Musings on a Small Life

A lot was packed into last week: our former director's official retirement on the 23rd, plus an informal get-together on the 27th after work at a downtown pub (just his immediate staff and our new director), two hours in the dentist's chair for me last Tuesday, getting a temporary crown (I don't freeze properly, it took a lot of needles), plus a doctor's appointment last Thursday. The work week in itself was emotionally exhausting, and I was very surprised, when I got home on Friday, to have a sudden outpouring of anger over how things had gone over the past six+ years since our department merged with the other. I guess that, subconsciously, I wouldn't allow myself to experience the depth of emotion while he still was here. And in the end, he's human, he did the best he could under the circumstances, and I know this intellectually. However, I think it will take a bit of time for me process my negative emotions and forgive my former boss, to make peace wit...

I feel like I'm drooling. I had a dental appointment this morning -- part of my lower right molar broke over the Family Day weekend, so I needed a new filling. Took five needles to freeze me; fun times. She removed the old silver filling done around 1980, put a pin in at the corner that was broken (so the new filling wouldn't break off there too), then filled the tooth. There's another crack in the molar, though, so it will need a crown. X-ray taken, documents sent off to my insurance company for assessment, so we'll see how much they cover. (It's only partial coverage for crowns.) However, while I was waiting for my appointment (she was running 20+ minutes late), an elderly gentleman came in to have some broken lower teeth removed and new ones (implants? partial?) put in. He was insistent about paying upfront, in case he didn't make it out. Seriously. He came and sat beside me and we chatted while we were both waiting. Eighty-eight years old. He came to...

...if anything has changed in the past three months ( yes , I go every three months), do NOT mention the sore crown tooth (a bottom right molar), presumably caused by clenching your teeth together too tightly, too often (bad habit of mine). Mentioning something innocuous like this could entail x-rays (along with the regular x-rays taken every couple of years). And this could entail discovery that the crown tooth is abscessed and that you should start taking antibiotics today . Oh yeah, and that the tooth needs a root canal, and possibly a new crown too (if the porcelain chips, which it likely will). So when you go for your regular cleaning, just say all is fine and leave it at that!  :-O BTW: All the times I wondered if I'd rather have a root canal or be at the office? And I couldn't decide? I'd rather be at the office. Peace .

I'll just take a pass on having yet another ortho wire bonded onto the back of my front teeth, thanks. That was an hour and a half in the dentist's chair, partly because she was running a bit behind and partly because I was a guineau pig for the type of wire and method of bonding it on. Yay me. My head is pounding from the tension--and all the drilling to remove the old bonding--and my crown hurts so much that I can feel the pain all through the right side of my jaw. Probably due to the cold air the assistant was blowing on it for much of the procedure. BTW, my dentist saved the "old" wire, the one she had put on last month, just in case she needs to reuse it at some point in the future. I can't do emoticons in Google Blogger, otherwise I'd be inserting a slew of horrified faces right now. No, no, no, no, no. Absolutely not again .

Slight variation of, "Are we there yet?" No and no. Back to the dentist this morning. $1230 later.... ...I'm still not done! She bonded on the ortho wire, but doesn't like it, doesn't like how the lab made it and wants to replace it in a few weeks with one she's going to get from an orthodontist. Replace at no charge, in fact. Apparently the one she'll get from the orthodontist is "braided" and is flexible, will be easier to bond to each individual tooth. The "replace at no charge" is a good thing, because I don't know if any of the $320 cost for this wire is covered by my insurance company. A small amount is supposed to be, but today's print-out from the dental office simply indicated it has been sent for processing. Meanwhile, the crown cost $910, of which just over $600 is covered. So, at worst, I have to come up with an additional $600 to pay off the credit card. At best, that amount will be slightly less, with some coverage...

7:30AM, back in the dentist's chair for two needles. Because I just don't freeze on one. Lucky me. Forty-five minutes later I was done, the new crown on, hopefully permanently. Because I really don't want to go through that again. Tomorrow it's the ortho wire at 7:20AM. Let's hope that this time the lab did it correctly. Otherwise I'll have to go back yet again, and frankly, as nice as my dentist is, I've seen enough of her lately.

...for oh, five minutes, tops. The lab didn't do the ortho wire correctly (she even showed me the hand-written, legible note she had included with the work order form), so she couldn't bond it on. It'll have to wait till next week, sometime after the permanent crown on Monday. I think I've seen my dentist more in the past few weeks than in the past decade! So, since that was a bust, I got to the office around 8AM, earlier than expected. Well, at least it's "happy hump day." No carrot cake for breakfast today. Mm, but I do have some dark chocolate tucked away in one of the desk drawers. Sugar + caffeine...It doesn't get much better than that. ;-) [Note: Today's pic was Monday's glorious sunrise.]

...I have a temp crown. Go back in two weeks for the permanent one. LOTS of drilling involved. Two needles wasn't fun, but at least this time she did NOT hit the nerve. Thank you, goddess. Unfortunately, in the process of doing the impression, we pulled off my ortho wire, the one that holds my upper front teeth together (behind the teeth). Have to go back Wednesday AM to get the bonding at the back of the teeth cleaned up and get an impression made for another wire. That wire had been on for about 25 years, so likely was ready to go. We had talked about my having this done, way back in January, and the dental office had submitted an estimate to my insurance company. About $500, of which either 35% or 50% should be covered. The letter was VERY confusing, even the dentist couldn't sort it out. So I decided not to have it done, because of the money factor. Well...Now it HAS to be done. Thanks, Mr. Murphy of Murphy's Law. So much for getting out of debt, huh? And even before th...