Trina Machacek
Not to start a war, but which would we rather go to: the dentist or the doctor? In thinking about this I am reminded of another question that there is no good answer to. That question is, “Do you still beat your wife?”
There is no answer that is acceptable to me, for either question. But. Yes, a two sided “but.” If there is an answer to the doctor dentist question, I suppose it would depend on if and where you were hurting.
Break a tooth, go to the dentist. Break a leg and the doctor is in your future. Neither is pleasant as going to the movies for sure. I just talked to a mom at the post office a few days ago who was nursing her son back to health after he had his tonsils out.
Those first few days after the snippety snip had been quite dramatic. The poor kid didn’t want to swallow – until the ice cream came out. Knowing the kid, I would bet he would have rather gone to the dentist than be put through what he was going through.
Oh, the mom isn’t out of the woods yet. Next week her husband goes in for the same thing! We commiserated on the trials of having a sick husband. But that is altogether a story of a different color to tell.
I admit I’m probably the only person I know that has never had a root canal procedure from a dentist. I cringe when someone says they are going in for one. I cringe when the word dentist is used in mixed company.
The last time I was tortured by a dentist was some 50 years ago. I’ll let you figure out why I don’t mind going now. Over the years I have seen my friends take that walk from their chair in the dentist waiting room down the hall to the dungeon.
I no longer have beads of sweat develop on my brow when I sit in the lovely plastic dentist chair and have a spit rag clamped around my neck. The worst part of the dentist to me is the pick! As I sit here today, I can still feel the pick scratching at my teeth.
Oh yes, in the recesses of my mind I still hear the dentist laugh with pleasure of my pain. But that’s just me. Or is it? Now the doctor. Over my many years I have seen things in doctor’s offices and hospitals. Things that I can’t unsee.
Here again I have been quite lucky and have seen things done to others, but I’ve not really had bad things done to me. Thank the Lord. So, I am not too afraid of the doctor either. It’s like the dentist. There is something most of us have within our brains that even the worst of pain becomes a memory.
Here again, I have not been through the wonderful but painful joy of giving birth. Like that root canal thing. Interestingly enough though I have asked moms of different ages if they remember the pain of delivery.
Amazingly they all say it was worth it and they don’t attribute much memory to it. Most said the outcome was worth it all. I suppose it is like ending up with good teeth after a root canal. You have the pain of childbirth, it is intense, but holding that baby makes it all melt away.
I will admit when I found I was going to have a baby, the first thing I said as I looked at that stick with the plus sign on it was, “Oh this is going to hurt.” In the end it didn’t because I didn’t have the baby.
Really, the aftermath of a miscarriage is probably the worst pain I have ever felt. And the doctor wasn’t even there. I still think that root canal thing must be pretty significant. The doctor or the dentist.
There has to be better things to think of than which is the lesser evil. Like popcorn for instance. Stick with me here. The making of popcorn has come a long way over the years. When microwave popcorn first popped onto the scene it was a toss-up as to just how long to leave it into pop to perfection.
More often than not it came out smoking. But here’s one for you. The last time my other half went to the dentist the guy was poking around in his mouth.
He had a partial plate that needed repair, but the dentist poked at the roof of his mouth and soon came out with a popcorn kernel that was embedded in there for who knows how long. Yes, he was using the PICK! I rest my case.
Trina Machacek lives in Diamond Valley north of Eureka. Email itybytrina@yahoo.com.