Arnica

Dear Mom,

Just a rather ordinary day, spending rather a long time in "the chair"-the dentist's chair, this morning. Replaced a filling and have another one to get done next week. Then I hope I'll be done for awhile.

I asked him if there was a way to get my front teeth straightened and he got real animated. Yes, there are a couple of ways to go about it. He can put custom veneers on my teeth or do orthodontia, either way costing about $6,000. I have resigned myself to being satisfied with my crooked teeth. It's a bit of a disappointment, though, I had braces for 4 years and retainers for 2 and they moved back over time. He said now they're finding out that retainers are forever-too bad they didn't know that back then, 35 years ago. Ah, well... I do think that if I ever had the money to do it I would not get them in that very white color everybody seems to want. I kind of like the color of natural teeth, that creamy ivory color. That's the color of my crowns and filling and I'm quite fond of it.

I took the homeopathic Arnica with me to the dentist, took it right away and once since then and have had no problem with soreness at the injection site. That really gave me a fit the other times I went. Once again, though, I was extremely tired this afternoon and took a nap. The dentist said his wife does the same thing, she's a dentist at the same office and she's exhausted after any procedure in her mouth.

Don made a nice brisket stir-fry for dinner and then made a chocolate cake this evening. What a good boy! *smile* Then we did the dishes and settled down to play with our respective computers. It's so nice having someone who shares your interests (and who understands your quirks). Don just loves it when I 'geek out' on something, he's soooooo tolerant-and proud of me. He's been getting into trouble for his geeky propensities his entire life and now he can settle down, stop feeling picked on and enjoy the rest of his life. That's all we really need, room to breathe and someone to love us the way we are-how simple is that?

I love you,

Lisa

I'd Like To Buy A Molar...

Dear Mom,

I've been having my first real dental work in years over the last month. I had a very tender molar and knew something was up so I called the first available dentist and got an appointment. Sure enough, the stupid thing was cracked in several places, just waiting to crumble on me. I had it ground down, a temporary crown put on and waited 3 weeks for the permanent crown. Total price tag? !Eight*Hundred*Eleven*Dollars! If I had needed a build-up filling it would have cost $187 more. During the interim between the diagnosis and installment of the temporary, I shopped for price all over the place and my dentist's price was competitive.

I clean houses. When I think about the relative value of an item, my frame of reference is very basic. Eight hundred dollars is a lot of toilets.

I went to the dentist yesterday and had the permanent crown put on. It's my first one and I'm thrilled, it feels like a real tooth. Just the tiniest bit tender but no pain and I didn't need to be numbed up, they just lifted the old one off and cemented the new one on. He took a look at the other one that's tender and said he could see just by eyeballing it there are two cavities and a crack in it. I sort of suspected that, it felt just like the other one before it blew. If I don't need a root canal, I'll have the other one crowned in a heartbeat, no whining this time. They said I did a superb job of keeping the temporary crown clean so I take it my dental hygiene is adequate. I have an appointment for a complete exam next week so he'll tell me all the extensive work I really need done, I'm sure. He said we can set up a 'dental plan' for the future. Right.

I think dentistry is a real racket, but it's one where we have no choice, so there you go. Crap. I'm real motivated to take good care of my teeth anyway, and no more almonds! My days as a "power chewer" are pretty much over.

I Love You,

Lisa