A couple of weeks ago when I had my teeth cleaned, my dentist’s insurance lady/business development manager mentioned that I had benefits left and suggested that I get started on one of the last two crowns I need (for now). I made an appointment for mid-December so I had plenty of time to prepare myself for one of my least favorite tasks. Last Friday the same insurance/business development lady called to say that since the insurance companies go by the “insertion date” (sounds more fun than it is, believe me), I should get the crown started sooner so it would be done by the end of the year. She happened to have an opening today, giving me only 2 days to obsess about it.
I spent 2 1/2 hours in the dentist’s chair today with Dr. Arora and her helpers. The crown is on my back left bottom molar, so it was really hard for her to get in there and not slice my cheek open with the drill. At one point they had so many instruments in my mouth – two mirrors pulling my cheek out, two of those flat things to protect my flesh, Mr. Thirsty, both of Dr. A’s hands and half of her nose, the rubber thing you bite on to keep your mouth open, and a drill, I started to laugh. I was really afraid that I was going to head off into hysteria, as I’ve been known to do.
As crowns go, this was a bad one. The tooth had such a large filling that it ended up below my gumline by the time she cut off the remaining tooth and the filling. At one point, Helper-Adam told me to “open,” and then said, “Oh boy! Give me Mr. Thirsty!” Considering that I have fainted at the sight of blood before, that kind of reaction makes me a little uncomfortable.
I survived, although it was one of the most uncomfortable dental experiences I’ve had. My jaw is really sore so hopefully Dr. Gensler can prod it back into shape when I go tomorrow for my spinal tune-up.
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