Listen for the sounds of drills and screaming

Tomorrow morning, I am facing one of my greatest fears. I am going to the dentist. I am petrified of dentists. My stomach hurts and I may throw up.

I have a bad history with the dentist. When I was 5, my kindergarten took a tour of a dentist's office in order to make the whole ordeal less terrifying. They let us smell the floride and listen to the drill go. The moment I heard the drill, I vomitted all over my new school outfit. And then I cried. It kind of went downhill from there.

Growing up, Mom took us to one dentist. He lived the closest to our house and I have a sneaking suspiscion using him as our dentist was covered by my Dad's medical stuff. Which of course means that Dad bought his dental coverage out of the back of a black van in an alley. This dentist, fondly referred to as "The Devil", was the meanest sumofwhich that ever lived. He was heartless and had the bedside manner of... well, a really mean guy. He took joy in causing us kids pain - I think in retaliation for us not flossing. He would rip our mouths open and stick sharp pokey things in and mess around until tears streamed down our faces.

A few years ago (okay like 7) I got two of my wisdom teeth by The Devil. He froze only part of my mouth and when asked, I told him it wasn't enough and he said "Well, I'm sure it will do" and continued on. I sat in the chair and tears streamed down my face and I gripped the armchair til my fingers lost feeling. When I left, I drove home - walked in the door, collapsed in the corner and cried, "I want my Mommy."

I moved to a new dentist after that. He was cute and shy and adorable. He was kind and treated me gently. I'm sure he was just trying to make up for the previous years of my dentist experience. I like him much better. And yet, I still have an upset stomach.