New Diet

I’ve never been one to diet. I like to think it’s because I eat relatively healthy, try to keep stress down in my life and exercise some. But who am I fooling - keeping processed foods to a minimum doesn’t outweigh the desserts I often indulge in, work stresses me out weekly, and riding my bike a few times a month and running to catch the bus doesn’t really qualify for a full blown exercise regime. To be honest, I have good genetics that will probably keep me lean well into my 40s and then I have a sneaking suspicion everything will hit.

So it’s strange to be on a “diet”. It’s not a very good diet. It’s actually a bad diet - calorie reduction with nothing else. But it’s the ubiquitous diet you see everywhere. Yesterday I only had one meal and some yogurt. Not very smart. But it was a lay-low day. You see, I found the magic answer to all these diet questions - what’s the one thing between you and food? There’s nothing like dental troubles to drastically change the way you look at food. This last week, the little problem I was so desperately ignoring and hoping would go away just kept compounding and getting worse. I’ve had a little gap between two back molars where food always would get caught and cavities would form. Well, something shifted and now food gets caught and won’t come out and starts inflaming the gums. And it quickly becomes a sharp, horrendous pain… that stays with me for hours upon hours. I’ve tried flossing and brushing and swishing and nothing. Eating isn’t so bad for the first 10 minutes, but it takes about 9 hours for the pain to dissipate enough so I can actually ignore it. Sometimes I will just hold my molar. Strange, but gives temporary relief. One can only imagine the rotting that is going on during that time period. I think the one thing I have going for me is that there are fillings on both sides, so not much left to decay (again, wishful thinking).

The long delay about getting this issue resolved is because I’ve been bouncing around dentists since I came to MA. I had a great dentist growing up. Found a great one in CA. Even in grad school, I started out with a great dental student (only way to afford dental work when you’re a poor grad student) - unfortunately he graduated and I was left with this guy who had worked as an engineer for years and switched to dentistry because he thought it would be “easier”. Not fun.

You have to have a nice working relationship with your dentist - a nice trust and respect for professionalism. Perhaps I’ve been corrupted as I’ve seen a bunch of dentists and know the field a bit better. Last night after I realized I couldn’t live on yogurt and braved some eggs and toast and was hit with the pain again, I vowed I would not leave work on Monday until I had made an appointment. I have a 2 o’clock tomorrow! New town, new dentist, she comes recommended. Yelp had only positive reviews. One can only hope. Hope that it’s the beginning of a new and long relationship and that my savings account doesn’t get emptied because I’ve waited so long to visit the dentist. Only 4 meals between now and then.

And to all of you who complained about dental pain, I only had sympathy for you then. Now I have pure empathy.*

*I just realized this isn’t a first. I’ve experienced dental pain before - growing up with braces and having all my wisdom teeth out. Apparently I’ve chosen to block those memories - probably wisest.