A day of my mouth

[vaneramos]

Much less interesting than travel plans is the fact that I went to the dentist this morning for the first time in about three years (I haven't had dental insurance since 1996). The good news is there don't appear to be any new pressing problems, although he won't be able to tell for sure until my teeth are properly cleaned. The bad news is that there's so much tartar under my gums that the hygienist needs another session in September to finish cleaning them. She suggested freezing my mouth, but I endured the uncomfortable scraping and a few twinges of cold-sensitivity; nothing is worse than a needle. Most of the toothaches I get are probably sensitivity due to receding gums rather than any new cavities.

The bigger problem is two broken teeth. One is my upper left wisdom tooth (all four of which I've had since I was 14; I have a wide jaw and they're relatively cavity-free, so I've never needed them extracted), but he says it isn't worth saving. We'll keep it as long as it doesn't present any problems, then pull it.

The other is a lower molar, which he wants to save. It will cost about $1,000. He said it can wait for a year or so until I can afford it. Actually, the tooth has been broken more than three years without further incident, so I'm inclined to wait and see.

Just like I've waited to see about the one upper premolar I'm missing. The dental surgeon who extracted it said I might need an implant if my teeth started to shift. That was 1984. The haven't moved.

For now my dentist drilled off the sharp edge of the fracture and put a temporary protective coating over the broken surface. Now it won't irritate my tongue.

The session cost $175, about half what I expected. Of course, she only finished cleaning three-eighths of my mouth.

Okay, that is a day in the history of my mouth. Fascinating, I know.

Comments

[thewindrose.livejournal.com]

Funny - I have the same dental problem with the tartar. You're are the first person, other than myself, who I have ever heard mention it. My dentist said that there are some people who have genetically bad tartar - ironically these people tend to have very good teeth and a low level of cavities. His comment was that their perfectly healthy teeth would eventually fall out because of their rotting gums. Nice, eh?

I have to do the scraping thing fairly regularly. At first I thought it was because, like you, I hadn't been in awhile, but they assured me that while that was part of it, most of it was genetic disposition.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Wow, no one has ever suggested that before, but every cleaning seems to require a considerable amount of scraping. I have a lot of fillings in my mouth because, as a previous dentist explained, at the age of seven I had pneumonia and the high fever damaged the developing enamel on my adult teeth. So I'm doubly cursed.

[thewindrose.livejournal.com]

Oh man, that's rough! At least my teeth are solid.

The dentist actually showed me the plaque on her little hook thing - it was pitch black. She said that this is not ordinary "I have been to the dentist recently" tartar (which is off white), this was due to genetics. Especially since I take great care of my teeth - brushing and flossing at least twice a day and so on.