I'd give my eye-teeth for that...

Hiiri has an inexplicably large collection of toothbrushes...

Hands up all those who like going to the dentist. No, I thought not.

As you may remember, I have just got my Kela (social security) card, which gives me access to, amongst other things, state health and dental care. Konna has just had to spend over €500 on visiting her private/specialist dentist (to be spread over 4 visits, but still) and decided I really have to go, so I thought I should save my pennies and use the state system hammaslääkäri (lit: tooth-doctor) - much to her dismay.

I know in the UK there has been a lot of talk about shortage of dental care in some areas, waiting times etc, but my last visit in Islington, I had a walk-in, same day examination and treatment, with more treatment the next week, so wasn't expecting to have to wait three months to be seen in Helsinki. Yes the end of May.

Okay now I have to own up that is not a fair comparison - as that London dental practice doesn't even take appointments for first exam/consultation, you have to walk-in and wait. And I had a broken tooth. And it was more than three years ago. 

Too be honest I'm not generally that keen on visiting the dentist, it's one of these things I deal with by not thinking about it - I can't even remember when I went to the dentist before then... shockingly it was probably when I was still a student living in Brighton (so that would be... erm, actually I'm too embarrassed to say exactly, so lets just say it was in the last millenium). Anyway my excuse (apart from being a lazy sod) is that I probably have a mild form of odontaphobia, brought on not by the tragic selection of magazines in the waiting room, but by the rather traumatic removal of several teeth of my favourite when I was about seven eight years old. 

[If you are squeamish you may want to look away now...]

When my milk-teeth got collected by the tooth fairy, as my new teeth grew in they found things a bit crowded in my mouth. So much so that my canines (or eye-teeth, they're the pointy ones) ended up growing over my incisors/first molars rather than between them. This meant they stuck out of my gums like vampire fangs (which for a six/seven eight year old wasn't all bad news, but maybe not the best look later in life).  So they had to go. I don't remember being to worried beforehand, afterall I was getting a day off school, but obviously I had no idea what was coming.  Now since this was a) the 70's b) fairly major, I had to have a general anesthetic - which is where things started to get iffy.  Firstly they tried to give an injection into a vein in my arm. After three or four failures finding the vein they switched to the other arm, and then despite try to turn me into a human pincushion they had to give up on the injection idea, and switch to Plan B.  This turned our to be gas; I remember they rolled in a trolley of equipment and canisters, then the black rubber mask was put over my face, and I was told to count to ten. 1, 2, 3, ... the room disappeared and I fell down a long dark tunnel... When I woke up, woozy and spitting blood (literally) the teeth were gone, leaving huge holes in my gums which my tongue would find unexpectedly for weeks afterwards. All pretty scarey stuff, especially as I had to come back again the next month to have the other two out... (Or did I? My memory is strangely a bit hazy about this - did they all get taken at once?).  

I needed a light brace to straighten up the front teeth a few years later to adjust for the spacing, but at least it probably helped make room for my wisdom teeth - which I have thankfully not had problems with.  But now, however much I really, really like something, I can't give my eye-teeth for it (as the saying goes).

And I don't seem to like going to the dentist... funny that. At least I have three months to prepare myself...