Nathan took his last final on Friday. Our first year of dental school is officially over and I am afraid that I have to admit that it went by faster than expected. I don't think it was as bad or hard as Nathan expected it to be, which is a good sign, but we hear second year is the hardest. I guess we'll find out in a matter of months. But for now, I have him back.
At least until June 14th when he leaves for Officer Training in Texas. Then we'll get to see each other on weekends after I arrive with the kids in July.
To celebrate his first year of dental school being over we went out to eat. Nathan surprised us all and took us out to Mexican. It was tasty and had a good atmosphere.
Congratulations, Nathan! We're proud of you and all your hard work!
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On Monday we are leaving for Washington D.C. Us and some friends from dental school and their families are traveling together and will see the sites. I'm pretty excited about it. The last time I went to D.C. it was a complete bust. Which is sad because I worked my butt off to pay for the trip. At my junior high school the 7th graders could go to D.C. during Spring Break. My best friend, Emily, and I decided we wanted to go and we put ourselves to work in my mom's office, filing and doing whatever else they told us to do, which was usually just more filing. I think we could also ask for donations, which helped out a lot. Anyway, the trip was awful. A couple kids swiped the liquor bottles from the plane, got drunk at the hotel, one kid got sick the next day and had to go to the hospital, so the rest of us had to alter our plans and instead of doing cool stuff, had to go to a strip mall that had nothing but Washington D.C. sweatshirts, which was funny, because the sweatshirts we were supposed to get from the school never got ordered. The photography studio that did our picture in front of one of the memorials was less than professional and resulted in less than a decent group picture. I think the highlight that day was seeing a squirrel up close, because when you're 12 seeing a squirrel up close is still cool. Oh, and the day before we left the trip was almost canceled (if only it had been!) because they got record breaking snows. But like southeast Texans that had never seen snow before, we went. Yeah. It was up to my hips in some places and my toes froze while we were at the Liberty Bell. Needless to say, (but funny, because I'm saying it anyway) I'm really looking forward to a trip to D.C. without my junior high classmates.
Showing posts with label dental school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dental school. Show all posts
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Where's My "Minty Freshness" and "Squeeky Clean" Feeling?
Kellie Note:
Adam and Carissa, if you read this, know that even with all the crap in my mouth, it was one of the better dental crises of my career as a dental patient simply because I knew Adam and his peers cared about my oral health. This blog is in no way meant to make Adam feel bad. I wrote it because it's funny to me; I couldn't help but think it ironic.
I went to the dentist the other day. Well actually, I went to the dental student the other day. Interesting though, he's the first dental professional I've visited that I feel did his job.
I'll consider it a visit. If not, I'll have to come up with some other kind of word--like Torturefest. Note the -fest at the end. With a suffix like that, you know it's a party!
Now, it's not like it was completely terrible. I ended the "visit" with a renewed sense of pride. You see, it was necessary to make impressions of my teeth. This is not a fun experience. Before getting the impression gunk ready (a type of plaster of paris for teeth was my impression of it, ha ha ha! Ok, I'm done with my stupid joke now), Adam asked me if I gag easily. Um, yes. However, I was able to refrain from throwing up. I gaged a few times when he did the upper teeth and none when he did the bottom. This took great concentration. You must understand the great personal triumph that was experienced by myself. I had to stare at a dot on the wall, about four inches from the ground. I had to not think about the fact that I felt like I was choking and I had to try really, really hard not to cry. I just sat there, with Adam holding it in my mouth until it was set enough for him to take his hand off, drooling all over my nice, sunny yellow bib. When the impression material came out, my teeth were covered in the stuff. Little bits of it were stuck in my teeth and on my tongue. It was nasty. And instead of cleaning my teeth and face off, he had to put more nasty stuff in my mouth, this time is was purple! Ooh, fun! This one was to measure my jaw alignment or bite or something like that. Whatever it was, it's off and the head dental lady will suggest to me at my next appointment that I wear braces. (Thanks for the heads up, Adam!)
This was an especially great triumph for me because I'm a little bit OCD. Now I know, everyone thinks they're OCD, but I really am. I won't give you the gory details, but trust me, I was a psych major and one of my favorite books is The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Washing. Having all that stuff on my face and in my mouth was extremely difficult for me and I have to say, I was quite impressed with myself!
