After 16 years of going home to my family dentist every year, someone else got to look at these pearly…well…ivories.  (Whitening these puppies? Not a chance!  Not my natural coloring.)

After 16 years of being in the U.S., my teeth finally have been touched by American dentists.

That’s right. Dentists. Plural.  Three of them. All in one day too.

Originally, I was supposed to go to the orthodontist consultation appointment then go to work. But then I had this mild sore throat and been tired all over since yesterday, so I decided to just stay home after the appointment.  As it turned out, the gods of Dentistry aligned the stars and I had everything done in one day.

And I’m still tired with a mild sore throat. *sigh*

It started with a simple orthodontic consultation at 8 a.m.

Yes, kids. I’m working on #8 on my 10 goals for 2009.  I’m looking into braces.

No Invisalign for me. My vanity doesn’t stand a chance against a $3000-$5000 price tag.  Besides, my orthodontist said braces will get the job done a LOT faster.  However, I *am* vain enough to pay a little extra for the “translucent” ones instead of the traditional metal.

Now, I have to get my teeth checked and cleaned before they can continue.  Since I have no dentist to speak of, the ortho office called up one of the offices their network in Lakewood which happened to have an opening at 9:30, half an hour from then.

Alrighty then.

So I headed over there.  The dentist poked around in there and reported to me that I had periodontitis and I will need to treat and stablize that before they can okay me for the braces.

Then the periodontist came in to explain everything to me.  She’s from Vietnam and she said that although dentistry is good in Southeast Asia, they concentrate on the teeth and NOT the gum.  That’s true.  And that Asians tend to have shorter roots so we really can’t afford to suffer periodontitis.

Now, I need a deep cleaning session…which she happened to have an opening at 1 p.m., 2 hours from then.

Alright then.

I ran off to have lunch with Aurora and ran back for the treatment.  She numbed my mouth and went to town with the deep cleaning.  I had that done just in November when I was home, but wasn’t quite as deep because they didn’t use anaesthetic.  This one was REALLY down in there.  However, she numbed me well enough and by golly I don’t know how she did what she did but I actually was falling asleep at some point.

I was told that flossing is no longer an optional step in my daily routine: it is a prescribed medication.  A month from now, if everything looks good, then I get the approval for braces.

My periodontist also said that getting braces will actually be good for my dental health.  Crooked teeth have more places for things to go hide.  With my conditions, it’s better to have less nooks and crannies.

Braces are no longer a vanity treatment: it is THE treatment.

At 2:30 p.m. I left the dentist office talking funny.  Should’ve recorded it.  My tongue was numb. So was a part of my nose.

Now that the anaesthetic wore off, my gum and teeth are sore.  I had to cancel my dinner with the girls and bought a tub of frozen yogurt instead.

Think of this as a preview of what to come once the braces are in.

So, in a couple of months, I’ll have braces to go with my glasses.

I will be a junior high nightmare.

At 32.

(Thank GOD I’m already married.)

Maybe I can squeeze in a LASIK procedure before then…