1964: First cavity. I am a dirty, dirty girl. I am Goofus to my sister’s Gallant.
1964-Today: Multiple cavities. I will be in my 40s before I find out that some dentists actually give Novocaine for people getting fillings.
1982: Wisdom teeth removed over three visits, at $40 a piece, all I can afford as I have no dental insurance. This means no gas, no sedation. Tooth #1 comes out okay. On second visit, tooth #2 turns out to be “much more complicated than I thought,” according to the dentist, who is splattered with blood by the end of the extraction. On the third visit, I walk in, sit in the chair and burst into tears. They give me a little free gas.
1988: Chain jams on bike; I have split second to decide how I’m going to fall. “Well, I don’t want to break my arm” — I land on my face, knocking out three front teeth, which means a root canal, two bondings and a crown.
1989: Insurance company finally agrees to pay for dental work following bike accident, which it has repeatedly denied on the grounds that it doesn’t cover “cosmetic” procedures.
2000: Crack back molars, which I spit out in my hand at work and show my boss. Full details in “Laura, the Pest,” in the anthology BAD GIRLS.
2002: Root canal because it’s believed there’s an infection beneath repaired molars.
2002: Surgery because the root canal does not fix whatever’s wrong beneath the molars. Very nice oral surgeon says absentmindedly at last visit: “See you soon.” I say: “No offense, but I hope I never see you again as long as I live.”
2003-2008: New dentist keeps warning me that the 1988 repair can’t last forever.
2009: Twenty-one years later, the two bondings and crown are still intact, but I agree to come in and get them fixed, along with a newly discovered crack in a rear molar, which I am convinced is the closest thing I’ll ever get to a pension from the Baltimore Sun. Work is anticipated to take five hours. I’m opting to be sedated.
i always wondered why they called it ‘trident.’ i don’t chew gum but fear i will end up w/three teeth regardless.
i had braces for over ten years. this is back in ye olde tyme when they did that and also left them on without much cleaning going on. i was basically in constant pain from 2nd-12th grades. i had more space than teeth and it took a very long time to move everything to teh front.
as a result of this lovely experience, i unfortunately have more cavities than teeth. i have untold number of crown and bridge work, gum surgery, a half dozen root canals, and on a good day i get radio france and sometimes showtime in high def.
i currently have a cracked anchor tooth for the bridge, which means i will have tohave other, perfectly good, teeth removed and implants, because it will not be sound engineering otherwise, and this whole thing clocks in at 40K USD [also have cracked crown]. no matter how good your insurance is, if you really have something dentally wrong with you, you’re screwed–nearly all cap at 1
k. i live in mortal fear when eating baguette or carrots, which is unfortunate because i love both. i have had a lot of dental accidents and slips and generally take valium because it is nicer for everyone if i do this before going there.
i have had nearly 20 surgeries requiring general anesthesia, but i would repeat any of them before going to the endodontist.
my brother had neither braces nor a cavity. i got my mother’s teeth and her cholesterol; he got my father’s. my SIL also has flawless teeth so their children will have good dental genes. this is much ot be envied.
while this is all bad enough, when the study came out correlating gum disease and heart conditions i was quite displeased. guess i’m going down. Local Woman Killed By Own Mouth! Film at 11!
i currently have no dental insurance, so all of this is on hold, because i also lost my job, and i am staying the hell away from chewy food. unlike medical insurance, dental does not cover you for anything catastrophic, and i often wonder how worth it it is to have in the first place [assuming you have income and can pay for prophylactic care].
fang
and for what it is worth, if one has the choice between an army trained dentist and a navy trained dentist, always go navy.
//k
Go Air Force first. They got the pick of the litter from the dental schools when I was in school. Navy was second, and Army took what they could get!
to Karen if she reads this: something sounds wrong. A cracked abutment tooth for a bridge should not mean remova of other perfectly sound teeth. Before you do that, have someone else take a look at it.
95 to 97% of root canals are successful these days, and root canal retreatment can bring that success rate to 98-99%. Unfortunately, the causes for failure are often not obvious until you take the tooth out, and then you see the crack, or the fifth canal or whatever else eluded you when the tooth was 3/4ths buried in the gums.
ps I wish some of you were my patients. I could think about retirement before 65.
