Oh no! whatever will I do?
I have bad teeth. Very bad teeth.
Okay, so it's two sentences.
No need to get picky.
On the other hand, I do tend to get a little picky myself, so go ahead. Pick.
Moving on.
I've inherited my mother's teeth. Largish, squareish, straight, but with very thin enamel and a tendency to root canal abcesses.
From the age of 17, I have spent many hours in dentists chairs.
Chairs which are clearly not built for someone only five feet tall.
These chairs are uncomfortable!
I have also spent countless dollars on fillings and root canal work.
With the result that now my teeth are about 95% filling and 5% actual tooth.
Root canal work means that the tooth is now dead and becomes quite badly discoloured.
Something I've lived with for many, many years. Because caps or crowns aren't cheap.
So veneers were the way to go. I rearranged my budget and put away a small amount each week.
Recently I had a talk with my current dentist, who agreed to fix the chipped veneers on my front teeth and also veneer the eye teeth, for an amount previously agreed upon, which I now had available, after many months of saving.
13 days ago, the work was done.
Yay! I now had 6 front teeth all the same colour!
I could feel better about talking and smiling with customers. And anyone else.
Today one of the veneers chipped.
Badly.
Half the veneer came off the tooth. I felt it in my mouth. I'd been eating a cheese sandwich, so was lucky I didn't swallow it. (Although it probably wouldn't do any harm, I just prefer not to swallow such things.)
So now I feel quite sad. I have 5 and a half matching front teeth instead of 6.
The simple answer of course would be to immediately get back to the dentist and have it repaired.
But he's off on his holiday........
Sigh.
I've just about had enough of all this trying to save the teeth.
After 41 years of dental work, maybe I should just get false ones?
.png)
oh god no. much sympathy.
ReplyDeleteteeth are so very important for my favorite activity - eating.
acid is bad for teeth. we all know sugar is acid, but so is wine and all fruit.
In fear of costly dentistry, I have brushed my teeth 3 times every day for at least 3 minutes.
no cavities (of course) BUT denti$t say$ I have worn off enamel and need $5000 worth of work to repair them.
so i didnt brush teeth at all for weeks (really).
I can't cope, and understand your mood exactly.
X X X
Hells bells, that sounds truly ghastly. I have been "blessed" with similar sized and shaped teeth to yours, but I will forever be grateful to their hardness. Somehow they are resilient beyond all measure (great big stained pegs that they are, and they seem to get larger as I age - or the gums are receding or something). Teeth freak me out.
ReplyDeleteYank them all out and get choppers. There's a place here doing it for $125. For another sixty you can get a spare set as well.
ReplyDeleteThis is not a joke.
I have a couple of veneers and need to get more done but I use Listerine Whitening and a White Glo mouthguard whitener. It does make a difference although I'm about to make an appt for professional bleaching. So expensive. I really get mad that Medicare and healthfunds don't contribute more to dental care.
ReplyDeleteYank 'em all out and get false choppers sounds like your only option. Many people i know have gone down the road of el cheapo false choppers and they don't last long, good quality choppers will cost more but they will last much longer.
ReplyDeleteWhip them out. I have a friend who did and is much, much happier about it. Plus, her smile is utterly gorgeous.....
ReplyDeleteDoutta Galla Health Services (google them) has a dental program and is govt run. It's inexpensive and good quality. You can get all your teeth out there and dentures put in.
ReplyDeleteIt's handy to get an extra set, you can use them as castanets at parties
AAARRRHHH! I feel your pain... I can't tell you from which parent I inherited my crappy teeth, as they've both got dentures!
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking seriously about the denture option - the expenses are only going to get worse...
Ann O'Dyne; I brush my teeth twice a day and have done all my life, my sister barely remembers to brush and has much tougher teeth than me. My children all have much better teeth too, inherited from hubby's side. One girl has teeth so perfectly straight people ask if she had braces. No. No cavities either in spite of junk food and diet coke forever.
ReplyDeleteBeing Me; I swear I get another problem every time I look in the mirror at them. Your gums will be receding. And as they do, your lips become thinner with age, because they are attached to the gums on the inside of course.
R.H. It seems to be the way to go. Maybe in a couple of years. When I can't stand it any longer.
Baino; how long have your veneers lasted? I had some previously, (last year), one cracked along the length of the tooth from gum to tip, and became brown and ugly, another chipped off a corner, that's why I had them redone. But to have one break off after less than two weeks seems a bit like shoddy dentistry to me. I'll never understand why dental wasn't included in Medicare from the beginning.
Windsmoke; I'm giving it serious thought. Now that I have a healthcare card I should be able to have it done through the Dental Clinic at the hospital, but it will take a couple of years for my name to get to the top of the list. I'm making the appointment on Friday.
Kath; what worries me most is after having them out the gums shrink quite a bit and take the lips with them. I'll be thin lipped. But toothache free, which is probably worth it.
R.H. I'll work through the government run Dental Clinic here in the hospital. Forget google.
Castanets?? Hmmm.
Red Nomad OZ; both my parents had bad teeth, and both had dentures from an early age. Full upper and lower for my mum when she was about 32, full upper for my dad until just before my wedding, when he had new uppers made and had his lower teeth pulled out and choppers made at the same time. He wanted to look nice when he gave me away.
I was like. Oh that sucks. Me too. Only a bit less. Then oh YAY for you. than back to that sucks. I hope that dentist of yours returns from his vacation soon. And then, we'll be back to YAY.
ReplyDeleteIf you lived in Melbourne you could go to Doutta Galla Community Health Centre: a little house converted into a dental clinic. You'd be attended to the same day and have new choppers in a matter of weeks. The Clients are mainly migrants, all you need is a health care card and $23 for each visit. Astonishingly cheap. It's an odd place, reeking of the social justice I hear preached by Anarchists and dykes on Community Radio Station 3CR. Maybe they work there as well. Anyway it's in Gower Street Kensington, a lovely old suburb, longtime working class, and maybe all that's left where you feel the tradition.
ReplyDeleteHubs got his dentures through the public system in nsw... waited two years and couldn't even get assessed before our local dentist (who covered emergencies for them) pulled a swifty and got him bumped to the top of the list. Only problem now is he has been waiting 18 months for another appointment to get them resized now his gums have shrunk. Hopefully we can get it done a lot quicker now that we are in Vic because they don't seem to have waiting lists quite as long.
ReplyDeleteMeantime I'm letting students work on my teeth so it's all free with no waiting. I'm so relieved to get them fixed now!
I don't have anything against dental implants but I rather have dentures instead of veneers because like you, I don't like swallowing anything other than my food. I don't wanna risk swallowing some synthetic teeth or something. I had my dentures made from my dentist in Scottsdale and I'm quite happy with it. At least, if one of the false ones gets broken, I can have them fixed without having to sit on the drilling chair LOL.
ReplyDelete