Thursday, December 11, 2008

It Looks Like I Might Get to Keep My Teeth

I don't know if I mentioned it, but I went to the dentist for a cleaning a coupla months ago, and the news was not good.

The hygienist was taking some sort of measurements in my mouth, and when she finished ,she asked me if I heard all those four point fives and fives that she was calling out, and I said that I had, and she responded that you don't want to hear anything higher than three.

Now, I'm no math genius, but I did know that four point five and five are higher than three, so I guessed that there was some bad sentences to follow. Again, my powers of deduction were Jessica Fletcher-like, and she told me that I was suffering from periodontal disease.

"Yay" I said. And she kind of stared at me. "What ? Didn't you just tell me that I was the winner of some rare cheese ?"

"No," she responded."you have p-e-r-i-o-d-o-n-t-a-l d-i-s-e-a-s-e!"

"Oh, that doesn't sound like as much fun as rare cheese." And she assured me that it wasn't. I was going to have to undergo Periodontal Scaling and Root Planing , which, by the way, is just as much fun as it sounds.

So, a few weeks ago, we did the right side of my mouth. I will spare you the gory details, but I will tell you that I found out that she had seen teeth much worse than mine, even sharing with me a charming anecdote of one time when she had to hold someones teeth steady in place so that she could work on them. FUN!! After it was done, I could not chew on the right side of my mouth for ten days. Which, in case you are wondering, is nowhere near as fun as you might think it is.

In the meantime, I also started flossing twice a day and I bought one of them new-fangled SoniCare toothbrushes.

Today, I went back to have the left side done. And she of course inspected the right side. And after I realized that her recoiling in horror and making a cross with her index fingers was a figment of my imagination, she said that the right side looked good. She handed me a mirror, and I struggled to angle it so that I could see something other than my nostrils, she poked at my gums and said that the fives were now mostly back to threes. And that she had been worried that hse was going to have to send me to a periodontist, but she said she didn't think it was necessary now. How's that for good news ?!?

Today's' planing and scaling went well, and just now my face is finally regaining feeling.

I think I'll have ribs and caramel and rock candy for lunch!!!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glad you aren't being fitted for dentures yet!

Julie Falatko said...

When I went to the dentist a few weeks ago, the hygienist told me that some people treat their insurance-paid twice-yearly dental visit as The Time When Their Teeth Get Cleaned. And she had to ask them if they owned a toothbrush. So I think you're doing alright, even with periodontal disease.

Paticus said...

c2- Thank you. me too.

WOJ- yeah, my problem was apparently with flossing(or NOT flossing, to be exact). In between teeth is where all my cavities and stuff are,too. So I am now on the two flossings a day team!!

Anonymous said...

I've never had cavity and I terrified of ever having one. I overbrushed with a medium-bristle toothbrush until 3 years ago when I had some long-overdue work to replace, well, a partial fake tooth. My dentist refused to do it unless I started using an electric toothbrush. It turns off if I press too hard and pulses at 2 minutes so that I don't keep brushing. I was hesitant at first - manual brushing was a means of exerting control - but now I LOVE my electric toothbrush. And my gums will probably be around as long as the rest of me.