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Open Wide and Say Aha!

A dentist appointment has never been my friend.
I would love to be one of those people, like my son, that can go to the dentist and be told, “Good check up! See you again in 6 months!”  No, what I got to hear from the dentist was what my next painful procedure would be! One dentist put a digitized picture of my teeth onto the office computer screen. He was using technology to draw attention to all of the work needed in my mouth. As he would draw circles around the bad teeth, like a swirling Doppler radar, he would summons his dental assistant to see the decay displayed on the screen.  I would remind him, with gauze in my mouth, he should be happy that there was so much work to be done; I was responsible for sending his kids through college!  After that appointment, I found another dentist. Sorry, kids, no Harvard for you!!
I couldn't understand why I had such teeth trouble. It wasn't like I ate rocks coated with sugar every day! One dentist answered my question by stating I had decay prone teeth. Well, talk about a real downer! No matter if I brushed and flossed every hour on the hour, they were destined to rot. I really began to hate my teeth!
A few days ago, I was recovering from an extraction.  With each throbbing in my gums, I began to curse my teeth. Suddenly, I realized my choice of words—did I really hate my teeth? No, not really, it’s not like my teeth were rebelling against me, I just hated being in a situation of pain.
I decided to try something: when I ached, I sent thoughts of love to the pain source. This simple act changed my way of thinking about my teeth. No longer was I feeling powerless, but rather aware that I had options.  Maybe that dentist was wrong about my teeth being decay prone-- no other dentist had echoed that opinion.

I’m very careful not to say I hate my teeth anymore, but rather they’re a work in progress.  Or a scholarship to Harvard for my new dentist’s kids! 


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