Thursday, March 15, 2007

I survived a trip to the dentist

Yes, I survived another trip to the dentist. These days, I have to go a minimum of 4 times a year for cleaning, thanks to some lousy gums, and lax flossing habits. Luckily, I got a clean bill of health with no cavities, but basically I got lucky considering the way my teeth are packed together and the serious lack of regular flossing. More good news: thanks to lovely advances in dentistry, I don't have to sit with a tray of fluoride on my teeth anymore. Now the fluoride comes added to the polishing stuff instead. And can I just say "Hallelujah! ! ! ! " to that, because the fluoride trays just lead to drooling, and accidental swallowing of the nasty stuff (even with the suction thing in my mouth). And the swallowing of the fluoride leads to a few hours of queasy stomach, made worse by the "don't eat or drink anything for 30 minutes" rule.

On the other hand, my teeth still hurt after a cleaning, and will until tomorrow. Not a big hurt, just a little nagging ache, and the constant feeling that they're looser than they were.

So I am re-resolved to floss more often. I have a nice pack of floss sitting on my keyboard, so I can find it easily. And I need to get rid of all the unwaxed floss that my other dentist (the periodontist) keeps giving me, because it just doesn't work on my teeth. I end up with bits of floss stuck everywhere.

I have to say, though, I love this dentist. And I'm a confirmed needle-phobe with a mouth full of fillings and a long-standing dislike of dentists and doctors of all kinds. But this guy is a gem and I will be soooo sad when he retires. He owns the practice, and it's small. He does all the dentisting, and his wife takes care of the appointments, X-ray developing, note-taking, etc. Only one patient chair in the office. No other employees, no hygienist. And he doesn't over-schedule. I never have to wait, and I think in 7 years, I've only seen someone else there once. And that was an emergency, when I had an infected gum and he squeezed me in to take care of it.

Unlike the high-priced periodontist's office where I go for 2 cleanings a year, Dr. M does the cleaning himself. He also shows me the X-rays, points out things (like the wanna-be cavity on the top left molar second from the back), and checks the soft-tissue stuff as well. He was the first dentist to mention that I grind my teeth at night (which was news to me), and checks regularly for TMJ (and seems a bit surprised that my jaw doesn't hurt yet). He recommended the baking-soda based toothpaste (Arm & Hammer), which I really like, now that I'm accustomed to the saltiness. Since I started using this stuff, I don't have the problem with canker sores that I used to have.

Plus, he has a good chair-side manner, and was smart enough to prescribe a bit of diazepam for me to take if there's any serious drilling involved. The first filling he did was a bit of an adventure. I get very nervous when the drilling is going on, and I ended up with a filling that's larger than it was meant to be. The drill made one of those gawd-awful whining noises that reverberates up through your skull, and I was tense enough that I think I levitated off the chair for a second. Things are much better these days, and I actually had the last filling done - it was very small - with nothing but the novocaine or whatever they use these days. Progress, folks!

In contrast, I alternate trips to Dr M with trips to Dr O's office. Dr. O is the high-priced periodontist who did my root planing & scaling (a horror story for another day). Although I go to his office twice a year, I only see him once a year, and that sight lasts about 60 seconds (I counted in my head last time). The rest of the time, it's one of the dental hygienists doing the work. Which I don't mind, necessarily, but I'm paying more for Dr. O than Dr. M, and last time the cleaning was a rush job and I got whacked in the gums a few times with the polishing gizmo.

All in all, I'd rather see Dr. M four times a year and skip visits to Dr. O. If I can start flossing more regularly and get my gums back under control, I'm going to discuss things with Dr O and propose going there once a year, with Dr M taking care of things 3 times a year.

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