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
Showing posts with label teeth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label teeth. Show all posts
Friday, March 7, 2008
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Teeth and Vinegar
This is for Thursday, January 17th, (posted Sunday)
Dear Mom,
Today I went to the dentist to have a comprehensive exam, all the x-rays, etc.. As predicted, he sat down with me and outlined a "care plan". I've been babying the back molar because it was cracked and had a large cavity under the filling. He tried to get me to go to a specialist in Austin to get checked out and perhaps get a root canal, I told him that was not within my financial ability. We settled on grinding it down in preparation for a crown, putting in a build-up filling, placing a temporary crown and waiting for 4 weeks. If there's an infection in the root, it will hurt by then and I'll have it pulled. If not I'll end up with a new tooth. He had a cancellation so he was able to do it today, which saved me a trip and possibly the tooth, as waiting would have given it an opportunity to crack some more.
Now, all I need is another crown and a filling. Years ago, a very good dentist "made" me half a tooth with filling material and it's held up well, but it's about to give it up. I'm sure I'll end up taking care of the rent for the dentist this month. He sort of danced around the subject, but the advice he gave me boiled down to, "We did a lot in there, it's really going to hurt". So I'll be careful to take my ibuprofen/acetaminafen cocktail with due diligence. It really works.
I do place a high priority on my teeth. It's just impractical for me to get the root canals the dentist recommended. I have $1000 to pay for a tooth, I don't have $2000 (each). It's just too much, and my earning capability is limited. I'm hoping this 2nd cap works out. And then I have to go for a third. And a filling, and a cleaning. This will go down in LisaHistory as the Year of the Teeth.
As far as I can see, there are definite family attitudes about teeth. Don-and his daughter Lily (who is 27)-recommended that if your teeth are bad "just pull them!". Lily's mother let her teeth go and had them all pulled at a young age, early 40's, popped in dentures and never looked back. Don will let a bad tooth go and then have it pulled. His mother did the same thing and so did his dad. I don't understand it, but that doesn't mean it's wrong, I guess. Lately I've been wondering if I should invest some of my savings...my mouth just made that decision for me. My mouth really doesn't feel too bad this morning, maybe there won't be as much aggravation from this one. I know you have all your teeth but one and grandma did too. That's pretty impressive. I'm surprised that I'm needing so much work but I am a self-confessed "power chewer" so that may be a factor. I love hard, crunchy food and my teeth probably weren't up to it. It's interesting your teeth broke too, and just a bit earlier than mine.
I think also that because of my sensitivities I was probably malnourished at a very young age, I avoided a lot of things as a child and as a teenager lived mostly on coffee and cigarettes for years, not a healthy diet by any means. For most of my life eating resulted in intestinal pain, landing me in the hospital a couple of time for a full GI series. I only ate what didn't hurt, and that wasn't much. Now that I know what bothers me, a whole world of food is nutritious and great-tasting and the battle-of-the-bulge is on. And mostly, I feel good, really good.
At the Llano Master Gardeners meeting, we had a talk by a guy who is an apple grower and he was touting the benefits of the theories of a physician, Dr. D.C. Jarvis, in his book, "Folk Medicine", who advocated taking a couple of teaspoons of apple cider vinegar and a couple of teaspoons of honey in a glass of water two or three times a day with meals. It makes your system more acidic, which helps your system fight infection, metabolize your food better, and discourages disease. It provides a lot of micronutrients, supposed to make your body achieve it's ideal weight and fight the effects of stress. I tried it once but got the solution too acid and it bothered my stomach. I'll try it again and see if I like the results, the solution is very pleasant to drink so there's no downside. The four pairs of jeans I tried on before work this morning were too tight. This is very annoying.
I love you,
Lisa
Dear Mom,
Today I went to the dentist to have a comprehensive exam, all the x-rays, etc.. As predicted, he sat down with me and outlined a "care plan". I've been babying the back molar because it was cracked and had a large cavity under the filling. He tried to get me to go to a specialist in Austin to get checked out and perhaps get a root canal, I told him that was not within my financial ability. We settled on grinding it down in preparation for a crown, putting in a build-up filling, placing a temporary crown and waiting for 4 weeks. If there's an infection in the root, it will hurt by then and I'll have it pulled. If not I'll end up with a new tooth. He had a cancellation so he was able to do it today, which saved me a trip and possibly the tooth, as waiting would have given it an opportunity to crack some more.
Now, all I need is another crown and a filling. Years ago, a very good dentist "made" me half a tooth with filling material and it's held up well, but it's about to give it up. I'm sure I'll end up taking care of the rent for the dentist this month. He sort of danced around the subject, but the advice he gave me boiled down to, "We did a lot in there, it's really going to hurt". So I'll be careful to take my ibuprofen/acetaminafen cocktail with due diligence. It really works.
I do place a high priority on my teeth. It's just impractical for me to get the root canals the dentist recommended. I have $1000 to pay for a tooth, I don't have $2000 (each). It's just too much, and my earning capability is limited. I'm hoping this 2nd cap works out. And then I have to go for a third. And a filling, and a cleaning. This will go down in LisaHistory as the Year of the Teeth.
As far as I can see, there are definite family attitudes about teeth. Don-and his daughter Lily (who is 27)-recommended that if your teeth are bad "just pull them!". Lily's mother let her teeth go and had them all pulled at a young age, early 40's, popped in dentures and never looked back. Don will let a bad tooth go and then have it pulled. His mother did the same thing and so did his dad. I don't understand it, but that doesn't mean it's wrong, I guess. Lately I've been wondering if I should invest some of my savings...my mouth just made that decision for me. My mouth really doesn't feel too bad this morning, maybe there won't be as much aggravation from this one. I know you have all your teeth but one and grandma did too. That's pretty impressive. I'm surprised that I'm needing so much work but I am a self-confessed "power chewer" so that may be a factor. I love hard, crunchy food and my teeth probably weren't up to it. It's interesting your teeth broke too, and just a bit earlier than mine.
I think also that because of my sensitivities I was probably malnourished at a very young age, I avoided a lot of things as a child and as a teenager lived mostly on coffee and cigarettes for years, not a healthy diet by any means. For most of my life eating resulted in intestinal pain, landing me in the hospital a couple of time for a full GI series. I only ate what didn't hurt, and that wasn't much. Now that I know what bothers me, a whole world of food is nutritious and great-tasting and the battle-of-the-bulge is on. And mostly, I feel good, really good.
At the Llano Master Gardeners meeting, we had a talk by a guy who is an apple grower and he was touting the benefits of the theories of a physician, Dr. D.C. Jarvis, in his book, "Folk Medicine", who advocated taking a couple of teaspoons of apple cider vinegar and a couple of teaspoons of honey in a glass of water two or three times a day with meals. It makes your system more acidic, which helps your system fight infection, metabolize your food better, and discourages disease. It provides a lot of micronutrients, supposed to make your body achieve it's ideal weight and fight the effects of stress. I tried it once but got the solution too acid and it bothered my stomach. I'll try it again and see if I like the results, the solution is very pleasant to drink so there's no downside. The four pairs of jeans I tried on before work this morning were too tight. This is very annoying.
I love you,
Lisa
Friday, January 11, 2008
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
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
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