it's a thin line between love and hate
Finding this story from NPR about our irrational relationships with dentists is great timing (thanks, Matt, for sharing it!), since I spent two hours in the chair yesterday being poked and scraped and drilled and generally unhappy and sweating nervously while biting down on that black rubber mouth guard.
Dentistry is basically [an] unpleasant experience. They poke in your mouth. It's uncomfortable. It's painful. It's unpleasant. You have to keep your mouth open. And I think all of this pain actually causes cognitive dissonance - and cause higher loyalty to your dentist. Because who wants to go through this pain and say, I'm not sure if I did it for the right reason. I'm not sure this is the right guy.
I highly recommend Jill Martenson at Piedmont Dental by Design in Oakland.