Project Smile!

I saw my dentist today. Well, actually, I saw his wife who is his hygienist. They are very dear friends from church whom we have known for many years now.

She worked hard to get my teeth, or what is left of them, clean and ready for the next phase of a long process to save my smile! As usual, she was surprised when I didn’t react to certain areas she was working on – I try to explain to people that unless pain is above my threshold, I may feel it, but you won’t know that I do.

After she had finished, they discussed the next steps and my dentist decided to refer me to one of his colleagues who does a lot of extractions. One of the two teeth that have to go is barely showing above the gum line and will be tricky to remove. With that and the fact I am prone to infection, he thinks this is the best option. I would prefer he did it, but I trust and respect his decision.

When I have completely healed from the extractions,  the next phase is getting all the new cavities filled. The back molars will have to have crowns to secure the partial denture I will eventually get to replace the top teeth.

Personally, I think this is a lot of work and money, and I would just prefer to have them all out and get full dentures. My teeth are a mess, thanks to genetics and braces, and I have difficulty looking after them at times thanks to the fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue. My dentist and other people disagree and believe I should keep my own teeth as long as possible. I think I could look after dentures easier than teeth.

The one thing I do have to say is that everyone in that office is so caring and wanting to make sure I am comfortable. In so many ways I am a very high-maintenance client, but it does not seem to phase them. They just make things work from allowing Hubby and me to switch cleaning appointments very last minute because I was in a pain flare and had not slept, to taking breaks so I can sit up for a little rest. They even have notes in my chart about using a bite block to help keep my mouth wide open and getting a towel roll for my neck!

Well, this saga looks like it will be providing blog material for many months to come!

Lydia!