Open Wide!

I finally did it. After about five years, I finally sat myself down in a dentist's chair. I had been taking Aidan faithfully for the past year or so, when the dentist finally grabbed me. It was my turn. Yikes. Thankfully he waived all expenses for the first visit, the exam and x-rays. But that's the easy part.

I had to wait quite a while for my 6:00 p.m. appointment, with all the other working folks who made a late-day appointment. The people in that office are so incredibly nice, which makes the visit that much more palatable. The woman in charge of me was very friendly and talkative, and we had one of those "small world" moments -- it turns out that she has a summer home not too far from the tiny mountain town in the Poconos where my husband grew up. It's always nice to chat about something familiar, some connection.

18 x-rays later, we had a frank discussion about the state of my teeth. And I have to say that I was quite pleased that they weren't too bad, considering the fact that they've been professionally neglected for half a decade. No cavities showed up on the x-rays, which kind of blew my socks off, but I know that's not quite true. He didn't actually get in there with his pointy little tools and poke around, and when he does so I know he'll find at least one -- in one of my wisdom teeth, which has been there for much longer than 5 years. Why that didn't show up is beyond me, but I'm not complaining.

So what's the status of neglect? Well, I have the very early stages of periodontal disease, specifically in the area of my lower front teeth. She explained to me that when excessive tartar builds up at the base of your teeth, it separates the gum from your teeth, causing a pocket. When that pocket gets bigger, you start to lose bone (eewww) and that's the worrisome part. Once the tartar is gone, the gum will grow back and reattach itself properly, but you can't restore the bone. It's all because of a leftover relic from my teenage orthadontal chapter of my life. I have a metal bar that's permanently glued to the inside of my bottom front teeth, the purpose being to keep those teeth perfectly straight. That bar has been in there for 25 years and no one said it should be taken out because it's still doing its job. However, while my teeth might be straight, it's a bugger to clean and that's where the tarter builds up, around that bar and the base of my teeth. But thankfully it's not so bad, all things considered, and while there is some diminished bone density in that area, it's in the very early stages and something that I can easily live with, with absolutely no problems whatsoever. Phew.

So what does that mean for me? It means that I have to go back next Thursday, shell out over $200, and settle in for an hour+ of major, extensive cleaning to get that 5-years' worth of crud off of my teeth. The great thing is that they now have this temporary numbing solution that they just rub on the area (rather than shots), so I won't feel a thing when she's cleaning and digging around. Hallelujah! I have a considerably high tolerance for pain, but not when it comes to my mouth. Give me a sprained ankle and I won't let it stop me, but a canker sore will debilitate me. She told me ever-so-nicely that this kind of "neglect" cannot ever happen again, that after this next visit I'll be back on track and need to keep it that way. Thankfully she said it very nicely. "It's life, I know," she said. "You had kids, you moved around a lot, you don't have insurance -- I get it, I really do." But ... it can't happen again. I get it.

So I have to say that I was extremely surprised at the outcome. I have a few questions for the doc next week -- what to do about my wisdom teeth, the status of some very old fillings, etc. But even if something needs to be done in that area, it'll have to wait. Dentists aren't cheap. Perhaps I can make an offer and barter some of my newly sprouting delicious lettuce?