Tag Archives: dentist

Cavities! zOMG I have them! (Two! In the same goddamned tooth!)

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In which I get some bad news u guise! I have to get holes drilled in one of my teeth!!!!1!

[dropcap]I[/dropcap] have never had a cavity IN MY LIFE*. 

I’m that one person who can say, “I have never had a filling. Ever!” (I have bad skin and have to wear glasses, not to mention the horrible tartar, so I figured I deserved it.) UNTIL NOW.

Now I have not just a cavity, but two! In the same tooth! And an appointment to get a filling! In April! No shit!

When I went for my exam yesterday, the dentist, whom I’d not previously met, asked me what I do. “I’m a rock star,” I said. “I play blues festivals all summer.”

He quizzed me a little more and of course I revealed that one doesn’t live on gig money, that I’m a sysadmin by day, blah blah blah. He apparently made the leap that I must understand electronics.

My cavities, such as they are, are very small and going weird directions and failed to show up on the films, so the good doctor took another couple because I said I wanted to see them, my very own cavities, but still no joy. So he brought out an oral wand camera thing, stuck it in my mouth, and took a picture.

My cavities, such as they are, are two little brown spots on my upper left rear tooth — not very dramatic at all, but I guess one gets them drilled and filled to stop them getting worse. Whatever. (I thought it’d be this Terrifying Black Nastiness that Clearly Needs Intervention to keep it engulfing my entire brain pan, and not a boring little brown spot. I mean, sheesh.) Continue reading Cavities! zOMG I have them! (Two! In the same goddamned tooth!) →

Another Trip to the Dennis

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In which my face is numb.

I’m revising my opinion of my new dentist’s office. They called me today and offered me a spot they had due to cancellation, and I went in at ten. The hygienist rocked; she cleaned half my mouth within an inch of its life.

That ultrasonic tool works really well, but I dislike it when it squeals in my eardrums and sinuses. It’s so strange, lying there in a chair with a total stranger touching my face – intimate because there are fingers on my jaw or lips, medical because of the latex gloves and the smell of disinfectant – while a science fiction sonata is played in strange, metallic overtones on the bones around my brain.

I got three shots of local. My lips are still numb, and my gums are beginning to ache. Doing call center work with half your mouth asleep is certainly a fun spin on an otherwise utterly unremarkable Wednesday.

The hygienist told me I was “excellent to work on.” And I totally am: I lie there with my mouth open and my eyes closed, and drift. I laughed a few times because my nerves weren’t telling me what they were supposed to: my tongue worked, but my lips felt swollen and weird. The hygienist worked for an hour and a half, scraping and ultrasonic-ing and digging and flossing. When she was done, she gave me a bag with dental goodies in it and told me to gargle with warm salt water.

My next appointment isn’t until February 2nd, but they said they’d call me if they get another cancellation. Yea verily, clean teeth shall be mine!

I can’t wait for the feeling to return to my lips, though.

A Trip to the Dennis

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In which I’m not particularly pleased.

I had an appointment with Gramma’s dentist at 11:00 this morning. A tech took $119 worth of x-rays, and then I sat in a chair for 15 minutes and meditated. Then the doctor came in, looked at my films, poked my teeth, and told me I need two fillings. He told me I should either get braces (?) or have $2,000 worth of cosmetic porcelain work done to fix my upper front teeth, one of which is pushed slightly forward. There was no prophylaxis hygienist available, so I had to make a second intake appointment before I can make an appointment to get my teeth cleaned.

While the dentist was really nice and he looked sort of like Santa Claus, this is not the sort of service I was hoping for. Sure it’s neat to know that – if I had money – I could get fun things done to make my teeth look like those of a movie star, but I don’t want any of that shit. I want my TEETH CLEANED. And I should not have to pay for two preliminary appointments just to be able to get a prophy appointment!

The ‘cavities’ are two slightly soft spots on one of my molars. Sure, they might turn into real cavities, but considering that I’m nearly 40 and have never had a cavity in my entire life suggests that there’s really not a high risk of the tooth rotting out of my head in the next few months. Only one of the two spots even goes through the tooth enamel so I think spending $500 on fillings I don’t really need can fucking wait.

The doctor suggested that I have one of my top front teeth ground down and the one behind it filled in, and both covered with porcelain, to create an even-looking top arch. And if I should find I need to sit for a Rolling Stone cover shoot, I’ll certainly consider the cosmetic work then but right now all I want is to get my teeth cleaned.

I think I’m in the market for another dentist.