Gotta Love Genetics

It's that time of year again ... technically that time of twice a year. Hmm that semi-annual time of year? Yeah, that sounds better. Dentist time.

The wee ones have been going to the dentist for awhile, and they don't hate it -- yet. They will in time, I'm sure. And we know it will either be because of me or because of my husband. Or maybe both. We've all got our issues, and right now it looks like Mister Man has my teeth (hopefully) and Little Miss has my husband's.

At three, I'm afraid she has cavities. Note that I used the plural there. When I brush her teeth, all of a sudden I thought she had food stuck in two lower molars. I brushed. I brushed some more. It was still there. It's been there for awhile now, but luckily next Wednesday is their dentist appointment (and yes, I have to take off work to take them thanks to my husband scheduling their appointments for when we'll be out of town). I have my fingers crossed that they aren't cavities, as three is awfully young to start (and yes, I've read all the statistics).

BUT.

We don't drink juice (ever, we're weird that way). We brush as we're supposed to. We don't eat gummy candy or hard candies. She eats a lot of cheese. If she has cavities, it's all on my husband and his mouth full of yuck.

Me? I have totally different issues.

I've never had a cavity. Ever. In 33 plus years. In fact, I think I'd freak out if I had a cavity and had to get it taken care of. I don't like things in my mouth, and I especially don't like things in my mouth that vibrate (take that as you will, you dirty minded people).

How do I know this? Well, that's where my issues come in. I have no wisdom teeth, and not because I've had them taken out at some point. I just was born with no wisdom teeth. I'm also missing a tooth just to the left of my front teeth on top and have a half tooth on the right side next to the front teeth.

In fact, that missing tooth was the only reason I had to have braces, as the permanent tooth for the one behind it came in where the missing tooth was supposed to be. Once it was moved into place, I had the worst dentist appointment ever.

Keep in mind that they had to pull the baby tooth before all this happened. And I made them use general anesthesia because I couldn't handle being awake while they worked in my mouth like that. Now I had to have new teeth put on and in. That's a lot of work in my mouth. Four hours of work in my mouth, if I remember correctly. And no, they wouldn't let me do general again for that (party poopers).

For four hours, they ground down the teeth on either side of where the fake tooth was going in. I could feel the heat created on those teeth as they were ground to dust. And that dust flew everywhere. For four hours (have I mentioned yet that it was a four hour visit?), dust went up my nose and made me sneeze -- which is not what you want to do when you have drills and other such fun tools in your mouth. The dust coated my tongue and went down my throat, making me gag.

I could smell it, I could taste it, and I could feel the vibration over and over and over. Long before they finally finished, I was shaking and in a cold sweat. I had that done when I was 14 or so. They aren't supposed to be permanent from what I've been told, and I should have them replaced, says my dentist. Umm, not likely. If and when they fall out, I'll replace them, but I am not voluntarily going through that again.

And Mister Man? He looks like he's got my nice strong teeth. I can only hope that he doesn't have the same missing and half tooth issues that I do. His sensory stuff? Wayyy worse than mine. He gags when he eats food with the wrong texture. Fortunately, we've got years before we need to start worrying about that.

In the meantime, wish the wee ones luck at the dentist next Wednesday!