A Little Scrapey Scrapey (Crown Saga, Part 2)

So, here we are again. At the dentist.

Smile's looking better, though you can tell those three are fake!

This time it was for a deep Periodontal cleaning (also known as Scaling and Root Planing). It was 'highly recommended' I get my upper teeth super clean before they put on my front crowns. No sense putting crowns on dirty teeth, right?  Generally, when someone gets this done, they do Upper Left and Lower Left (or rights), but since my crowns would span Upper Left and Upper Right, we did that instead.

I was seated in a different area of the office, and it was COLD in here!  Plus, the hygenist lady had a fan on. I was going to be miserable, I just knew it. 

Luckily, she noticed that I was chilly and explained why it was kept so cold in there: Since she had to wear a large facemask (she looked like a welder), it was kept cold so that her breath wouldn't fog up on the inside of the mask. The fan helped with that too.  She offered me a blanket, which I gratefully accepted!

Long pants, sweater and blankie

All of her tools were laid out on the tray, and soon the dentist was in there giving me shots of Novocaine to numb me all the way up. The numbing was because they would be cleaning under the gumline, and that shit hurts.

So. Many. Picky things.

Okay, I have to tell you this - having your entire upper mouth numbed almost to your soft palate is the WEIRDEST feeling in the universe!  Your whole mouth feels swollen, and as she laid me back, I seriously thought I was choking. All I could feel was the spongy, soft part of my mouth at the back of my throat - it was like a warm oyster was trying to block my airway. SO FREAKING WEIRD! It took me a few minutes to get used to it!

Once used to it, it wasn't 'better' per se, but I was at least able to handle it.  I put my earphones in, put my sunglasses on and let her scrape the hell out of my teeth. She wasn't very descriptive in what she was doing, but it didn't take very long (maybe 20 minutes?) After looking it up online, the cleaning includes cleaning calculus, plaque and bacteria, both above and below the gumline, as well as smoothing and shaping tooth root to remove bacteria. Finally, an antibiotic is prescribed, for healing. 

Once done, I was free to head off to work.  I'll return next week to get my permanent crowns!