Sounds like that crack in your molar is the only pension your DENTIST will ever get from the Baltimore Sun. Oh Laura. I feel your pain. Well, not literally. But as the daughter of a dentist, teeth are my emotional Achilles. You know those anxiety dreams most people have about showing up to the exam naked? In mine, all my teeth are falling out. Let’s hear it for sedation…
This is one area where I do NOT want to remember year by year what I have gone through. Expensewise, I have the equivalent of a luxury automobile in my mouth. I have five bridges, numerous crowns and too many root canals to count.
However, I am deeply grateful for modern dentistry because without it, I would have almost no teeth in my mouth. And I am very grateful to have finally found a wonderful dentist who lets me make installment payments. I do have dental insurance which has a total benefit of $1,000 a year. I go over that almost every year and it only pays half towards any big services.
However, my last problem (around a year ago) was a major infection in my gum that was about as painful as anything I have ever endured (including an arm broken in three places). I was on antibiotics for a month and I had a root canal done right through one of my bridges. It was very touch and go, but as of today, I still have the teeth. If the infection comes back, they would have to take out two bridges that are dependent on each other) and put in three implants at a cost of over $12,000. I can’t afford that. I would have no teeth on that side of my mouth.
So I do understand, Laura. At least you are in the position now to be able to afford quality dental care and there will be a solution to the problem.
rambler,
thanks-
i have had multiple opinions. they are all the same. lie down. let us dismantle your mouth. spit. open wallet.
i simplified the problem slightly but the end is the same-the bridge cannot be replaced, teeth must come out, maybe the neighbour tooth too, and no one recommends another bridge because it will become a 4 or 5 tooth span. sadly i have had rather heroic efforts over the last 20 years to save the offending tooth. i should have just gotten rid of it. no one likes being around it. let’s just say i keep amox all over the house.
it has been my experience that anything that requires an entire team of physicians/medical staff & specialists is not good.
sorry, pal–my folks retired the orthodontist. i have done my service for the dental benevolence society.:)
and as for root canals–i have never minded those. ’twas always gum surgery/crown lengthening i despised.
//karen, who actually does not *look* snaggletoothed
For me, this is one of those times where you don’t know whether to feel relieved to learn that people have had worse situations and survived or guilty that someone else’s troubles are making you feel relieved.
I’ve had one problem tooth for years. It’s the first and only crown that I have–done many years ago. That early crown was replaced about 6 years ago and my current troubles started just over 2 years ago. In fact, I can time it fairly precisely. Despite the fact that I am sure you gave a wonderful talk at the Public Librarian Association confenrence in Minneapolis on your tour for ATTF, all I can remember of the whole conference is TOOTH PAIN. I then spent months listening to my dentist tell me that there was nothing wrong. Eventually he recommended a root canal (and yes, there was an infection in my gum beneath the tooth so at least it wasn’t all in my head as I was beginning to fear). Alas, the pain continued and so I went back for another root canal. Alas the pain continued and my dentist resumed saying that there was nothing wrong. Finally I changed dentists. The new dentist believes that there is a chronic gum infection there and he is pulling the tooth and replacing it with an implant, just as my employer has found it necessary to change health care plans (decreasing coverage, of course). The work begins July 1 and the project will ultimately take 6 months.
So the final count is: One tooth-2 crowns, 2 root canals and now an implant. The rest of my mouth is fine-that tooth apparently decided to hog all of the dental work!
That’s so funny, I feel the same way. Relief, or guilt? I don’t know how many crowns I have, except I know I need some more. When people jokingly say “well at least I’ve got all my teeth!” I quietly think… uh, not me. I also need to get an implant.
My bad habit is grinding, and naturally my insurance doesn’t cover a tooth guard, but it does pay half for cracked teeth repairs. Go figure.
I had my wisdom teeth removed in the early 80′s. I signed up for a “drug study” and it was FREE. No gas or anything fancy though. Lucky for me, it was a really easy procedure. Really lucky!
