Last week I had a cavity filled. My beloved dentist (yes, I had a beloved dentist) retired. And the new dentists might be alright, but they are new. They have new toys... like a digital x-ray, which was great and painless, but also showed a cavity so small that it was hard to see with the naked eye. The filling was fine, but the dentist said, "Hey do you know your top front teeth are all loose?" There is a statement to send your pulse racing. "I think you're grinding you teeth at night and you need a $550 mouth guard to stop." Pulse races faster, brain stops functioning... so I fail to say, "Hey my teeth weren't loose 10 days ago when I was here for my cleaning.." or "Hey, my daughter head butted me in the chin a couple of days ago hard enough to make my eyes go dark.." but I did come up with a gasping reply of "Can I wait a bit and see if it goes away?"
It is true that sometimes I grind my teeth when I am stressed. It is also true that having a husband home sick for 8 weeks is a cause of stress. Maybe I am grinding. Maybe my darling 4 year old really socked it to me. My thoughts now revolve around my jaws. Am I clenching? Grinding? How does my mouth set normally? Have all my teeth shifted to the left? Are these really my teeth? How can my mind dissolve with such a simple problem?