ndrosen

I went to the dentist Thursday morning, and, in addition to regular polishing and examination of my teeth, the dentist and his hygienist decontaminated my gums with laser light. Dentistry has come a considerable distance since I was a child.

I went to the dentist’s office Monday morning for a routine cleaning and examination. It was discovered that a filling in one of my upper molars was broken, so I stayed longer than expected, having the tooth partially ground away, and a temporary crown put on. In about three weeks, I will get a permanent crown.

On Friday the 12th, I went to the periodontist’s office, and got my mouth looked over. The doctor removed the stitches from the roof of my mouth, but not from my lower jaw, where the tissue was grafted on to my gum. I made an appointment to come back in two weeks, for what I hope will be the final procedure.

This afternoon, the periodontist carved some tissue from the roof of my mouth, and grafted it onto my gum, this time in the center of my lower jaw. I managed to get home by taking a cab; between Metro’s reduced service, several stations being shut down, and the risk of catching coronavirus on public transport, I didn’t want to repeat my slow journey to the dental office.

By the way, when I arrived, they asked me questions and took my temperature by scanning my forehead; they expected, and I expected, that I would be hot, since I had just walked a mile or so from the bus stop at the closed Dunn Loring station, but my temperature reading was 97.7 Fahrenheit. If that was accurate, my perspiration glands had certainly been doing a good job of cooling me, although I hadn’t felt all that comfortable in the heat.

Upon getting home, I had a very late lunch or early dinner of soy yogurt, Nada Moo vanilla ice cream, and cold potato soup, and took one pill each of amoxicillin and ibuprofen. Then I applied a teabag to the roof of my mouth. I don’t feel wonderful, but my mouth doesn’t hurt or bleed much, and I think this operation was less drastic than the two earlier rounds of surgery.

I was scheduled for another gum graft on February 28, but on Monday, someone called from the periodontist to reschedule it for a month later.

On Tuesday, I went to the regular dental office for examination and cleaning; the dentist found a cracked filling, so he had me come back this morning to have the filling and much of the tooth ground away, and a temporary crown placed on the remnant of the tooth. In a little under a month, I’ll come in to get a permanent crown.

I’m fifty-five years old. In an earlier epoch, I would most likely be dead, or if alive, I would probably have lost most or all of my teeth. Why have a body that keeps your teeth present and healthy past the point when you’ve died of something else?

It’s in some ways a very good thing to be alive now.

My mouth is a bit sore, but seems to be gradually healing. One of the sutures in the roof of my mouth came loose sua sponte, and I snipped it off, but that kind of thing happens, and there’s no bleeding or other evidence of major trouble.

My gum is in pretty good shape, and the roof of my mouth is well on the road to recovery. I had an appointment for Friday at 10:00 AM to have the stitches taken out, but then someone at the dental office called to reschedule it to 9:00, or a little earlier if possible. I’m glad to have the stitches taken out, but I’m going to have to get up extra early to take the shuttle bus, the Blue Line, and then the Orange Line to Dunn Loring, and then walk a mile or so to the dentist’s office.

Then I will largely reverse the process, and continue on the Blue Line, to reach the Patent Office, and put in part of a day’s work.

This morning, I had my annual checkup with my physician, and I seem to be in good shape, pending the results of the bloodwork. I asked her, while I was there, to take a look at the roof of my mouth, and see whether it seemed to be healing well. She said that it looked good.

That did address a worry of mine, but I wish that my mouth felt more as if it were healing swiftly and well. Various parts of my mouth seem to ache at best, and eating is still painful.

I went to the dentist Friday morning for a routine examination and cleaning. The dentist was concerned about erosion of several of my teeth beneath my receding gums, and she had a cancellation in the afternoon, so I headed back in the afternoon to get a filling. I didn’t even need anesthetic. I also got a referral to a specialist who may perform gum surgery on me to try extend my gums, as he did about a decade ago.

As I’ve observed before, as I get older, the more medical help I need to postpone falling apart.

Oh, and by the way, the link in my post from a couple of days ago, about Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, should be fixed.

I now have a slightly sore mouth and two temporary crowns on my upper left molars, which are scheduled to be replaced by permanent crowns in mid-July.

I got some sleep this evening, and then got up again. I will go to bed for the rest of the night soon.