mckay
Junior Sitter
Posts: 672
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Post by mckay on Jun 26, 2007 17:46:35 GMT -5
I actually liked my braces, but I can't imagine electing to have my parents pay thousands of dollars just because!
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lyricalangel
Sitting For The Newtons
Logan's love-bunny
Posts: 1,918
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Post by lyricalangel on Jun 26, 2007 20:04:16 GMT -5
^No kidding. I never had to have them and I'm glad.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2007 21:28:38 GMT -5
Hm, I have braces right now, but they have never really bothered me. The only bad thing about them is it's harder to play my french horn. But I don't really mind the orthodontist.
Now every other doctor...... I have so many stories of me sobbing hysterically because the doctor tried to get near me with a needle. I have just a few issues with needles.
So I really feel for Karen in this book, because I hate going to the dentist just for a check-up, and completely spaz out during fillings. Ugh....
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alula
Sitter-In-Training
Posts: 406
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Post by alula on Sept 3, 2007 22:49:36 GMT -5
I had to have eight of my baby teeth pulled out in one go when I was in kindergarten (my grown-up teeth were growing in, and my baby teeth weren't loose at all, so it was screwing up the alignment), so I was like, hahaha, Karen, you drama queen wimp. I so beat you. Don't even! And I didn't get any special rocket ship dentist chair either, although I did score some pretty good Tooth Fairy loot. Actually, only one of my baby teeth ever came out on its own--the rest had to be dug out with pliers and novacaine, with big honking roots attached to them. My mom still has most of them, which is gross. And I had to take phenobarbital as a baby, which gave me tons of cavities as a tot, and I had retainers, spacers and braces, mild TMJ AND four impacted wisdom teeth. I rock at dental misery poker. I actually always kind of thought Karen got super-royal treatment whenever she went to the doctor--for her glasses, the dentist, whatever. I have a fairly complicated health history and I saw pediatric specialists for my eyes, teeth, ears, blood tests, and so on for a long time, and while they were nice, it wasn't nearly as fancy-schmancy as she got. I realize now it was probably to make going to the doctor seem non-threatening, but as a kid, I thought, "Gee, it must be because her Daddy is SO RICH. When you're a Two-Two you go to the dentist with a ROCKET SHIP." (Do I sound like a horrible, unsymapthetic person in this post? Seriously, I don't want to be all "YOUR DENTAL PAIN DOESN'T COUNT, AMATEURS!" I just found all her dramatics funny when I read it as a kid because I was like, "Been there, done that! Eight teeth, Karen!" We would totally have had an "Who's the awesomest toothache-r in Ms. Colman's class?" catfight.)
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Katie
New To Stoneybrook
Posts: 153
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Post by Katie on Sept 3, 2007 23:32:09 GMT -5
I broke most of my teeth in a bicycle accident at 17. I was going down a hill and the brakes on my bike failed, I flew off the bike over the handle bars and landed face first on the pavement. I had to have multiple root canals and then 8 caps placed on my teeth and then 3 years of braces to realign my teeth back to what they were pre-accident. The worst part was it was 4 months from the accident to when I got the teeth capped because first the swelling needed to heal then the root canals had to be done and heal and then molds had to be made and sent off somewhere for the caps to be made. And of course some kids were immature and mean about my scary looking mouth.
To give an idea of how hard my head hit the pavement, my parents were told at the emergency room that I would have died if I hadn't been wearing a helmet.
Alula, my mom had similar problems with her teeth resulting from medication she was given as a baby.
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Post by aln1982 on Sept 3, 2007 23:43:07 GMT -5
I am going to reread tomorrow as I have to get two crowns and possibly root canals since I don't have a lot of root. Just had to have a bunch of work done. This book always makes me feel better. I don't think they made too big of a deal about Karen going to the dentist and dr. but I'm a person who actually got a "reward" from my parents at the age of 25 for the multiple fillings I had to have. I always got "special treatment" after medical procedures and dr. appointments as a kid and I had to have a ton of them, too. I think my parents just wanted an excuse to "spoil" me. So, I'm spoiled and can relate to Karen and maybe that's why I love reading about her so much ;D Glad you were okay, Katie. Head injuries can be really scary. Don't tell me if all the teeth stuff hurt because I don't want to get scared before my appointment ;D Am already worried as I'm a huge baby when it comes to my mouth.
