I know I’m an idiot, but I didn’t go see a dentist for a really long time. And I paid for that. I had to have an abscess treated at the emergency room late last year and had to stay in the hospital overnight. That cost more than anything I saved by not going to a dentist.

The ER people told me I needed a lot of dental work. It was a lot more than I thought it would be, but probably not as bad as it could have been. I need to have my wisdom teeth out too.

I found a great dental clinic. Even the first cleaning worried me because it had been so long, but I was completely relaxed within a few minutes. The hygenist was great and so was the dentist. They were both a lot more gentle than I expected. They went out of their way to be gentle. They asked me what I don’t like about dentists and I told them it was the fear of the unknown. I guess that’s right.

I started treatment last week and had four teeth restored. I had NO pain and just a very little bit of discomfort. I tried to fall asleep twice while they were working on me. They said that was OK if I wanted to. At least I got over being nervous. I like having a plan.

Everybody I know has a dental horror story, but none of them are Dr V’s patients. I sometimes wonder if the people who make it sound so bad even go to the dentist.

It’s not an ordeal or a problem in any way. I didn’t like the injection, but even that wasn’t as bad as when I was a kid. And within a day, the pain in the 4 teeth he worked on so long was all gone.

So I learned that dentists aren’t bad. I don’t want to ever spend a night in a hospital again, so I’m not going to mess up again. I’ve stopped telling my friends I’m getting my teeth fixed because I don’t want to hear their horror stories. They’re just not true for me.