Ah well, it couldn't last forever

[unixronin]

I can no longer claim I have all my own original teeth.

Well, that is, I can ... it’s just that one of them is in a sealed plastic baggie.

I’m not the most regular visitor to dentists, but I’ve never needed any care in the past other than a couple of deep-cleanings.  (Two, I think.)  Last year sometime, I became aware that I had a cavity on the outer face of my last right upper molar, those which the US likes to call wisdom teeth.  Unfortunately, I kept forgetting to get to the dentist to get it checked out.  Then in January, we lost our dental insurance when cymrullewes was laid off.  I hoped that it’d keep until we had insurance again.

It didn’t.  Last night, one cusp broke off the tooth, and from the discoloration of the broken fragment it was clear the tooth was in very bad shape.  So this morning I called the local dentist; his receptionist said “We can fit you in right now if you want”, so I went off down there for X-rays and an exam, which showed it to be a case for extraction.  (I can manage without the tooth fine, though it wasn’t causing me any problems aside from the decay, and it was a choice between $160 to extract it, including the exam, or $2000+ to salvage it...  $2000 that we don’t have to spare.)

So, he sent me off to pick up 4g of amoxicillin, take 2g of it, then come back at 15:00.  And by about 15:45, my tooth was out.  (I continue to fail to adhere to the norm; “wisdom teeth” normally have three roots, but mine turn out to have four.)

Still, I did manage to go 48 years without a single filling, extraction or cavity...  that’s not a bad record.

Comments

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

cewl!

i had mine out last year. the simple extraction took no time at all. sweet. it took the longest to heal too, for some reason. in terms of bone growth in the socket. the other three did not have exposed holes for the most part, as they were surgical, and the flaps sealed.

turns out my molars had 30% longer than normal roots, and i'm sure they had more fangs than the usual as well. i have the xrays :)

and that $2000 wasn't a guaranteed save... just "probable" - i had a similar thing go on.

#

[jmkelly.livejournal.com]

My condolences; I went through the same experience last fall. Your record is still impressive.

not challenged by me . . .

[lebo-superman.livejournal.com]

I didn't even come close to challenging your record. I had my first filling by the age of 10, and had my 3rd molars out by 25. By now, I've got nearly 50% of my teeth replaced with filling materials.

[wyrdling.livejournal.com]

and apparently wisdom teeth are more likely to rot than most. i'm impressed you were actually using yours....

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've always been in the habit of using all of my teeth. I sorta figured they were there for a reason, and they seemed to work, so .... :)

(Right now, I'm very aware of the Space Where A Tooth Isn't.)