This past week was a little busier for Brenda. On Friday, she took a day trip to Hamburg for an audition. Hamburg is several hours away so most of her day was spent on trains. On Saturday, Brenda had her first Einspringen, which is the German term for "jumping in" for a fellow opera singer that is unable to perform. It was in the opera "La Clemenza di Tito", an opera Brenda has already performed this season, and it was at Oper Frankfurt. I think its pretty cool that she got to jump in and save the day.
I went back to the dentist on Friday and got my cavities filled. It ended up being 3 instead of 2 since part of an old filling had broken off. I got there a little early and ended up waiting 20 minutes or so for the dentist to appear. It was beautiful on Friday, a rare commodity these days, so I was content sitting in the dentist's chair staring out the window at the sunny sky. After a while the dentist and her assistant came in and got all set up. When everything appeared to be ready, the dentist turned to me and said, "Do you want to try it without novocaine?" "Um, do you recommend doing it that way?" I asked a little shocked. "Well, we can try it and if the pain becomes unbearable just let us know." she said. "Uh, ok." I replied.
In my defense, she presented it in such a way that I assumed all of her patients went without numbing their mouths. I didn't want her to think of me as her wimpy patient and besides, if other people could handle it, then so could I.
The good part was, that after I left the dentist's office, my mouth wasn't numb at all. The less-than-good part was the sensation of having 3 of my teeth hollowed out with a drill. It wasn't outright painful, just extremely uncomfortable. It felt kind of like scraping my fingernails against a chalkboard except inside my teeth. I don't think it helped that I was incredibly tense, either. Every once in a while I would remind myself that I needed to breathe and maybe even unclench my fists.
After the dentist had finished filling two of my teeth I had the chance to ask her a question that had been running through my mind. "Do most of your patients do it this way? You know, without numbing their mouths?" "Oh, no." She said. "Most people ask for novocaine."
As I said my goodbyes to the dentist and her assistant I couldn't help but get a weird vibe from them. Maybe it was the whole 'we speak different languages' thing, which often makes situations uncomfortable. Or maybe they were looking at me strangely because they couldn't believe I had let them take a power drill to my mouth without any kind novocaine. Whatever the reason, I was happy to get out of there and enjoy what was left of that beautiful day.
Once again you are caught up with Brenda and me. Actually there is one more little story I think you'd enjoy but it is Brenda's to tell. I will encourage her to make another guest appearance on the blog. I, however, have said my piece for the week and bid you all a safe and happy Thanksgiving. Until next time, auf Wiedersehen!
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