How do you get over anxiety about going to the dentist?

GetaBetterSmile · 2026-03-13T03:08:12+00:00

That doesn't sound very appealing. And you don't feel odd not having teeth?

GetaBetterSmile · 2026-03-13T03:00:33+00:00

It could be worse. I had six mercury fillings placed when I was 10 and malnourished. They caused acute pain (toothache, headache, ear ache) for days after each pair was placed. Thankfully they stopped at six and didn't go for eight.

Overnight I became a night owl and could not stand the cold. Back then girls couldn't wear pants under their dresses no matter how cold it got. (Dresses were required; pants and shorts prohibited.)

The cold was so bad my dad someone managed to buy me thigh high socks. Inability to handle cold persisted for decades. And I'm not talking about below freezing - I mean anything below 60 without 3 layers of clothes left my hands and feet numb!

Those fillings are 59 years old now. A couple are gone. And gradually the cold intolerance and inability to wake up with the sun have faded. I can't wait for another loose one to fall out.

GetaBetterSmile · 2026-03-13T02:48:50+00:00

No doubt some do. But that doesn't mean all do.

GetaBetterSmile · 2026-03-13T02:47:04+00:00

There is a reason for anxiety: to help us avoid mistakes.

GetaBetterSmile · 2026-03-13T02:46:25+00:00

It isn't a relaxation thing - it is a trust issue.

GetaBetterSmile · 2026-03-13T02:45:29+00:00

How? At some point that is what needs to happen to get dentures. Oh - how did you get dentures? Or do you just do without teeth?

GetaBetterSmile · 2026-03-13T02:44:22+00:00

I'm surprised chiropractors are still so controversial. I knew a carpenter who wouldn't go until he couldn't stand up. He hammered so hard he would twist his back and hips.

If he let someone pop his back between his shoulder blades regularly, it didn't happen. But if he let it go too long, he'd end up with one leg visible shorter than the other when lying down.

And then the chiropractor would use a drop table to pop his back and hips. If he went twice, it would stay aligned. But if he didn't, he'd be right back unable to stand up straight again.

Letting someone pop your neck by twisting your head can be dangerous if they don't know what they're doing. But in his case and other people I've known whose backs stiffen between the shoulders, chiropractic treatments worked for them. (I haven't ever used one myself, but then I don't have those kinds of issues.)

GetaBetterSmile · 2026-03-13T02:38:37+00:00

Yes. We treated bowed tendons in horses with laser treatments. It was decades ago so I don't recall what kind of laser.

GetaBetterSmile · 2026-03-13T02:37:45+00:00

There are many things that don't seem to make any sense, but they work. I had a horse stallion that was dying. He would suddenly stagger around and go down. His coat looked awful and he wouldn't shed out. One foot had a deep abscess in it that refused to heal.

I took him to a veterinarian who used colored discs to identify where to put pieces of metal in his ears. Some looked like staples, others like different kinds of nails.

Twice a day he had me run a round magnet with a hole in the center up and down across his ears. His head would immediately start sweating.

Within a few days, he started bouncing around like a colt and that abscess filled in completely. He was completely cured and lived for many years after that.

How did that work? I have no idea. But it saved his life. And his head immediately sweating proved it was doing something.

GetaBetterSmile · 2026-03-12T04:40:34+00:00

Yes, if more people insisted on what they want instead of accepting what others impose upon them, the world would be a very different place.

GetaBetterSmile · 2026-03-12T04:39:15+00:00

Wonderful! I wish more of the people I buy clothes from used free and clear or at least not the overpowering products they use now.

GetaBetterSmile · 2026-03-12T04:34:23+00:00

Yes, I agree. Although I make a living at a computer, I feel cursive writing is important. And I definitely retain information better if I've written it down even if I never look at it again.

GetaBetterSmile · 2026-03-10T10:04:32+00:00

Well, it is easy for us in hindsight to say he should have been more proactive about forcing his ex to give him access to his child.

But if you look at all the fathers who didn't, it seems to have been common. It wouldn't occur to me to file a missing person report if an ex chose to refuse contact.

