Dental procrastination

Crystal [1] just declared that today is stop procrastinating about something day. And since I like to take Crystal's advice, I decided to call the dentist.

Calling the dentist has been on my "to-do" list for months. Back in January, I started having tooth pain after eating some chocolate. A few days of religiously brushing, flossing, and Listerine-ing alleviated the pain, and I resolved to eat no more chocolate.

Since then, the pain has come and gone, and I kept telling myself I needed to schedule an appointment, but honestly... I'm scared!!

I haven't had a cleaning in 8 years. (No dental insurance and a tight budget sometimes means I cut corners where I probably shouldn't.)

I also have a history of periodontitis [2]. For that reason, I have dreaded going to the dentist ever since my teen years, and then just decided that ignorance is bliss and usually try my hardest not to think about how much work probably needs done in my mouth.

So, I made the dreaded call. The receptionist was reassuringly friendly. My appointment is Thursday morning. I'm guessing they'll give my teeth a good cleaning and then give me my fix-it options so we can decide what we can afford.

Any advice? Is it safe to even have dental x-rays when breastfeeding?