Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Perspective

Today was my 6 month dental cleaning. I'm lucky, I don't have the anxiety about going to the dentist's office that a lot of people have. Probably because I've never had anything more invasive than just cleaning. I've never had a cavity, braces, tooth pulled or any of the ordinary dental problems some of my friends have endured. So, this morning while I was in the waiting room a young girl (late 20's or early 30's) was anxiously tapping her foot and looking stressed. All of a sudden she say's, "I just hate this!"

I asked her if she meant waiting or going to the dentist in general. She replied, "Both."

I inquired further asking, "Have you had a bad experience with dentists?" thinking a root canal or possibly worse. But she replied. "No, I just hate the cleaning, it hurts sooooo bad!"

I thought about it for a few minutes and then decided that since she was obviously young she hadn't had enough life experiences to make a comparison so I told her that her perspective will change as she ages. I told her I now think in terms of hysterectomy/teeth cleaning, hip replacement/childbirth......it's all about perspective.

1 comment:

kenju said...

I have my teeth cleaned every three months and have done so for many years. I have only had pain one time during or after a cleaning, and I told the dentist and he said that should never happen, so he fired the hygienist. The two I've had since then have never hurt me.