So there I am at the end of my "visit" and instead of running my tongue over my clean, fresh teeth, I was picking plaster out from between my teeth, trying to not think about the less than minty fresh taste in my mouth, and wondering just how much plaster was left on my face that people were sure to see as I walked out of the dental school. Usually when I leave the dentist, despite feeling ravenous, I don't want to eat and ruin the perfect cleanliness of my mouth. I want to savor the smoothness of my teeth and the minty fresh breath from whatever treatment involves a minty flavored something. It just felt weird to leave the dentist with a messier mouth than when I arrived.
Next time, I'm taking a toothbrush, toothpaste, and some floss with me when I visit the dentist.
Adam and Carissa, if you read this, know that even with all the crap in my mouth, it was one of the better dental crises of my career as a dental patient simply because I knew Adam and his peers cared about my oral health. This blog is in no way meant to make Adam feel bad. I wrote it because it's funny to me; I couldn't help but think it ironic.
I went to the dentist the other day. Well actually, I went to the dental student the other day. Interesting though, he's the first dental professional I've visited that I feel did his job.
And why do we say, "I visited the dentist"? It's not like I was invited there to have tea and crumpets. I didn't go there to see how he was feeling or chat (although you're a lovely conversationalist, Adam--good jorb, there), I went because my dang teeth hurt. Although, Adam, had you been having a bad day, I would have felt sorry for you, okay? I just don't consider two hours of having my mouth invaded, a visit. I mean, what host uses one of these on their guests?
http://z.about.com/d/dentistry/1/0/P/4/perioclose.JPG
Maybe next week, if you have a crocheted doily and a few sugar-free cookies sitting on a plate that looks like this:
http://z.about.com/d/dentistry/1/0/P/4/perioclose.JPG
I'll consider it a visit. If not, I'll have to come up with some other kind of word--like Torturefest. Note the -fest at the end. With a suffix like that, you know it's a party!
Now, it's not like it was completely terrible. I ended the "visit" with a renewed sense of pride. You see, it was necessary to make impressions of my teeth. This is not a fun experience. Before getting the impression gunk ready (a type of plaster of paris for teeth was my impression of it, ha ha ha! Ok, I'm done with my stupid joke now), Adam asked me if I gag easily. Um, yes. However, I was able to refrain from throwing up. I gaged a few times when he did the upper teeth and none when he did the bottom. This took great concentration. You must understand the great personal triumph that was experienced by myself. I had to stare at a dot on the wall, about four inches from the ground. I had to not think about the fact that I felt like I was choking and I had to try really, really hard not to cry. I just sat there, with Adam holding it in my mouth until it was set enough for him to take his hand off, drooling all over my nice, sunny yellow bib. When the impression material came out, my teeth were covered in the stuff. Little bits of it were stuck in my teeth and on my tongue. It was nasty. And instead of cleaning my teeth and face off, he had to put more nasty stuff in my mouth, this time is was purple! Ooh, fun! This one was to measure my jaw alignment or bite or something like that. Whatever it was, it's off and the head dental lady will suggest to me at my next appointment that I wear braces. (Thanks for the heads up, Adam!)
This was an especially great triumph for me because I'm a little bit OCD. Now I know, everyone thinks they're OCD, but I really am. I won't give you the gory details, but trust me, I was a psych major and one of my favorite books is The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Washing. Having all that stuff on my face and in my mouth was extremely difficult for me and I have to say, I was quite impressed with myself!
So there I am at the end of my "visit" and instead of running my tongue over my clean, fresh teeth, I was picking plaster out from between my teeth, trying to not think about the less than minty fresh taste in my mouth, and wondering just how much plaster was left on my face that people were sure to see as I walked out of the dental school. Usually when I leave the dentist, despite feeling ravenous, I don't want to eat and ruin the perfect cleanliness of my mouth. I want to savor the smoothness of my teeth and the minty fresh breath from whatever treatment involves a minty flavored something. It just felt weird to leave the dentist with a messier mouth than when I arrived.
Next time, I'm taking a toothbrush, toothpaste, and some floss with me when I visit the dentist.
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