Like Pulling Teeth

I would say that getting me to talk or write about myself is like pulling teeth, but I’ve had five or six teeth pulled in my lifetime (or more, I honestly don’t remember), and a ton of root canals, and a ton of dental work in general, so pulling teeth is no big deal to me.

People who cringe about getting a cavity filled make me chuckle knowingly. I once had a dentist shatter one of the teeth he was trying to extract. It wasn’t a big deal, in hindsight. Just felt a bit weird and I could sort of sense the dentist was a little worried about it. Afterward, he said, “Whew, that could have been bad!”

But you can’t really jump into a conversation with someone who’s terrified of dentists and try to one-up their “oh I had my first cavity it was awful” stories. You just have to bite your lip and smile and nod and commiserate.

Those who haven’t experienced extensive dental problems and all the related social challenges during their 20s and 30s are those who live lives of extreme privilege and luxury, if anyone were to ask me.

But, as genetic deficiencies go, it’s not the worst (if you have money to pay dentists). It’s just that you never meet anyone else who has the vaguest clue how much one’s teeth affect their day-to-day lives in ways nobody realizes.