Dentist's waiting room al fresco

To the dentist in Kingsbridge again this afternoon. Fortunately, it was between showers, as this is the new waiting room in between customers, while they do the mega-cleaning process indoors. So I paced up and down for 15 minutes, enjoying the garden, pinching a couple of agapanthus seeds (!) and wishing I had my gardening gloves so that I could have done some weeding for them.

Once inside, another 15 minutes' wait and then into the chair, when I could remove my mask. This time, no swilling with bleach, so that was a plus. Then after the dentist had prepared the peg for my crown, off she and her assistant went to wrap themselves up like aliens on Dr Who. Back they came in voluminous green gowns, face-masks, battledress perspex face-screens, gloves (and possibly shoe covers, not sure?). I feel really sorry for them having to work in that garb. The assistant, who is usually a dab-hand with the spit-sucker, kept missing, so I kept needing to swallow. But she wears glasses (probably steamed up by her mask), and with her face-screen obscuring her vision, too, I doubt she could see what she was doing. (Her eyesight isn't good, as I know, as we bumped into each other at the eye-clinic last year.)

Bottom line: I was very grateful for their efforts. Had impressions taken, top and bottom, for the cap to be made and, all being well, fitted in another couple of weeks. Usually the process makes me gag, but they introduced me to a marvellous technique. You press a finger hard on the space between just below your bottom teeth and the beginning of your chin (an acupuncture point, apparently) that helps you not to gag. Thereafter, if you feel you might gag, you lift your leg as high as you can and hold it there, swapping legs when you get tired - a great distraction that worked brilliantly. The 150 seconds that it takes for the impression to set went really quickly and I barely gagged at all. Superb!

The photo is of the front of the surgery. And if you wonder what the view is like across the road from the dentist, have a look at Cheralyn's blip today!