The weather has been working in cahoots with the tooth fairy's evil twin, so for the past few days, everyone (including myself) has been having tooth pains. My collaborating SPED teacher took off two days to see the dentist, I took one day to take my mom to the dentist, and I finally scheduled a President's Day visit to the dentist for my own dull aches.
After some poking with a sharp thingy, about six x-rays by a very young dental hygienist, and an hour of needless waiting in a tilted chair, the dentist comes over to take a five minute look in my mouth. He then asks me about my occupation and stress levels. I explained that yes my job does involve quite a bit of stress and long hours (sometimes 14-16 hour days). His eyes bugged out a bit when I mentioned the hours, which made me again think about how much our profession is underappreciated in the professional world. Then he told me the pains were due to stress-induced teeth grinding at night.
Therefore I must now, in addition to all the stress eating and coffee addiction, wear a retainer-like night guard to keep myself from grinding my teeth down to little bits. Sometimes I feel like you have to be a yoga fanatic in order to handle the pressures of this job without a destructive habit (like chocoholism).
My teacher friends and I have an ongoing fantasy about working as a greeter at Walmart. All the people interaction you could hope for, no brain work, and when the shift is over: go home and live your life!
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