It is early in the evening last night and I remember the appointment and a nervous pang shoots through me. I’m not feeling great anyways, but when I think of dental work, I think of my checking account drained, my truck sold, my house foreclosed on. But I also think about the ache presently in the teeth in my mouth. It’s not one tooth hurting. It’s all of them. I go back to watching Wheel of Fortune and try to forget it.

It’s around 11 PM last night and time for me to go to bed, and time to set the alarm early because that appointment is bright and early- and another pronounced nervous bolt hits my heart. Maybe I shouldn’t say anything about the pain in all of my teeth. Maybe I’ll get out of there tomorrow without paying a quick grand. Maybe. But my mouth will probably still hurt. I wonder why my mouth hurts, and I wonder why I keep thinking I am going to lose everything to the guy. You should give him a chance, I tell myself. I mean, Dr. Montgomery thought enough of him to sell his business to him. And Mom likes him. Yeah. But that’s the deal. It’s a business. Profits. I just see money in every room in his office. There’s nothing wrong with making the place nice. What do you want? A back office hack parlor for a dental office? Paper chair covers, a dangling yellow light bulb, and ancient instruments? I know, I know. What is my deal. I know what my deal is, but I won’t say. I just don’t connect with the guy. And I just don’t like going to the dentist.

At 5:40 AM this morning, I am awake. At 6AM, the alarm goes off. My stomach fills with butterflies as I get up and take care of the cats and dress and get out of the door. I think I know where the dental office is- it moved last year, but I’ve been there since- and my memory fails me. Not only will I get my mouth roughed up today and my bank account drained, but I am also now going to be way late to my appointment. What is wrong with me? Why can’t I find a map to this place? Sheesh. Butterflies.

7:10 AM. I finally found it. Why can’t I remember that route? I used to drive it all the time working over here in this area. The lot out front is empty. I enter the office. Two quiet and primped women sit behind the hip front desk. “I’ll tell Angie you are here”, one of them says to me, smiling, even though I’ve said nothing. Okay. I sit in the nice and empty lobby for exactly a minute and then Angie comes to get me. I am nervous. Do I mention the mouth pain? I know he is going to find something else I have to have taken care of- here’s my wallet. Angie is familiar and cordial and the one person I recognize every time I am at the dentist office. She cleans my teeth.

“How are you? Has anything changed since we’ve last seen you?”

This is it. The moment.

“My mouth has been kind of hurting all over a lot lately.” “Howso?” “Just this generic ache, in the teeth.” Interesting. Well, let’s get some x-rays (we we’re going to take some anyways). What TV channel do you like? “Off” I say. Okay.

Angie x-rays my teeth, and the cleans my teeth, and then picks them, and then flosses them, and then polishes them.

In the middle of Angie’s work, she disappears, and then he comes in. He sits in a chair near me, but beyond my reclined head. His head bobs in view and he says Hi. He then looks at a screen and reads some numbers and codes off to Angie. I wonder if he will ask me.

He finishes talking code with her and then tells me my teeth look well- that I have good teeth. I just have four places the enamel is weakening which need attention soon. He then goes back to talking code beyond my head to Angie. Then he stops, and leans his face into my view and says nothing, and pats my soldier. He then moves out of my view again and stands up and moves to leave the cube. “Nice to see you”, he says, and he’s gone.

He asked nothing, said nothing to me about the ache. I said nothing to him either.

Angie finishes shining up my choppers, and then gets me a warm towel, which I put on my face. I don’t know what to do with those things. I enjoy the mini-spa for three minutes, and then wipe my hands on it like I just changed the oil in my truck, and then Angie leads me to another cubicle where one of the front desk women, a young gal with super Texas-style curled long hair, shows me the quote for getting the 4 teeth strengthened. “You need to do these soon if you can to keep the teeth from breaking down any more.” The quote is $300 some dollars. I can handle that, I think. “Ok- I will call in soon.”

8:03 AM. “Okay, thanks for coming in”, the other lady says as I exit out of the lobby area and the front doors.

It is sunny out on the young morning, and I have clean teeth and I didn’t lose my bank account, truck, or house, and my teeth even hurt a little less, despite my gums being bulldozed back and forth. My teeth feel slick and smooth.

I go right to Einstein’s bagels for an Everything toasted with shmear and a mocha to munch and slurp on on the way to work.