I’ll admit it: I’m terrified of the dentist. Not any particular dentist. All dentists. And of all dental procedures, including simple check ups. The only time I’ve had hysterics was in the dentist’s chair.
Looking back, I’d say it was worth it, as I now have some personal knowledge of hyperventilating, of the pins and needles effect in the limbs – or “tingling in the extremities”, as I think it’s called in the textbooks – and of the complete inability to stop sobbing long enough to explain that I was fully aware of how silly I was being.
Surely this sort of experience has to be beneficial for someone who wants to be able to write from different points of view?
Still, I’d rather not repeat the experience, so I naturally clicked on the BBC headline Lavender ‘calms dental patients’. After all, an esential oil might be a lot less injurious to my system than the tranquilisers I currently rely on.
Or would it?
Alongside the article recommending that lavender oil be used in dental waiting rooms, is the related headline Oils ‘make male breasts develop’. And, yes, lavender is one of the oils referred to.
As far as I’m concerned, male breasts are academic (though unattractive) but it does make me wonder if at least some of the patients exposed to lavender oil only worried less about their dental treatment because they were freaking out about other things.
don't confuse the narrator 