DENTAL HORROR: Image: unemploymentmentality.com

TODAY I was delivered the ultimate burn.

My traditional money-conscious Asian parents called me at 8 this morning and gave me the dreaded ‘I told you so’ speech.

Here I was thinking that my darling parents had called me to wish me luck for my dentist appointment. To offer me their support and tell me that everything would be okay – no such luck.

“Baolin! What time is your appointment?” asked my mum.

“What? You called me at 8 in the morning from New Plymouth to ask me about my dentist appointment?”

“No, I called you to say ‘I told you so!’”

You see, growing up, I was constantly nagged by my loving parents to make the most of my free dental care before I was 18, but I did what most teenagers did. I ignored them and ended up paying the price – $880 worth to be exact.

That’s right, $880 dollars spent on dental care. That’s roughly 220 coffees, 35 gym payments and maybe a couple pairs of really nice shoes.

Instead, I spent it all on small talk with an overly nice Canadian hygienist while she worked on reversing the last three years worth of dental neglect I brought upon myself.

If dentists weren’t so scary maybe I would’ve gone more often. I can’t help that every time I think of the word dentist, I associate it with grainy black and white horror movies.

After my appointment I got a little pink gift bag full of treats which kind of numbed the pain in my wallet.

All in all, my trip to the dentist was rather uneventful. It wasn’t the Texas Chainsaw Massacre-esque torture fest I had previously imagined it to be.

My advice to others suffering from dental phobia: go now before it’s too late. Go before your teeth get so bad that you become a prime example to others as to why it is important to have regular dental check-ups.