Go to the dentist

It sounds a lot worse that it was. Because of my dental phobia, it’s been a while since I have had a good, professional cleaning. My hygienist wanted to do a full mouth debridement so that my oral hygiene could be assessed properly. The procedure involved blasting the crude (I know there is a technical term, but I like “crude” better) off my teeth with a high pressure water pik. There was a little bit of scraping, but on the whole, the procedure was no big deal. I go back in two weeks for the full cleaning and assessment of my gum health.

You know, now that I am facing this monster head on, I can’t even remember why I was so scared. I guess I just spent so much time thinking about how awful my childhood dentist was that I built up this “idea” of how bad everything would be. The reality is far more bland. I go in, they work on my teeth, I leave. There is no pain or drama.

Interestingly, now that I have spent so much time (and money) on my pearly whites, I am almost obsessive about keeping them healthy. I suppose that’s a good side effect.

I had my temporary crown put on today. The tooth was really in bad shape, so he had to do a good bit of clean up and repair. To make matters worse, I had a fair amount of bleeding going on so the dentist had to use a truck load of dental astringent.

Now comes the permanent crown and the cleaning. I don’t even want to think about whether or not I have any cavities, though I am certain I do.

Yikes!

I had my last root canal today. Compared to the other two, this one is excruiating. The whole right side of my mouth hurts and I can barely move my jaw. The infection must have been worse in this tooth because Dr. Collier sent me home with antibiotics.

I think I may have to break out the darvocet.

Had an 8:00 am date with Dr. Pruitt to have my permanent crown sealed on tooth 19 and the temporary crown placed on tooth 18. I was there about 2.5 hours. As usual, Dr. Pruitt and his staff were wonderful. The level of patience and gentleness they show with me is astounding.

This step in the clean-up of my mouth is almost over. I’ll have my last root canal (tooth 30) week after next. Once all the permanent crowns are in place, it’ll be time for the general cleaning and root scaling. Then come the braces. Yikes!

One root canal and one crown down. The 2nd root canal is scheduled for January 17th.

• 2 root canals
• 2 crowns
• teeth cleaning like whoa
• orthodontia consult

2006 is going to be the year of the teeth.