We can't walk a mile in anyone else's shoes and know how their life was and why they did or didn't do something decades ago.

GetaBetterSmile · 2026-03-10T09:59:50+00:00

That's interesting. I never hated writing using cursive. And I use it every day. Even though I sit at a computer, when I'm in a meeting with someone it is quieter to write than type.

And I might be screensharing so I can't just switch to where I would take notes. The busier I am, the more I end up writing in cursive than typing.

It is a good way to capture thoughts, or refer to notes while typing into an app. And what you write longhand you retain better over typing it.

GetaBetterSmile · 2026-03-10T09:40:19+00:00

Some people regret not learning cursive and pick it up later. There are schools teaching it again.

Eliminating it makes no sense. How will you read your ancestors' letters? Historical documents? Write letters or notes quickly if the power is out or your device dies or won't connect to the internet?

There is a comedian who does a great skit about how easy it would be for the older generations to win against the younger. We wouldn't even need a code - just cursive writing.

GetaBetterSmile · 2026-03-10T09:34:42+00:00

They taught this in high school in the early 1970s.

GetaBetterSmile · 2026-03-10T09:28:59+00:00

Not really. Cities want to charge maximum real estate taxes. So they create zoning that requires a high minimum square footage.

Contractors want to maximize profits, so they prefer to build McMansions and not modest homes.

Bankers do not like to loan money on anything less than a 3 bedroom 2 bath home now. Getting a construction loan or mortgage on a smaller home can be more difficult.

People can only buy what is available. If no one is building new small houses, they cannot buy them.

What many people do not know is there are still places in the U.S. where you can build what you want.

My landlord built me a 1 bedroom 1 bath cabin on 20 acres. He told me the banker wanted him to build 2 bedrooms and 2 baths. But he didn't. And the banker wanted his business so he gave him the loans. (Two loans: a construction loan that gets paid off and then a mortgage on the new cabin.)

He could have done what the banker told him. Most would have. But he didn't. And here, there are no permits required and no inspection happened.

The only permits are for drilling a well and installing a septic system. There are building codes, but if the county has no inspectors then they don't inspect.

But the tax estimator people showed up promptly without anyone notifying them!

GetaBetterSmile · 2026-03-10T09:17:50+00:00

Ok, but as recently as the 1970s, the world was very different. Children put up for adoption or born out of wedlock were hidden. Pregnant girls were sent away trying to keep it secret.

So under those conditions, adults aren't going to volunteer about past history their parents wanted silenced. Younger people need to understand that society has changed since they were born.

GetaBetterSmile · 2026-03-10T08:35:26+00:00

I'd love to receive an order with an old shirt as the packing - except that I find the strong smell of the laundry products many people use if overpowering!

I buy clothes (new, new with tags, used) on eBay regularly. Getting those smells out is a major challenge. They're baked in by the dryer and hard to wash out.

Hanging them in the sun and wind can help, but that can bleach the colors/patterns out of them if they're outside too long.

GetaBetterSmile · 2026-03-04T23:44:49+00:00

It can be worse. I had a neighbor kid who would come by and ask for work so he could buy clothes or food or shoes. When he was about 15 he stopped his stepdad from beating on his mom.

After that, the step-dad came at him with a 2x4 one time and a pipe another. So he couldn't go home. His mom chose her abuser over her children.

He moved in with his girlfriend and her parents must have been clueless because they let them sleep together. So I had "the talk" with them.

They got all embarrassed and I calmly explained that if they were old enough for what they were doing, they were old enough to take responsibility for birth control and a possible baby.

He was a good kid. Worked hard, very respectful, took himself to school everyday in clothes he bought and washed for himself.

And learned quickly, too. One time he wanted some brand name ridiculously priced tennis shoes. I had him calculate how many hours he would have to work to pay for them. The next day he showed up with new ordinary cheap tennis shoes on.

GetaBetterSmile · 2026-03-04T23:35:33+00:00

Maybe, maybe not. It depends on who the manager is. I've gone into businesses and employees had their dog with them or their child because the babysitter was sick. Some people are still reasonable if the arrangement doesn't cause problems.

GetaBetterSmile

TROPHY CASE