Pulling out, Filling in

I went to the dentist today. Had a wisdom tooth taken out and a white matrix filling put in. The dentist is always an interesting experience because it is so far outside of the usual day to day experience. It's outside the comfort zone, letting someone into our personal space and letting them assault us.

It was a good opportunity to practice relaxation and breathing techniques, I noticed that it was not the pain of the treatment or the numbness in my gums that hurt, it was the tension in my jaw from holding my mouth so wide open. I wonder whether doing some practice before hand holding the mouth open wide, and gargling with water would help, hopefully I'll have to wait a while before I get another opportunity!