I finally found the Dentist Love, after years of Dentist Heartbreak. My dentist is the MAN.

I have had some truly horrible experiences with dentists over the past few years. In fact, I can't really remember the last time I had an excellent dentist, but I suspect that it was when I was about 7 or 8 years old. Well actually I did have a pretty enjoyable dentist in Mill Valley when I worked in Sausalito. Salt spray cleanings (no metal scraping) and standard nitrous mask for all work done. I don't know how good the dentist was really, but the routine visits sure were fun. It's so Marin County to get nitrous oxide for a cleaning. The only thing more Marin County would be to get a cleaning while wearing a bubble-gum scented nitrous oxide mask in a hot tub, right? Anyway, once I moved, going to a Sausalito dentist was no longer practical.

I have asked people for dentist recommendations, and eh....people aren't too choosy. They put up with all kinds of things. My dear husband, for example, recommended his dentist to me when I moved down here. Nice guy and all, but a simple filling replacement turned into a root canal and crown because frankly...he fucked up.

My next dentist was killed in a freak airplane crash, and so I went to her replacement. He was a nice young guy with a good sense of humor, but never took my increasing sensitivity issues seriously, nor the increasing fear I was experiencing around routine cleanings as a result. Finally his sadistic hygenist tortured me enough to make me burst into tears and have a complete meltdown in the chair...see the link above about truly horrible experiences with dentists. So goodbye dude, and the hell with you.

I had a crown come off when I was about six months overdue for a cleaning, and was rather despondent about finding a new dentist, when my yoga teacher announced at the end of class one day that she had a list of recommended "healers" up at the front, if anyone was interested. Well sure...why not?

On that list was a dentist, Dr. Trent. I actually knew and liked a few of the other people on the list, so I figured Dr. Trent must be worth a go. I called up and scheduled a visit, hoping for the best.

OK, so first of all, his office is state-of-the-art. Plenty of excellent magazines, a flat screen TV playing decent movies at a non-annoying volume on the wall in the waiting room, efficient and organized staff with good uniforms, zero waiting time, flat screens on the ceilings over each dental chair playing beach scenes or Cirque du Soleil, or whatever you are in the mood for.

Everything is slick and modern and beautiful. You get a hot towel at the end of your time, to wipe yourself off and freshen up. I hear there are massaging dental chairs, though I haven't had one yet.

Dental X-rays are digital, so there's only 15% of the radiation compared to standard X-rays, no hard cardboard to bite down on, and the X-rays are available instantaneously for review.

Second of all, I told the hygenist flat out that I had some REALLY sensitive spots *here* and *here*, and I had had a lot of pain during past cleanings and was very nervous about them as a result, so if she could please please PLEASE be very careful, I would appreciate it.

Not only did she not scoff at me, she actually numbed me up topically before my cleaning, and took every care not to hurt me or be too aggressive. She took my pain seriously. It was the best cleaning ever. Zero discomfort.

Enter Dr. Trent. Brisk, efficient, at the top of his game, yet smooth, calming and reassuring. Up on the very latest techniques, a dental smarty pants if I ever saw one. Implants, cosmetics, general dentistry, the guy does it all.

Plus he's suave, move-star handsome, and wears black scrubs like the Dr. 90210 guy, except he's not at all cheesy like that guy. Just straightforward, friendly and pays attention.

I explain my sensitivity, show him my missing crown, and he checks me out. Within a minute, he tells me that my bite is a little off, and one of my lower teeth is pushing one of my upper teeth outwards every time I bite down. The rocking motion is inflaming the nerve in that upper tooth and probably causing some of my hypersensitivity. He suggests a slight "shaping" of the lower tooth so that the upper tooth is no longer being pushed around with every bite. A few buzzes of his instrument and we're done. I can tell the difference right away. Wow. Why didn't any other dentist catch that? Simple enough fix. It didn't cure my gumline sensitivity, but my bite sensitivity went away completely.

Onto the crown. He tells me that it was done sloppily (which is why it came off) and it looks like there was decay underneath to boot, so he will have to re-work it a bit. Plus I have a cavity in another tooth. I am quaking in my boots at the prospect of all this potentially long and painful dental work. Yikes.

And yet it went off without a hitch. Dr. Trent was fast, careful, and numbed the bejeezus out of me beforehand. I watch Cirque du Soleil overhead with headphones on the whole time. The end result looked great and felt perfect. No weird clunkiness of a poorly fitted crown, and my new filling...awesome too.

Last week I had a standard checkup/cleaning and it was fab. Hygenist very careful around my sensitive areas, even while measuring my gum pockets with a sharp metal instrument, which made me break out in a soaking sweat of pure anticipatory fear. But no pain. She advised that I use a new toothpaste called Pronamel that hardens your enamel and decreases sensitivity, and gave me a big sample tube to try. I asked her about the new Sonicare toothbrushes and she said that they weren't that different and if I had an old one I should just keep using it.

Dr. Trent came in, looking quite dashing in his scrubs, examined me and found a very small cavity. He pointed right at my most sensitive gumline spot, touched it lightly, and asked me if it was still bothering me. II said yes, so he told me about a sensitivity treatment that he could apply at the same time that he fixed my small cavity. Oh HELL yeah, bring it, baby!

Today he filled my cavity in 30 minutes and applied the de-sensitizing solution to my gumline. It's a type of sealant that fills the pores in your enamel that allow your nerve to be irritated by cold, heat, sweets, air, etc. I watched an interesting documentary about New Zealand, sort of like an IMAX film. I totally forgot that I was having dental work done.

Zip-zap, it was all over in a flash with perfect execution.

Dr. Trent, you rock. Thanks for taking me seriously, and addressing my complaints. Thanks for being so smart, for knowing all about the latest advances and techniques, but using a simple fix when that's all it takes. Thanks for being a nice person. Thanks for being careful with my mouth, and not hurting me. Thanks for looking hot (the idea of your fingers in my mouth is that much more appealing), but thanks also for being 100% professional.

And finally, thanks for charging me the same price for my filling-plus-sensitivity-treatment as Dan paid his (IMO) crappy caveman dentist for *his* last filling.

I fear the dentist no longer. I heart the dentist now.