Two cavities = $311

Is this going to hurt were the first words out of my mouth to the dental assistant when I sat down in the dentist's chair.

I've been putting off getting two cavities filled for more than a year. I first learned about the cavities when I was about 23 weeks pregnant with darling daughter. Yes, I could have had them filled last year, but I was such an emotional wreck when I was pregnant (will this hurt the baby? was a common question that came out of my mouth during my pregnancy) that I decided to put it off as long as I could. I came close to getting them filled in April, but I got extremely sick the night before that I was forced to cancel the appointment.

So here I was, a grown woman who has gone through child birth, which included two hours of pushing, and I was afraid of getting two cavities filled. Yeah, I know it makes no sense. The dental assistant promised me that it would only take 45 minutes of my life to deal with the situation at hand. I relaxed a bit until the dentist started jabbing me with needles to freeze my mouth. Let me tell you, I squeezed that dental assistant's hand so hard that I'm surprised she didn't scream in pain.

As the dentist started to drill, poke and fill my two cavities, I started to relax, but then random thoughts started running through my head. How about if he gets sick and is forced to stop the procedure and I'm left with a gaping whole in my tooth in complete pain? How about if the freezing suddenly wears off when he is drilling? After the first cavity was filled, I started to relax a little bit more because half the procedure was done. And before I knew it, I found myself standing at the reception desk and being presented with a $311 bill. Ouch!

With most of my mouth frozen, I tried not to drool in front of the receptionist, thanked them for the bill and walked out to my car. Too bad they couldn't freeze my wallet to relieve the pain when I pay the bill.