05/12/2021 - 9:43 a.m.

So I just want to get this all out of my system.

Literally. My body has all this extra adrenaline from the angst of an ongoing drama that I just resolved. And now I really, really want to get it all out of my system -- physically. Later I'm even going to take a lovely morning walk. And maybe I'll visit the library (where they hand you books through the front door instead of having you come inside).

*sigh* So, anyways, the story...

Basically, now that I'm "fully vaccinated" -- two weeks past my second shot -- I'm doing things I put off. The truth is I'd be just as happy to keep staying home, but there's some safety things. Like, you can't really put off dental visits without hurting your teeth. But going to the dentist is one of the most dangerous things you can do...

I mean, part of the problem these days is you sort of end up making your own determination about what is and isn't safe. But a dentist visit is indoors, for one thing. And then the idea is that everyone goes into the same little indoor room and opens their mouth, while someone inserts high-speed instruments that spew things into the air.

And then I'm supposed to go in there and open my mouth for an hour?!

I'd convinced myself that my own dentist was safe -- they don't use high-speed instruments; they go to the trouble of doing everything by hand, slowly but safely, and they use a special air purifier. But of course I'd had to change dentists. (My new health insurance only covers in-network dentists.) They don't even have one in my town -- I have to go into a major urban area a few miles up the road. And it took a bunch of phone calls that I didn't even want to make to establish that the old dentist wouldn't take my insurance, then get the address of the approved new in-network dentist, and then get my new updated insurance card...

But, so, I did all that. I guess part of the problem was I don't like how they deal with patients. I think there's just one switchboard for, like, six offices -- so you're talking to one central operator who's pretending she's sitting at the front desk of *your* dentist's office (when she's not). When I asked her where I was supposed to park at their building, her head almost exploded...

Geez, I'm being so negative. Another way to tell this story is "I'm going to this dentist not that dentist." But *that* dentist wasn't really able to reassure me like my old dentist that their office was going to be safe. (They never said anything about the slow, manual procedures, for example -- or about having a special air purifier.) I'd figured I'd at least ask for the safest appointment time of all -- when they first open in the morning on Monday. But then they told me those spots had already been claimed, long ago, and that they'd have to stick me in just a few hours before closing time late Monday afternoon.

I said sure -- like a chump. I hate having to make these quick real-time decisions about matters of safety. And that's really the whole story. All day long I kept asking myself: is this really safe? You're going indoors, on a high-danger dental visit, and they haven't actually told you they have any safety procedures in place. And you're going in after lots and lots of patients have already been in there. I mean, I hate to dump my anxieties on other people, but I think this is "legit." I'm anxious because....this is actually dangerous.

But there's a silver lining. This story actually does have a happy ending! I kept getting this anxious feeling in the pit of my stomach -- and finally, I did something about it. I realized that it's probably just as safe to grab one of the early morning slots on another day (besides Monday). And I actually hadn't asked about that when I was making the appointment. If I could get an early-morning slot, then it doesn't even matter what safety procedures they're using. Because there's only one set of people who were in there before me (on that day) -- and for everyone else, there's been, like, 16 hours for all the stuff in the air to settle down.

Just to make this more dramatic, I called and was told they had no 9 a.m. slots at all until June. They had a few 10 a.m. slots, but I decided first I'd try another dentist that's also in-network. Turns out that dentist is only open one day a week, for four hours -- so I realized they probably weren't going to have any good time slots, and it wouldn't be worth the trouble of switching. But then when I called the first dentist back -- they wouldn't take my call!

I'd been the first caller when they'd opened, but since then everyone else had started calling too, and now their lines were busy, and I couldn't get through. (Their voicemail kept saying they were assisting other callers, and then refusing to go any further.) Now I had to worry that my super-safe 10 a.m. slot was going to go to somebody else! I kept calling back -- I must've called at least four different times -- and each time, even after waiting a bit between calls, I just couldn't get through to claim my safer time slot.

But I'm only telling you all that to tell you how happy I am that I *did* get through. And I got to the receptionist, and they still had a safe 10 a.m. slot, and it's next week, so I won't even have to wait another month, which will be good for my teeth. And when I asked her about their Covid safety procedures, she even told me a new one I hadn't heard before -- they limit the number of people in the lobby.

But I already know that I'm safe, safe, safe -- because there'll be a very small number of people who've been in that room (since the 16-hour shutdown that happens every night).

So I did it. I recognized a danger, and I took action.

And I will be safe.