jenk

Today I went in to facilitate a new bite guard by getting impressions made of my top and bottom teeth. I am also the lucky sort of person who has "GAG REFLEX" written at the top of my chart. I find it helps if I arrive early, have some tea or decaf,¹ and otherwise try to achieve a nice state of "zen relaxation"² before I have to hold my jaw open and not gag.

I also have a lingering cough and headache from the cold I keep telling myself was a couple of weeks ago (maybe if I repeat "couple of weeks ago" it will finish going away). I thought a big, hacking cough while the big metal tray of impression goo was in my mouth would NOT GO WELL, so I took one of my cough gels and some Advil.

You know how one of dextromethorphan's side effects is drowsiness...? Yeah. I was relaxed. I was real relaxed. I only came close to gagging when the bottom plate hit my tongue, and moving my tongue up & away fixed it. Which was really good when you consider that, sigh, we had to do the bottom plate twice. And which brings us to this poll.

[Poll #1274523]

¹I started going to this particular upscale dentist office when I was employed by Uncle Bill's House of Software & World Domination³. The waiting room has a fireplace, coffee/tea/juice/Perrier, a fountain, fresh flowers, and a spicy scented candle. They even have a "teddy bear dental chair" (PDF - see sidebar). The office was featured on the Today show as a "dental spa" (WMV).
²No real zen involved. I just like the phrase.
³Term courtesy of