I'm losing a tooth...
My tooth rotted out and now it needs pulled.
A few weeks ago, the top inside side of my rearmost lower left molar cracked off. Aside from it being about as sharp as a pointy piece of plastic against my tongue, it didn't actually hurt which is why I let it go for so long. Unfortunately, over the weekend it started to hurt for some reason. I was reluctant to call the dentist until it did because I had a pretty expensive experience with the last dental insurance I had. Fortunately, we switched to a new dental plan at work which covers much more.
Anyway, I made an appointment this morning and they told me that they would have to drill out all the decayed crap inside the broken tooth and then fill it to try to save the tooth. Before they did this, they took about 14 x-rays and also had me visit their dental hygienist to check my gums out. Luckily, they weren't that bad, but I do need a really good cleaning and also need to start flossing. They scheduled me for a cleaning and a few more fillings on Monday.
After I was checked out they finally started drilling and filling the tooth. It actually wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. They numbed the area where the needle went in so it didn't hurt as much which is actually the worst part for me. Everything else was just pressure, vibrations, and a bit of coldness.
Unfortunately, after he had drilled the crap out of the tooth he informed me that the tooth was pretty much dead and would have to be removed. :( He said that due to the location of the tooth and how bad it was it would have to be extracted by an oral surgeon. He put a temporary filling in it until I could make an appointment with one which he referred me to.
One good thing that happened was that while the Novocaine was still effective, he was able to fill two of my teeth on the same side, including one near the front. Unfortunately, the front one was decayed slightly below the gum line and the filling they used (the white kind) slipped below the gum line so I may have to get something else done to it to finish it off. Fortunately, I don't think that's much of a problem.
When he referred me to the oral surgeon he told me to ask him about implants. I was hoping my insurance would cover this but it does not. Luckily, it does cover the extraction. The secretary wouldn't tell me over the phone how much the implant would cost so I searched around online. Apparently they can get pretty expensive, starting at $1500! There's no way I could afford that right now.
Anyway, next Thursday the 4th, I'll be down one tooth. Obviously, this is a result of negligence and poor oral hygiene on my part so I plan on taking much better care of what I currently have from now on.
Then again, maybe if I put it under my pillow, the tooth fairy will leave me a shiny new Intel Core 2 Duo Processor for the new computer I'm building. :)
A few weeks ago, the top inside side of my rearmost lower left molar cracked off. Aside from it being about as sharp as a pointy piece of plastic against my tongue, it didn't actually hurt which is why I let it go for so long. Unfortunately, over the weekend it started to hurt for some reason. I was reluctant to call the dentist until it did because I had a pretty expensive experience with the last dental insurance I had. Fortunately, we switched to a new dental plan at work which covers much more.
Anyway, I made an appointment this morning and they told me that they would have to drill out all the decayed crap inside the broken tooth and then fill it to try to save the tooth. Before they did this, they took about 14 x-rays and also had me visit their dental hygienist to check my gums out. Luckily, they weren't that bad, but I do need a really good cleaning and also need to start flossing. They scheduled me for a cleaning and a few more fillings on Monday.
After I was checked out they finally started drilling and filling the tooth. It actually wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. They numbed the area where the needle went in so it didn't hurt as much which is actually the worst part for me. Everything else was just pressure, vibrations, and a bit of coldness.
Unfortunately, after he had drilled the crap out of the tooth he informed me that the tooth was pretty much dead and would have to be removed. :( He said that due to the location of the tooth and how bad it was it would have to be extracted by an oral surgeon. He put a temporary filling in it until I could make an appointment with one which he referred me to.
One good thing that happened was that while the Novocaine was still effective, he was able to fill two of my teeth on the same side, including one near the front. Unfortunately, the front one was decayed slightly below the gum line and the filling they used (the white kind) slipped below the gum line so I may have to get something else done to it to finish it off. Fortunately, I don't think that's much of a problem.
When he referred me to the oral surgeon he told me to ask him about implants. I was hoping my insurance would cover this but it does not. Luckily, it does cover the extraction. The secretary wouldn't tell me over the phone how much the implant would cost so I searched around online. Apparently they can get pretty expensive, starting at $1500! There's no way I could afford that right now.
Anyway, next Thursday the 4th, I'll be down one tooth. Obviously, this is a result of negligence and poor oral hygiene on my part so I plan on taking much better care of what I currently have from now on.
Then again, maybe if I put it under my pillow, the tooth fairy will leave me a shiny new Intel Core 2 Duo Processor for the new computer I'm building. :)