Another reason why it’s good to go to the dentist every six months:

I had an appointment this morning for my regular six-month dental checkup — x-rays, cleaning, et cetera. There was a new dentist; the last three times I’ve gone, the dentist who’s worked on my teeth has been this old man who doesn’t say much, but this time it was a young Nigerian woman with excellent English. I liked her much better.

And then she told me that I had three very little cavities.

She said they were so small that I wouldn’t need anesthesia if she filled them in. She asked if I wanted to have it done now.

Hell, why not. I figured it was good to get it done before my brain had time to process this.

And she was right — it took about 20 minutes and I didn’t need anesthesia. I did feel a little pain for a second or two — but really, once you’ve had a swab stuck up your urethra, everything else is peaches.

So it’s done. Good. Thank you, nice Nigerian dentist lady! Apparently I need to do a better job of brushing the tops of my teeth.

Meanwhile, I’m still having bladder issues, and they’ve been getting worse again since the urologist told me last Monday that it’s probably psychosomatic. So I’ve scheduled an appointment with another urologist, which unfortunately isn’t until next Thursday. But I still have some Celebrex left (an anti-inflammatory drug), and I’m going to start taking it again to see if it helps. I was not in good shape mentally at the end of work yesterday; I’d made the mistake of searching the Web and diagnosing myself with something that’s incurable, even though I’m missing one or two of the key symptoms, and I figured, that’s it, I’ll have to deal with this every day for the rest of my life, I will forever be impaired, my life will never be the same again. I was really upset.

Once I got home I realized I was being ridiculous. Why not just wait until I see the new urologist and he makes me better? I took a hot bath, ordered in a sandwich for dinner, and watched “Smallville” and “Angel.” “Smallville” has been really good lately; I’m still not sure what I think of “Angel” this season. But I’m halfway through Season 2 on DVD, and it’s damn good.

I’ll be glad when the Wellbutrin kicks in.