A couple of years ago, I fell down the stairs at my previous house. It was night time and two of my goddaughters had left their shoes on the stairs. Why they did that, I do not know. It wasn't so dark that I couldn't navigate around without turning on all the lights but this was one time that I should have turned on at least one light because I did not see those shoes.

I tumbled for at least 10 feet to the base of the stairs and smacked by face at the bottom of the rail, just before splaying out on the floor. One of my legs (I forget which) was cocked in a weird angle and I thought it was broken. It hurt so bad that I didn't feel the pain in my face. After a few hours, the pain in the leg almost went away and I realized it was only a sprain. It was then that I felt the pain in the jaw areas of my face. It was a dull pain and didn't bother me too much and eventually went away.

Fast forward a couple of months when an old filling fell out of one my lower right teeth. It happened while I was at work and the pain was nearly unbearable. The nerve was exposed. I couldn't leave and go to my dentist for one reason: My shift ended at 5 am in the morning and the dentist wouldn't even arrive at work until 8 am. Still, I called her at home and she met me at her office at 6 am because it took me an hour to get there, straight from work. I had told her what was wrong on the phone so she had a male assistant with her. He held my head while she pulled for 10 minutes to remove that tooth. It was hollow! The military dentist who had filled it years ago had completely hollowed out the tooth.

It was at that time that I found out that most of my fillings were going to fall out. That smack on the rail had jarred them all loose. Not only that, but I had hairline cracks in my teeth all the way around at the gum line. The days of having a full mouth of my own teeth were drawing to a close rapidly. I went over the financial details and the options with the dentist. The only option I really had was to have all the teeth removed and replaced by dentures. I knew it would only be a matter of time before I absolutely had to have it done. I decided to delay it for as long as possible.

That day is almost upon me. Since that dental visit, all except two fillings in molars have fallen out. Three of my front top teeth had fillings fall out and now I have gaps. None of the teeth hurt yet but they should. I've examined them closely and at least one or two should be hurting me as bad as that one I had to have removed in a hurry. Anyway, the plan is to have them all removed in two to three months and to get the dentures at that time. In the U.S., even with dental insurance, all of it would cost a small fortune. Here in the Philippines, it will run less than $500 to do everything. I don't even have to go far. My new dentist's office is at the base of the hill (at the intersection) from where I live.

You might have this urge to ask me why I had to have all the fillings in the first place. I'll save you the trouble. I had acid reflux so bad while I was in the service that the acid literally ate through parts of my teeth. It's a long story, but I wasn't even diagnosed with acid reflux until 1996 (about two years before I retired). I don't have it anymore. Read my article on heartburn to find out why.

The reason I'm telling you about all this is because of my "nothing to hide" policy. Well, nothing except my smile. Even though I've told you, I'll still get questioned when I put one or more recent photos of myself up for your viewing displeasure. The question will be: Why don't you smile?