I visit the dentist! 🦷

My body is giving me a rough time! It’s not coping very well with lockdown. Not happy with visits to the hospital and doctors over the last few months, my teeth have now decided to join this new ‘Health Club!’

I had a sore tooth. I ignored it for a few days, only eating on the right side of my mouth. It’s not all that easy! Food migrates and I wasn’t prepared to go the liquid only route! Eventually I had to throw in the towel and phone the dentist!

Like each hospital visit I received a COVID phone call. Have I got a persistent cough, a temperature, a change in my sense of taste and smell? Have I tested positive to COVID? Have I been with someone who has tested positive? Have I been contacted by ‘Test, Track and Trace’? Have I been asked to self isolate? Have I been abroad within the last fourteen days? Having received a number of these calls I could preempt the questions and just say no to all of them. But each receptionist or hospital worker needs to tick all the boxes so I had to patiently (it’s getting harder!) listen to all the options, over and over and over again!

Twenty four hours after the COVID check I got another phone call from the dentist’s receptionist. I have to wait in the car when I arrive. The dentist will phone me when she is ready. I will have to wear a mask, sanitise my hands, have my temperature taken and, using my NHS COVID app, register the venue. A suggestion to get to the surgery a few minutes early because parking was a problem, was added as an optional extra.

I knew I’d need a filling! I really do not like going to the dentist. This is a huge understatement but I’ll leave it at that! I am, after all, a big girl now and half a stone heavier thanks to lockdowns!

I got to the surgery early which was fortunate. I drove around the block at least four times before finding suitable parking. I knew that it would be easier getting in than out but would cross that bridge later! The phone call came, as prepped! I passed the first hurdle and got to the dentist’s door. A large plastic container was at the entrance. I was asked to remove my glasses and mask and place them in the container together with my car keys, mobile and jacket. The lid was sealed and I was allowed to enter.

The dentist and her assistant were unrecognisable in their full PPE garb. This is not a complaint. They need all the protection they can get. I just wasn’t expecting it! After examination I did need a filling. The old one had cracked so part of it would be replaced. Because of the need to drill (that’s why I don’t like dentist!), I had to have the first appointment in the morning after the nightly full sterilisation. The surgery would have to close for a couple of hours to re-sterilise before allowing a new patient.

This coronavirus has certainly created a climate of extreme fear and caution! Once more, this is not a complaint, just another observation! And back to square one with another COVID telephone call, waiting patiently for the questions with all the same negative answers! This was followed by the second call explaining the procedure to get into the surgery. I survived and had the tooth filled a week later.

But, my body was on a roll with the tooth leading the way! The old filling decided that it wasn’t going to share space with the new one and left! It fell out two days later. Take three ……

I’m sitting in the conservatory looking out at a dank, grey sky and watching the mizzling rain. But today I don’t care. In fact, I am glad that I can’t get out for a walk. I’m self isolating for the last weekend before my final hospital procedure on Monday. In fact, I hope it rains all weekend! This sounds churlish but at this stage, weekend number three, I really don’t care!

Roll on Christmas! I desperately need some good cheer, good food and good company! And I’ll make my pathetic body carry even more weight! Serves it right! I’ll show it who’s boss! 👠