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alula
Sitter-In-Training
Posts: 406
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Post by alula on Sept 4, 2007 14:08:58 GMT -5
Good luck with your teeth, aln!
I think my parents were kind of the opposite--I had so many medical procedures, especially when I was really young, that they didn't want to reward me or make a big deal out of it very often because they thought I would cope better if I accepted it all matter-of-factly. (I did get a set of Rainbow Brite dolls when I had tubes put in my ears the second time, which was an overnight hospital stay at age three, and the reason I didn't have to buy my own BSC books was I followed my dental/orthodontial instructions; otherwise I'd have had to pay for them out of my allowance). It was also partly I think because my mom would get so upset sometimes (she still does, especially now--I have a chronic, incurable illness typified by daily ideopathic pain) that a lot of the time, I would feel guilty about feeling sick or in pain because it upset her, so to this day, I sometimes have a lot of trouble admitting when I'm in pain or too much pain if it will make someone else feel bad or be inconvenienced. (I have huge issues about being seen as a wimp or a whiner, even though comparatively, I've been told I have a really high pain tolerance these days). And part of it might just be the difference between being an only child, and being a kid in a family where there was another child needing to be managed.
(I'm also in kind of a bad mood right now re: pain because my doctor decided he wants to start weaning me off my pain medication, despite the fact that my pain has been worse, not better, for the last eight months. So I'm in kind of a bitter, gallows humor mood).
So I think my reaction to this book was just a lot of my internal weirdness about illness and pain--I was always telling myself I was a wimp and a crybaby, and it was probably normal to be in pain all the time, and then Karen had this huge drama about something that I could feel really superior about. (When I was a kid, I mean. Not now.)
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msstock87
Sitting For The Braddocks
Here Comes The Bride!
Created by Rie.
Posts: 3,618
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Post by msstock87 on Sept 4, 2007 20:10:04 GMT -5
Good luck with your teeth aln! I hope everything turns out okay.
I get nervous just whenever I have to go for a normal dentist visit. I hate the sound of all the machines and stuff in there. It makes me cringe.
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Post by aln1982 on Sept 4, 2007 23:28:18 GMT -5
Good luck with your teeth, aln! I think my parents were kind of the opposite--I had so many medical procedures, especially when I was really young, that they didn't want to reward me or make a big deal out of it very often because they thought I would cope better if I accepted it all matter-of-factly. (I did get a set of Rainbow Brite dolls when I had tubes put in my ears the second time, which was an overnight hospital stay at age three, and the reason I didn't have to buy my own BSC books was I followed my dental/orthodontial instructions; otherwise I'd have had to pay for them out of my allowance). It was also partly I think because my mom would get so upset sometimes (she still does, especially now--I have a chronic, incurable illness typified by daily ideopathic pain) that a lot of the time, I would feel guilty about feeling sick or in pain because it upset her, so to this day, I sometimes have a lot of trouble admitting when I'm in pain or too much pain if it will make someone else feel bad or be inconvenienced. (I have huge issues about being seen as a wimp or a whiner, even though comparatively, I've been told I have a really high pain tolerance these days). And part of it might just be the difference between being an only child, and being a kid in a family where there was another child needing to be managed. (I'm also in kind of a bad mood right now re: pain because my doctor decided he wants to start weaning me off my pain medication, despite the fact that my pain has been worse, not better, for the last eight months. So I'm in kind of a bitter, gallows humor mood). So I think my reaction to this book was just a lot of my internal weirdness about illness and pain--I was always telling myself I was a wimp and a crybaby, and it was probably normal to be in pain all the time, and then Karen had this huge drama about something that I could feel really superior about. (When I was a kid, I mean. Not now.) Thanks (to msstock too ;D) Sorry you're in pain right now and hope it gets better and sorry if my post sounded harsh. I was in a "mood", too, I think and often get overly defensive