In late June 2007 a routine dental appointment became the stepping-stone to a life-changing event. This is the continuation of that story.

That night I was a wreck, the night before I began my transformation. I sweated through the night barely getting any sleep at all, tossing and turning with insane visions of all my teeth being removed and left as cavernous bacteria filled holes. In the morning I showered and prayed that everything went smoothly and headed off to the office. Cleo again was there and it was happy to see such a pleasant face before I was called back.

In the chair, I clinched my teeth and the armrests as I shifted nervously from side to side fully aware of any and every sound. The doctor came back in and I was completely openly shaking now. He calmed me by saying that it wasn’t going to be painfully. I didn’t really know what “It” was.

The procedure involved the double-checking of my mouth mold and Novocain, after being numb the dentist began to shave my first four teeth into smallish stubs so as to fit the veneers over. During the process I was in awe and on the verge of getting a headache, because of high pitch sound of the grinder on exacerbated the smell of exposed dentin. It’s hard to describe, but it is a smell likened to rotten chicken and grapefruit. The doctor then took a rest about half way through to let me get my bearings again, as I was visually uneasy.

After a quick rest period, he returned and continued the process of whittling my teeth down to nubs. Here I was 26 years old and my full grow adult teeth were going to be reverted back into infant size choppers. I wanted to call everything quits, but it was too late. As much as I disliked my teeth growing up they were my teeth. I didn’t want to be more of an outcast than I already felt I was. Soon thereafter the cosmetic dentist was done. And here I was shown that my teeth looked like now.

I was mortified. Where I once had full, mature teeth were tiny stubs about the size of a Jujube and the thickness of a nickel. I tried not to show my disgust, on the outside but it was too hard. I wanted to cry. What had I signed up for? This is some sick form of torture I thought.

Upon looking at my reaction the dentist removed the mirror and brought along another mold, this one to make an impression of my bitten off teeth, so that the veneers could be tested. I would have to wait two weeks for the veneers to be made. I was not a happy camper. Were they going to leave my teeth as such? Was I going have to walk around with rat teeth? How would I eat?
I was then told that a temporary plastic sort of cover was to adhere to my teeth to protect them form hot and cold. I didn’t understand. The dentist explained that the newly exposed teeth needed to at least build up some enamel. And two weeks was enough time also the exposed dentin would be hyper sensitive to temperature changes and pressure. So it would be necessary to protect them.

So with a composite bonding material he applied the ”shield” chuckling a bit at the slight difference in color from my regular teeth. He mentioned that it was a hard match. The assistant noticed it first. He stated that my teeth were whiter than he had anticipated and they didn’t have a guard to match the teeth, so there would be some color difference. I kind of frown, but the assistant had an idea. She suggested bleaching the “shield” for a few minutes to white it closer to my color. The doctor was skeptical, but he agreed.

So I sat with my mouth closed tightly and prayed for things to lighten up. Now that the
Numbness was wearing off everything was really starting to bug me especially the sound of drilling equipment in the next rooms. I closed my eyes and tried to think of more positive things. Just as I was starting to doze off, the doctor and assistant returned, it worked. Not an exact match, but much closer. After etching the cover to resemble teeth. He applied it with composite material and a “white” light. Before I got up he warned me to eat with the side of my mouth.

For now I was finally finished. I walked back to the front and tried to say goodbye with out oozing from my mouth. Two weeks Cleo reminded me. Relaxed at home for a few hours and headed off to work, now that my mouth felt somewhat okay. A bit sore from being open to long, but okay.