HI!
Finally writing. Feeling pretty good but had a rough week. The tooth that has been giving me trouble since the temporary crown was put on has not stopped being a problem. Looking back, the signs were there that a problem was brewing. I had pain with the temporary, a lot of pain when he put on the actual crown--and after a couple of days, the pain kept growing.
Anyway, looks like I need a root canal in that tooth (yes, the one with the new crown that I paid out-of-pocket $900) or the tooth might even need to be pulled. Yes. Plus, that tooth was to hold up a partial (that was to be submitted in Jan 2007 but oh my, they did charge it on Dec. 28 also, so that would be out-of-pocket--instead of paid for by my insurance, that's why I was waiting till 2007 to do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! $1000!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
So, I told the first dentist to cancel the partial and I may even want my money back on the crown. The actual thing that had me the maddest was the week before I was in a lot of pain and they would not fit me in--this week it was awful--I forced myself in there Monday late afternoon after classes, (in Dover no less) and he just said it probably needed a root canal, gave me a referral (to someone in the Concord area, but he could not see me right away, no one could) penicillin and tylenol with codine (neither did a thing); I finally went to a different dentist near Concord who gave me medicine that stopped the inflammation (diflunisal 500 mg -- it's like a very strong Advil and works great!). This dentist gave me a referral for the root canal to someone he trusts (he does root canals but mine of course looks too hard--needs to be done under microscope). I will stay with this dentist, I am having my records transferred, already faxed over the request.
Well---------aren't you glad I don't write all the time?
I see the dentist for the root canal on Thursday, but I must say I'm much, much better. It was very hard teaching all week, my students kept telling me not to talk (there might be some ulterior motives there), but I'd wait for the pain to ease a bit and kept going. I did not want to get behind in the classes, our modules are only 5 weeks each. Anyway, I made it and they kept on schedule. I'm glad about that.
I just finished grading some exams. I can grade some exercises, but will wait till tomorrow. Probably be a slow day with the storm and all. Everyone drive carefully, stay home if you can.
Ginny, thanks for Lisa's blog address.
Take care and I hope everyone has a good week!
2 comments:
That tooth story reminds me of my $2000 tooth. First a crown. $800. Then a root canal. $800. I still got an infection. The dentist then did some "minor gum surgery," where he cut open the side of gum, and cleaned under the roots. $300. It still was infected. He wanted to do another root canal. No way. When I had my wisdom teeth out (which was just a year ago, I think), I had him pull that one too. Now I have the $2000 hole!
I need a lot of dental work myself. Fortunately, I'm not suffering any pain by putting off the work. I have two "holes" in my mouth--both on the bottom--second to the last tooth on each side. The dentist wants to either put in two implants, or put in two crowns (one on each side of the hole) and a bridge. Also--because one of holes has been there for so long, the top tooth above the hole has started to drift down. So--that tooth on the top needs a crown too. I could get my teeth fixed, or I could build a garage for the same amount of money. Hmmm! Tough decision. (That's even with my dental insurance.) I'm planning to just have my back teeth pulled out one by one, as they die. Then I'll have a partial like Dad did. He loved his. (I made sure that I got his opinion a couple of years ago.) May not be the healthiest thing to do, but I just can't put all that money in it. (Oh, the price I pay for not brushing my teeth when I was a kid!)
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