Ah yes, gum problems! I can relate. But first, Betsy, you can buy a very adequate mouth guard at any pharmacy. They are called “Doctor’s Night Guard”. Read and follow the instructions to the letter and you’ll have a custom fitted guard for $20 or so. Worth every penny.
Laura, my sympathies. Haven’t yet been to an oral surgeon, but have visited a periodontist many, many times. He pulled three remaining wisdom teeth, and did the scaling, plus two surgeries on my front top and bottom gums. I said exactly the same thing to him. He was the first to use gas on me, but I had to request it. I am now a flossing fool and even have dental equipment to get behind the teeth that floss doesn’t reach. I know, more info than you want.
Recently had a very fortuitous abcess that resulted in two root canals. I was prescribed vicodin for the first time and was enjoying that when I found out I needed a breast biopsy. There was little to no discomfort associated with that, thanks to the vic. Biopsy was negative, btw. Also due to the abcess, I became allergic to an antibiotic that previously had caused me no problems at all. But oh man, the hives and itching were no fun at all. Resulted in a trip to an urgent care facility and two shots in the bum.
So, words to the wise: WebMD cannot be trusted when it comes to allergic reactions and antibiotics.
Dentists… yipes.
Bonding… I was born with a space between my two front teeth that makes David Letterman’s mouth look like Wayne Newton’s.
In 1989 I had them bonded. The dentist who did it told me that it should probably last five to seven years.
It’s still intact. Which is fantastic, but for the constant fear that one day I will awake and again look like Alfred E. Newman.
In the last five years, I had a long overdue partial made (Should have gone for the bridge work. Now I’m gonna pay more), several replaced fillings, and a front tooth recapped so people now believe I have dental insurance. To cap off this mandibular version of the Big Dig Project, I had my wisdom teeth yanked at the tender age of 42. In the room, my wife kidded me about having my life insurance paid up. The oral surgeon got upset about that. I then said, “I’ll see you on the otherside.” Lucky for him he’d already pumped me full of happy juice when he went off on me (Yelling at my wife was already strikes 1 and 2 on him) because I was too sedated to get mad.
And Laura, I don’t let them start without novacain. I have a high tolerance for pain, but not THAT high.
I have always been lucky; visits to the dentist consisting of a professional cleaning (including flossing! Eccchh!), an occasional x-ray, and that’s it. Presumeably my DNA includes sturdy teeth – ’cause although I’ve always brushed ‘em – flossing ain’t my thing!
But what flashed through my mind, reading about LL’s dental adventures, was the impossible angles they subject you to, on those chairs. The last time I went in, they had the chair heeled so far astern that my feet were higher than my head! And honestly (and irrationally enough) – the dental hygenist was a genuinely beautiful young woman – and her beauty increased my sense of dread. Who wants to have a really attractive person bent in close and scraping your teeth with sharp instruments, and discovering all one’s own imperfections? (that is – other than truly odd people)
Ouch, Laura. I’m so sorry. Good luck with the 5-hour mouth marathon.
I too don’t want to get into my teeth breakdown. Too painful all around!
Ok, I think Bella “wins” this one. Jeez, you guys are my new idols.
Congrats, Laura, on having it done. Sounds like you had some great drugs!
P.S. My mother, who had horrible gum problems, thought it was due to inadequate diet when she was young. Any truth to this?
linda-can be a cause. i am assuming you mean poor nutrition.
all you ever wanted to know about gingivitis brought to you by the nice folks at the american periodontal association http://bit.ly/psPOh
fang
sorry-meant american academy of periodontology.
It went pretty well. I thought I would be out out, but instead, I was in some strange parallel universe where four hours felt like fifteen minutes. I put on my iPod and let Bill Bryson drawl through a book I had already listened to before, the one about Europe, so occasionally names would pop out as if i were in some sort of montage in an old movie, with a train passing through towns. I was very wobbly and slow when I left and VERY insistent on having Baskin Robbins chocolate chip ice cream. Slept most of the afternoon and — possibly, scarily — took a bath, waking up when I dropped the book in the tub. Only — the book seems unscathed, yet there is other evidence that I did take a bath. (An open bottle of bath salts at tub’s ledge.) But I was sufficiently perky by 4:30 to go watch EVERY LITTLE STEP, the documentary about the making of A CHORUS LINE, which follows the casting of the revival.
