dental work
3:48 p.m. x 2003-11-20
I went to the dentist for a consultation today. When I filled out the paperwork before the appointment, it asked the usual questions like "Do you brush? Do you floss?" and "Do you have a fear or anxiety over being in the dentist's office?" I answered that last one with yes. I'm not afraid of the drill or whatever else they do and I really never did mind having my teeth worked on.
Basically, my fear of the dentist is that he or she will yell at me. I don't remember my first dentist very well. I remember a treasure box and that's it. My second dentist was fine when I was little, but I didn't go in for five years or better because my dad never took me (I was 16 the last time I saw him) and he yelled at me (like... if you've ever seen the langoliers, he yelled at me like the dad yells at his son) because I needed a molar pulled. Well, excuse the hell out of me if I have a small jaw that makes brushign hard and my dad hasn't brought me in to get my teeth cleaned in years.
Anyway, I didn't go back to a dentist til I was about 19, and I got a lot of work done but I later found out that he filled teeth that didn't have anything wrong with them and was leaving the bad ones, then had his people calling at all hours asking for their money... and I'm not the only one he did this to so no dentist for me for a few more years.
So, I finally made an appointment and went in to talk to them about just pulling all my teeth.
The dentist was friendly, and was a taller, blonder version of Jack from Will and Grace. I got so distracted by thinking of how cool it was that I have a gay dentist that I don't remember much about the explanation of dental implants. I do know that they're not an option until I get the rest of my teeth fixed because any bacteria in my mouth will attack those implants and I'll lose them.
So the plan is that next Tuesday, I go in and get 3 teeth filled. It'll be the ones on either side of my two front teeth on top, and my left eye tooth on top. He's going to see if he can save those. The problem is that I have such a small mouth that it doesn't take much for me to lose any hope of saving a tooth.
He asked if I wanted to get heroic and try to save my front teeth and I said no, just take them and save that stuff for the rest of them. He thinks he can save all but 3 of my normal teeth and my wisdom teeth. There's really only one wisdom tooth that's bad enough to pull right now but I asked him to pull the others since I can't keep them clean. He did agree to all that.
He's not crazy about dentures because I'm so young that if they pulled them all now, the bone wouldn't have a reason to be there and it would degenerate, so in 30 years I'd have a flat bone ridge and nothing to hold my teeth onto. He also said that if it bugs me now not to be able to feel the part of my mouth where I had a root canal, I'd really hate two pieces of plastic in my mouth. He also said that the reason I'm in so much pain is because I have a lot of little cavities, and if I give him about 4 months, he can get them all fixed a little at a time.
I know that they'll all have to be pulled someday anyway but I suppose i may as well make that bone ridge work as long as I can.
So, the plan is to pull the two in front, my wisdom teeth, and one off to the side because there's nothing left of it to save. When the two front ones get pulled, he'll immediately stick a partial in my mouth. That'll be the appointment after my next one, so by Christmas, I should be able to go out in public and talk without trying to hide my front teeth. Right now, I just feel like a hillbilly with rotten teeth.
He's the awesomest dentist ever though. Very patient, not judgemental, and willing to work with me on price.
Yup, I'll keep going back.