Yesterday, I went to the dentist.

Unlike (ahem, cough, cough) some people I know, I actually don't mind the dentist. In fact, I was actually kind of excited to go. That's probably more a reflection on my interest level at work this week, since going to the dentist meant I'd get to leave the office two hours early, but I find the dentist kind of reassuring.

"Just relax," I told myself. "It's like a facial for your teeth." I've never actually had a facial, and I'm pretty sure it probably involves a fewer high-pitched whirring products coming at your face, but, really, isn't that what microdermabrasion is all about? So, yes, facial for my teeth.

I've generally had pretty decent teeth. Yes, my mouth is really small, and I do have one teeny, tiny, dot-sized filling (literally, it is a speck) in one of my molars, but it was put in when I was seven to fill a natural soft spot, not a rotted, nasty decayed hole. When I went to the dentist after a three year hiatus (I was in college! Without dental insurance! And my dentist back home made creepy Donald Duck voices that seemed a little unnecessary for an 18-year-old) I was welcomed back into the dentist's chair with welcome arms. "Wow, you say you haven't seen a dentist in how long?" the new dentist was saying. "You're lucky, I wouldn't have known." He didn't say this exactly like a compliment, either, it was more like, "Just because you've had good genes, lady, don't think you can skip out on me in the future."

Anyway, I was deeply disappointed to see the dentist frown and say, "We should fill this," at the end of my visit yesterday. It's another one of those soft spots, apparently, not an actual cavity, but he seemed pretty sure they should force me to come back for a 20 minute procedure to have it filled. "Oh, it won't hurt," he said. "Just some drilling, but no novocaine." (As if drilling without novocaine is a good thing? How is that supposed to sell me on this procedure?)

The dental hygienist assured me that nobody would know; he'll use a tooth-colored filling and it's at the back of my mouth again. But it did make me sad to have a less-than-perfect mouth again.