Speaking of the Dentist ...

After being lost for nearly a year, I found my retainer. I knew it had gotten knocked off my night stand, yet I couldn't find it. I finally found it in the corner of the baby bed between the frame and the bedding. 

Just before Caelan was born, the dentist fit me with an appliance to straighten my top teeth, which crowded together when my wisdom teeth came in. I'd tighten it every few days until the dentist decided my teeth were good enough. Then I just wore the device as a retainer. I got to wear I needed it once a week overnight.

Now, I've lost a lot of what I'd fixed. The retainer wouldn't even fit on anymore, so I had to loosen it a few turns. Now I'll have to wear it all the time again, gradually tighten it back to where it was, and then gradually need it less and less. Again.

The pressure against my teeth is a constant ache, and it often irritates the roof of my mouth. The memories of the original experience are all coming back. Ironically, it keeps my tongue in place and helps where it's sore from the incision to get out the salivary gland stone (sialolith).


I'm sure you can find a life lesson analogy in this. Meanwhile, I'm talking like Sylvester the cat again.