A New Experience of Brightening Proportions

You may think I am just a glutton for punishment at this point and maybe I do like experiencing a certain level of pain or maybe it’s because once you fix something about your own physicality other things seem so much easier to change.

I have always been insecure about my teeth.  My front row dominantly shouts to be heard whenever I smile, but unfortunately when I obtained these overbearing front teeth of mine I was running a high fever at the time and this caused some permanent discoloration.

Fast forward to my adult self, where going to the dentist has become something born into my nightmares.  Besides the natural discoloration, where more than one dental hygienist has taken it upon herself/himself to try to physically remove the yellow through a lot of scraping and and side eyed judgemental looks, and the fact that I love red wine, coffee, tea and all the other staining pieces of earthly heavens, my teeth have turned even more yellow. (Fun fact: I did have a nurse tell me once that the reason I always have extra plaque buildup is because my spit is sweeter than others.  I didn’t really know that was a thing; I just figured it was my lack of brushing, my failed attempts at flossing, but I did like her analysis better than my own laziness).

I tell you all of this to say that I decided to get a laser whitening treatment while I’m in Mexico.  When I was in college I whitened my teeth, which felt more like bleaching, under a dentist’s care of course and it was excruciatingly painfully.  So why, you may ask, would I want to do such a thing again.  In my mind I thought that surely technology would have come up with something easier, less painful by now.

I’ve seen celebrities and reality stars talk and post pictures of themselves sitting in a chair, a laser mouth guard in their mouth, sunglasses like goggles expertly placed over their eyes.  Makeup flawlessly brushed, hair flawlessly blown out. Not a line of grimace seen on their faces. That is what I was envisioning and that is not at all what I go, minus the sunglassed goggles of course.

I arrived for my appointment nervous, but was immediately whisked away to a room with a nurse and who I assumed was my doctor.  

I don’t understand why more people aren’t afraid of going to the dentist. Look at the torture devices just casually laying by my chair.

The doctor spent the first 45 minutes cleaning my teeth and then the brightening treatment began.  I have to say I was sweating, or at least my legs were. I’m sure my eyes expressed a level of panic, the lines in my face held in a permanent grimace. My idea of resembling the celebrities I saw was most definitely not coming to fruition. It was like I was on the verge of thinking that I would experience pain at any moment so the anticipation was making me sweat, but only on my nether regions.  Why? You tell me.

I had to wear a huge mouth guard, which became very uncomfortable as it dug into my gums. You can see here how attractive I really looked.

I soon learned this was the least of my soon to be problems.  The whole procedure would take about an hour.  They placed a white strip on my upper and lower teeth and then applied this white goopy material.  Once that was done I had to wait 15 minutes, where they then removed the whitening goop before replacing it with more goop.  This whole process would occur four times.  I only made it to the third round, with my bottom teeth radiating shoots of pain during the second one.

The doctor looked at me quite sadly when he took the mouth guard and brightening grill out of my mouth, telling me that such a procedure will probably not be for any future versions of myself.  I was nodding along as more of that shooting pain played a song of some sorts as it radiated from one tooth and then to the other.  I would have to abide by an all white diet, he said next for at least 48 to 72 hours.  White rice, white yogurt,  white pasta, white vinegar, bananas were all on the list.  (If you were wondering I immediately made a stop at Walmart to pick up some tequila blanco.)

The rest of the day I was in pain, like feeling sorry for myself, screaming tears of anger at how stupid I could be, what if this never stops, and the worst part was that I had done it all to myself.  You can be fine one moment and then a sharp pain in one tooth strikes and it seems to go straight to the root. It sent me into one howling fit after another.

Through all of this I was impressed with the dental care I received and would recommend going to a dentist in Mexico, however, you may want to make sure your teeth aren’t too sensitive if you want to ever do a laser brightening treatment.  A regular cleaning runs around 80 USD and this procedure plus the cleaning was 173 USD, but my husband did some negotiating on his own.  The website quoted me at 250 USD.

I am better today.  Honestly the pain lasted less than 12 hours, with a dull ache following, which is now almost completely gone.

This trip to Mexico has been an experience I have to say.  It has felt like I have been around more doctors in these two months than I have in the United States over the last six.  But all of this tells me that when we do eventually live in Mexico full time health care is top notch and quite affordable.  

Throughout all of my squealing, crying and complaining my teeth are brighter than they have ever been and this one insecurity can be held at bay for at least the time being.