of Karen. That's one problem with reading these books way too much - I have to keep reminding myself that the characters are NOT real people ;D OT (and not to be nosy) but do you have epilepsy since I just noticed you mentioned taking phenobarbital as a kid. The only time I've ever heard of that is when our friend's son was given that for a really rare seizure disorder that was similar to epilepsy that he had as a baby. He was one of an incredibly small group that had this disorder and actually one of the only ones who got better. So, I'm curious about that type of thing. Hope all is going well for you now ;D Anyway, I think Karen's dramatics is what makes me love this book so much. Of course, I didn't read it until I was an adult, either. And I love Andrew's comment about the "cabity" ;D He can be cute when he messes up words. I'd better go make my last will and testament (even though I want to run away and hide so I don't have to go - we see how that turns out, though....) ;D
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Post by aln1982 on Sept 6, 2007 0:04:37 GMT -5
I made it through the "major surgery" okay but didn't get a ride in a rocket ship chair. I was disappointed and told my dentist so ;D (he's a friend of the family and a great guy.) I didn't get a shot (have a strange allergy to the novacaine) so kept thinking about this book to keep my mind off the pain - "if Karen can do it, so can I" ;D Now I have no front teeth (am getting crowns on the front) since the temps refuse to stay in my mouth. I look like Karen in Karen's Haircut and will for 2 weeks ;D I guess I can't be a bridesmaid in Hannie's wedding now ;D It's funny how a BSC or LS book can encourage you - I know they have me with this whole ordeal.
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wanderingfrog
Sitting For The Arnolds
Official BSC Archivist
Posts: 2,552
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Post by wanderingfrog on Sept 7, 2007 21:58:55 GMT -5
I'm glad you got through okay, aln, and I'm sorry you're in pain, alula. I had to have the dentist pull out most of my baby teeth with pliers, too. Only two or three of them fell out on their own. I never had eight pulled out at once, but I had four pulled out at once, and then four more two weeks later.
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Post by aln1982 on Sept 7, 2007 23:27:22 GMT -5
Did Karen mention putting her tooth under her pillow for the tooth fairy? Now I can't remember. I asked my mom if I would get some major tooth fairy $$ for my temps (that are sitting in a baggie on the counter) if I put those under my pillow ;D Did it mention the Big House reaction to the "tooth surgery" at all?
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msstock87
Sitting For The Braddocks
Here Comes The Bride!
Created by Rie.
Posts: 3,618
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Post by msstock87 on Sept 8, 2007 11:52:09 GMT -5
I am glad you made it through okay aln. Getting anything done on your teeth is hard and I felt your pain.
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Post by sweetvalleygirl99 on Sept 14, 2007 22:45:18 GMT -5
I'm glad you made it through too, dental procedures suck. I currently have invisalign (have been wearing them since I was a freshman in high school and I'm now a senior) and going to my ortho every six weeks sucks. He is mega-creepy and his office smells like bad Listerine lol. I'm terrified most when it comes to getting my teeth cleaned, I hate the noises the machines make in my mouth, ouch! Anyway, despite my dentist phobia, I love this book. The "cabity" line is hilarious and I laughed when Karen first goes to see her original dentist Dr. Rice, just because I thought it was an odd name lol. One line always stuck out in this book for me... Dentist: "Now, I'm going to give you some sleepy tooth, which is a quick shot of Novocaine and after that you won't feel a thing." Well I have one thing to say to that, yeah right. Maybe you don't feel a thing while they're working on you but it's torture when they stick the needle in your gums and especially afterwards when the medicine wears off and your mouth hurts like crazy. I had to get some of my gum tissue lasered off last year and my dentist numbed my whole mouth and I could hardly close my mouth or swallow any pain pills, it was complete torture .
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msstock87
Sitting For The Braddocks
Here Comes The Bride!
Created by Rie.
Posts: 3,618
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Post by msstock87 on Sept 15, 2007 15:22:53 GMT -5
Oww, reading this thread makes me cringe. For some reason I think going to the dentist is worse then going to the doctor.
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