Losing My Teeth

I think this is the year to get all my bodily processes healed and up to speed. That's what happens when you hit the big 5-0. I had my physical, though I still need to tie up a few loose ends, get some blood work done, and deal with my teeth, which have been a bit of a thorn in my side, or in this case, my mouth. As I've mentioned, one of molars is in bad shape, and I was hoping that my dentist would just yank it, but no such luck. After the failed root canal attempt, it was decided that extraction was the next step, so off to the oral surgeon I went (can't my dentist just pull it?)

To be fair, the tooth was cracked and in bad shape, but waiting to see the oral surgeon was only prolonging the inevitable. What made it hard was that I couldn't really chew my food on that side because the tooth was so thrashed. I went to the oral surgeon (very nice, I liked her a lot) for an initial consultation, and then I had to make an appointment for the actual procedure. They miraculously had an opening at the end of the same week, or I could wait until January. I was hesitant because like all things in my life, I like to put them off, but I realized that sooner was indeed better.

So a few days later, I went in and she yanked the thing out. It was easier than they anticipated, which actually made the procedure cheaper, and I got a refund. Don't you just love when that happens? The tooth itself was so gnarly, I won't horrify you with the details. It was good to get it out, and since the area was infected, she put me on systemic antibiotics for a week. This was some serious stuff.

Now I'm on the road to recovery. I still can't really chew on that side, but eventually it will be all systems go. They inquired about dental implants, but that's apparently an option I can pursue at a later date, and she didn't push it hard. Besides, she said plenty of her patients live happily ever after with just one molar, and I'm all for happily ever after. They tried to accommodate an implant on the other side when they took out the molar, and it didn't work, so I wasn't very hopeful this time around.

For now, there's no more pain and eventually I can go back to eating a normal diet, which means food 24 hours a day.

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Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to Amber for the pic.