine stuff was in the second shot.
[time passes]
the fillings are completed, i get a final rinse and i spit into the suction tube. denis is taking off his gloves and saying “that’s great! you can’t even tell. oh, just so you know, your insurance probably won’t cover all of these. they don’t like to pay for the white fillings. you know how insurance companies are.” i wanted to bust out laughing, but i was sure i’d just soil myself with slobber. i absolutely loved how he tells me this AFTER the fillings are in! not that it makes any difference, i’ll pay the bill regardless and it’s actually somewhat relieving to have two less mercury amalgam fillings out of my body. i was just amused at his timing. that denis, he’s one smart cookie.
today i’m a little sore where he did the injections, but my teeth feel great. i’d got so used to sticking my tongue in the cracks in that tooth, though. i don’t know what i’ll get to stick my tongue in now. *grin*