I thought I would die!

I took a book along to read and arrived at the dentist office about half an hour early.  Surprisingly, they had me in the chair about 10 minutes after I arrived.

I need lots of novocaine - dental pain has always been the worst for me, and all pain has gotten worse as I age.  This dentist is a marvel when it comes to administering pain meds - he doesn't rush it and makes sure I'm numb before starting any drilling.  
He did two cavities on the left side, and then decided to do two more on the right, meaning I would be numb on the entire lower part of my mouth.  Afterward, I don't look half as bad as I thought I would but it sure feels weird.  The right side was much more painful, but he kept administering more pain meds until I couldn't feel anything.  It was still sensitive but I was able to bear it.  I have a couple more spots to fix on the upper front.

I asked him why all the cavities so fast - I didn't have them 6 months ago.  I admitted that I had been eating sweets with abandon, actually anything with calories.  He agreed that the sugars had a role to play, but said the dry mouth I've been experiencing for approximately 6 to 9 months was the major cause.  He said that dry mouth is a huge problem, and that while Biotin toothpaste made me feel better, it didn't actually help my teeth.  He had his staff call in a prescription for me for a specially medicated toothpaste and mouth rinse, which I'll be happy to use.  Total time in the dental chair:  2-1/2 hrs.

I will go back for the rest of the work after January 1st when my dental insurance kicks in.  It turns out that I have a lot of bone loss, more than what I thought.  Just a caution to anyone who is being told to take Boniva or Fosomax, if you experience negative side effects I would suggest you stop taking it.  Of course it's is a decision you have to make yourself, but I wouldn't rely on a doctor to be helpful.  Most of them are too young (or male) to have the need for such meds, and rely on info put out by the drug manufacturers.

So I have to figure out a new way of eating.  The dentist said to avoid carbs whenever and wherever I can.  I've never been heavy on carbohydrates except that in trying to gain weight I ate everything that sounded good to me and was high in calories.  I think I need to see a nutritionist, but I wouldn't want to rely on that either so I need to do a lot of research on my own.  Thank heaven I put back the danish and the cream puffs at Costco yesterday.  It won't take me long to finish the cinnamon bread.

I'm hoping to go to the gym this evening and sure hope they have the new flooring in and access to all the machines.  I plan to throw myself into exercise with every bit of energy I can summon up.