Musings from a dentist’s chair

Posted by admin on Jan 20, 2009 in Community | 1 comment

Over the last two weeks, I had to endure three hours of dental procedures. While the sound of the drill and the tooth “freezing” gave me an unsettling feeling in my mind, I soon began to pass the time by musing on a variety of thoughts that cropped up as I lay prone upon the dentist chair. Here is a sampling of a few of the thoughts that flew about my mind.

The dentist, you and awkward conversation:
Many of us have been to the dentist at some point in our lives and so this is probably something everyone can relate to on some level. When a dentist asks you small-talk questions, what do you do? With the amount of novocaine and contraptions holding your gaping mouth, it’s impossible to utter more than a garbled “uh huh” or “uh uh.” I personally find this sort of conversation amusing, because you may think of a great answer, but alas are unable to express yourself in any sort of meaningful manner.

Why are so many people getting married?
In just the last four weeks I have known over eight couples who have either become engaged or have entered into the so called era of “wedded bliss.” The funny thing about this is that all but one of these couples came from Trinity Western University. Thus, as I sat there in the dentist chair, I wondered if the water that perhaps caused my recent dental woes could also explain this pandemic of couples becoming enthralled in the throes of marital love. Perhaps we should be grateful that we are now a part of the Langley water system.

“Invite friends to join Facebook”:
Facebook is both reviled and loved by many, but there are some aspects of this social network that has always left me scratching my head. Besides the obvious of giving “gifts” or “poking,” one of the things that is overlooked, but just as bizarre, is the feature that allows me to send generic mass e-mails to my friends telling them that they should join Facebook. This is perplexing, because unless a person is Mowgli being raised by bears and monkeys, they probably have heard of Facebook. In fact, most people I know who don’t use it are either technologically inept or have some sort of moral, ethical or dietary reason that precludes them from joining. There still may be people willing to actually use this feature, but still, really?

Lip reading:
While at the dentist I also had the opportunity to watch TV without any sound. I had the chance to have sound, but found that nothing was actually worth listening to on television. Instead, I discovered that attempting to guess what people were saying on TV was a better way to pass time. In fact, I came away with a greater respect for those who have the skill of lip reading. Thus while I was able to pass the time effectively, lip reading still escapes me. But I guess I’ll take chewing pain-free over the ability to read lips; although, it was a tough decision because soup and applesauce are pretty darn good.

That’s how I spent my time at the dental clinic. Three hours, a few thousand dollars and two missed classes later, I can now say it was the most expensive and intrusive “me” time I’ve ever had. If ever one is faced with the prospect of an extensive doctor’s or dental visit, perhaps one should take the time to visit issues that are otherwise useless, fairly meaningless, but random enough to catch your fancy.