Ice cream numbs the pain, or even anticipated pain, go for it.
I feel your pain, having reached the stage where dentists are competing for my business. 12 prior root canals, (some emergency, including one where one side of my ballooned face couldn’t completely be seen in the bathroom mirror) So now i am in braces because my bits is gone, and concurrently getting dead man’s bones implanted in 2 quadrants to rebuild my jaws, then 6 implants, THEN the rest get capped. I don’t know what it will all cost, but i am sure the capping part is going to require a loan. But my dentist says it will last as long as he does and he plans to work until he drops and his 80 year old dad is still drilling, so at least this won’t have to be replaced. An he is the one judges go to when resolving a malpractice case.
Scientists think decay susceptibility may be from a virus and my favorite grandma had all her teeth gone by the time she was 30 (7 of 9 kids already hatched). as my favorite shrink says, it’s all maintenance after 40! And when it is done, i will look much younger because my mouth will be even rather than droopy. Who oan afford a face lift? It would be much cheaper than a new mouth. But the work gives new meaning to “dead man walkling”
And to the dude who doesn’t floss- that causes heart damage, raises your “real age” and who knows what else. Check it out. It is not all about teeth, but health.
OT-not sure if i am heartened by this or not. [via LJ]Fiction Best Sellers U.S. libraries in May on Library Journal http://bit.ly/Ph65e
Yes, I also didn’t catch the allusion.
But in another example of heartening/disheartening library news, there’s this:
http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Litchfield+parents+take+aim+at+%27objectionable%27+reading&articleId=4e34a723-9caa-498e-8dec-64740a9c2258
which, if you copy/paste, will lead to this passage – as Nancy Nall (www.nancynall.com) discovered.
An excerpt:
“Irate parents demanded last night that the school board and administrators take action over stories assigned in Campbell High School English classes that they found objectionable, including stories by authors Stephen King, David Sedaris and Ernest Hemingway.
The stories included Sedaris’ “I Like Guys,” which deals with homosexuality; “The Crack Cocaine Diet” by Laura Lippman, which includes explicit sexual material, rape, murder and drug use; a Hemingway short story that includes statutory rape and discussion about abortion; and a King story called “Survivor Type.”
As Nancy points out – aside from being vaguely disquieting, this is undoubtedly a marketing coup for LL!!
Karen,
Not sure why we would be heartened or disheartened?
Yikes! I can’t imagine getting a cavity filled without Novocaine. And I don’t even get the Novocaine until the dentist numbs my gums with some stuff that he smears on with a Q-tip so I won’t feel the shot.
I was a late bloomer: I had no cavities until I was in college. It wasn’t the education that did me in; it was my part-time job as a waitress. I drank 5 or 6 sodas a shift and on my first visit to the dentist after six months of working as a waitress, I had 13 cavities. Didn’t stop me from drinking soda, though.
I had my closest brush with death while waitressing at that restaurant in the early 1980s. I used to be able to carry 12 dinners at a time on a large tray held above my head. Up a flight of stairs. While wearing high heels.
But that wasn’t what almost killed me. It was the piece of filet mignon I choked on. And the fact that all the waiters were so much taller than I was.
It seems disgusting now, but we used to fight over our customers’ leftovers. (It seemed like a good idea at the time. I was a poor college student and I sure wasn’t getting lobster at home.)
Sadly, the waiters were a lot taller than I was. Even when I carried my tray as high over my head as I could, and hid my spoils under a napkin, I rarely got to eat what I found. The waiters just lifted the napkin to see what was underneath and if it was something they wanted, they took it.
One day I somehow managed to successfully hid a filet mignon from all of them. I was so happy. The dining rooms upstairs were not in use that night so I ran upstairs to eat my fillet in peace. I was chewing as fast as I could so no one would notice I was gone. When I started to choke, I tried giving myself the Heimlich maneuver, but that didn’t work. I thought I was going to die and all I could think was: What a stupid way to go. Then I stuck my finger down my throat and that did the trick.
You might think that would have made me a vegetarian, but it didn’t.