Friday, May 9, 2008

The Bi-Annual Trip to the Dentist

Now, I fully understand the importance of visiting your dentist every six months, and I am completely paranoid of losing all my teeth by the time I'm 30, but when you move a whole lot, you tend to put off things like finding a new dentist. I have been to some major quacks in the past and so I am a bit jaded when it comes to the world of dentistry. But the pending loss of medical insurance motivated me to get all my dental needs taken care of now, while they are a bit less expensive.

My biggest complaint was that I've had a tooth that hurts like it's cracked. It has been that way for over 3 years but no dentist could ever find the crack.

At first I was a bit leery of this new dentist office. I had made the appointment over 2 months ago and yesterday was the soonest they could get me in. It was all fancy with flat screen TVs all over. It makes me think they overcharge.

But once I met my dental assistant, all was changed. She spent over an hour x-raying and photographing my teeth to try and find the crack. Then she did all sorts of other crazy poking and prodding to check the health of my teeth and gums. It hurt like the dickens, but that's my own fault for not taking better care of my teeth. Then finally she cleaned them. But it wasn't that old fashioned spinny rubber polisher thing. Oh no. I got a baking soda pressure wash. It was messy, but so much better than nasty tasting gritty dentist toothpaste.

When the dentist came in he looked at all the pictures and x-rays and within a minute had found the crack that had eluded 3 dentists in the past. Hooray! I am so happy. Plus he says they will try and fix it first rather than crown me. Happy day!

When all this was done another lady took me back to her office to schedule my future appointments and set me up with a tooth guard (I clench my teeth, which is what's causing the cracking). And the coolest of all? I got a printout of all my teeth pictures:

I know you all wanted to see them too.

Final diagnosis: 2 cracked teeth and 1 cavity. Not too bad, I guess.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Nice! I would like a dentist like yours, they sound great! The one here is okay once you can get an appointment. They are seriously booked 6 months in advance - it's ridiculous! We just dropped them from our plan and are in the market for someone new.

Andrea said...

I am so tooth obsessed it is not funny! I think I am the only sick individual that loves teeth. But I too have horrid dreams of loosing all of them. Just waking up and all my teeth falling out! Looks like you had a good time. I love the dentist. We go every six months on the dot. I know I am strange!

Monique said...

Hey! I think going to the dentist is like a pampering session. No kids, someone else cleaning my teeth. . . I can only go twice a year? What!!? :)