On Wednesday, my wife and I stopped by my dentist's office to schedule an appointment to get my upper teeth pulled after we finished "window shopping" for an air conditioner, washing machine and dryer. I spent about two hours at the appointment starting a 10 am yesterday morning. It has been nearly two years since I took care of my previous dental emergency and this visit was to prevent another incident from occurring.
Acid Reflux Disease Damage
Most of the damage to my upper teeth was caused by the effects of acid reflux disease. It wasn't even diagnosed until it was too late to save my teeth from future problems. I cured myself of it, but I'll get into that later on.
Military dentists awarded me with dozens of fillings over the span of 20 years. The fillings would eventually come out if they weren't replaced and that's exactly what happened. The last filling was added in 1996 or 1997 (I forget these things) and lasted for over 12 years.
Never mind all that. It's now water under the bridge.
Tooth Extractions and Teeth Cleaning
My dentist completed a thorough examination of my lower teeth. Apparently, the acid reflux disease hadn't affected them as much as I thought. It only took her about an hour to clean them even though I haven't had them cleaned by a dentist in years. They looked so good after cleaning that dentist whitening wasn't required.
The upper teeth, on the other hand, weren't salvageable. I had three teeth pulled in 2008 and the remainders of the left upper teeth were pulled during that appointment. I have another appointment on Monday to pull the remaining teeth on the right side.
Breaking Teeth
The reason we stopped by the dentist's office at this particular time was because of what happened recently. One of the teeth on the upper left split down the middle and half of it fell off into my plate of food. Another tooth, on the right side, broke off completely at the gum line.
The broken teeth looked as normal as any other before they broke off. No fillings were missing. Strangely, they didn't cause me any pain after they broke off. This trip to the dentist was pain preemptive measure.
Cosmetic Dentistry Plans
I honestly don't plan to do that much. I'll get a denture for the upper mouth and a permanent whatever it's called for the missing lower tooth that caused me so much dental pain.
I won't be getting the dentures for at least six months. I want my gums to be completely healed with no continued recession. I will look like a toothless wonder until I get the dentures and can smile again. On second thought…
I may just go ahead and get dental implants for the upper mouth, depending on the cost. I'm not too keen on cosmetic dentistry to begin with, but if it means I won't have to worry about dentures falling out at inopportune times, it may be worth the added cost.
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This article is published as: Tooth Extractions and Cosmetic Dentistry Plans
Up to know, I never really had the courage to visit a Dentist again. But unfortunately, I had to. :) Good luck with me.
jeff recently posted..button 3
It's not very much fun to have so many teeth problems and then to get a bunch of dental work done. As most people will agree, preventive dentistry is a lot less painful than extensive dentistry to fix up the problem later.
Hopefully when this work is all completed for you, your teeth will serve their purpose and look nice in your smile without any more pain.
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