Under Pressure

My dentist's office called the other day to cancel my six-month cleaning because they no longer have a dental hygienist. They recommended I call back in January, to see if they've hired a new one by then.

The call got me thinking of how they always take my blood pressure when I go in for a checkup, and it always reads higher than usual. In fact, that is the only place where my blood pressure is higher than usual.

I do not fear dentists. In fact, I get along quite well with this dentist and his staff, so I don't think stress is the reason. Still, I pondered what could cause the difference.

First, I compared the dentist's office to the United Blood Services donor center in Albuquerque, where my blood pressure is taken most frequently. Albuquerque is at a higher elevation (about 2,000 feet higher) than Las Cruces. Could that be the reason? I donate blood in the morning, but my visits to the dentist are in the afternoon. Could that be the reason? The phlebotomist I asked said both of those are possibilities.

Yesterday afternoon, I had Gym Rat take my blood pressure. I wanted to see if the afternoon reading could indeed be the reason. It was spot-on average. So much for time of day -- and, indeed, for attributing stress at work -- for elevating my blood pressure. Elevation, too, can be discounted, because the dentist's office is, at most, a couple of hundred feet above the gym.

Any thoughts?