Look, Ma! No cavities!

[vovat]

I went to the dentist this morning. It's been a few years since the last time, but my mouth is apparently fine, aside from my inability to brush close enough to the gums. One thing I found odd is that I got my choice of flavored toothpastes (I chose Orange Creamsicle), which I thought they usually only did for kids. Actually, when I was a kid, it was always the fluoride treatment, not the toothpaste, for which I could pick the flavor. It's not like any of them really tasted like anything other than fluoride treatment, though.

Something I've been thinking about recently, which I guess is sort of tangentially related to dentists' offices, is that I'm not big on background music. That's not to say that I'm not usually listening to something while driving or using the computer. It's just that I don't really consider it background music, because I'm generally actually paying attention to it, not just putting it on for atmosphere. When I'm doing something that requires more intense concentration, I prefer quiet. I find it kind of hard NOT to listen to music, when it's on. I sometimes wonder if the reason for the success of radio stations that play smooth jazz or the same easy listening songs over and over again is that people really aren't listening too closely to them, but just like to have some sound going on in the background. Maybe that's just me showing my own biases, though.

Comments

[kristenjarrod.livejournal.com]

My first dentist had classical music going on the whole time I think. My second (shortlived--we did not like that place at all, the recptionist was annoying as crap and he always acted way too busy to really concentrate on your teeth) played the crappy new music easy listening station that plays the same song 40 times a day, my third dentist played no music at all, but let you bring a magazine in the dental room while you waited on him to come in to see you.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

At the office today, they were playing an oldies station, albeit not the oldies station in my area that I actually like. I learned that Tony Orlando (presumably without Dawn) is going to be playing in Atlantic City.

my third dentist played no music at all, but let you bring a magazine in the dental room while you waited on him to come in to see you.

They offered to let me read a magazine after they had finished the X-rays but before the dentist showed up, but I declined the offer.

[yosef.livejournal.com]

Smooth jazz radio stations make me think of my aunt, who often has it going in her house. I can just picture her radio sitting on a shelf in her old house, tuned to KINK 103 FM... for some reason it just always really fit with her house, like her house just seemed calm, serene and relaxed. I sometimes profess to hating smooth jazz, but now that I'm writing about it, I guess I don't really. Maybe I only hate it when for some reason I'm near a radio a lot during the course of a day and it's, as you say, playing the same songs a lot.

Also, I love the dentist fluoride treatments. I always remember trying to lick out the stuff to taste it.