Teeth: an introspective

So, like I said...I broke a tooth. More on that in a while.

I grew up with perfect teeth. The stuff you suckers who had braces dreamt of while changing your rubberbands and hoping to eat just one salt water taffy. They came in straight and stayed that way. Everyone said how great they were and it gave me a "tooth-immortality" complex. It didn't help that I maybe brushed once a day (in the morning I think...or maybe just at night) and would always come back from the dentist with no cavaties. And I never flossed.

Well, enough years of that went by to make it stick that my teeth ruled. In addition my wisdom teeth didn't really come in. And they didn't hurt. The dentist said I should get them out, but they didn't hurt and that is why most people get them removed...for crowding.

Fast forward to me moving out and not having insurance of my own. I went about 3-5years with no dental exams whatsoever, and yet a steady increase of Pepsi intake. I finally got insurance through Kaiser and went to see the dentist. I think my cavaties were in the teens if not twenties. This was the day I learned about quadratic dentistry. They were going to do my fillings one quadrant at a time because it would take to long to do them in one day (not to mention I would have a mouthful of throbbing fillings). I got all the fillings done. I was brushing twice a day at that point but still not flossing.

Basically, I never floss...still...and I really should.

I had a molar break a while ago and got a crown. Back when I was still in Portland. About a year ago my perfect teeth starting getting crowded by those wisdom teeth that weren't bothering me. Thus making it harder to floss when I would make the attempt. It hurt enough for me to get dental insurance, but not frequent enough for me to look for a dentist. I quit drinking soda...not for the caffeine this time, but for the high fructose corn syrup. Since I have been avoiding non-natural sugars my teeth haven't hurt at all.

About a week ago I started flossing. Determined to make it a habit. Then two days ago my tooth breaks off in a subway sandwich. And now we're up to date...almost.

Important lesson: people without perfect teeth...the ones who get braces and all that...learn how to better take care of their teeth. People with perfect teeth end up asking strangers to help them "start an apple" (thanks, Dave Attel!).

So...the tooth story, continued.

I was doing a video shoot for seven8nine.net and we took a sandwich break and my tooth breaks. It didn't hurt, but I left to hunt down a dentist. Found one who had taken Friday off, and was working Saturday to make up for it. I had a 7:45am appointment.

Got there and he was the only one there. We got started. He looked at it and said "You lost a pretty big chunk." I agreed.

Dentist: Well, we're going to numb that up. I'm going to take an xray, and then we'll get started. You're going to need a cap for sure.

He starts working on cleaning the area. I'm good and numb and can't feel anything.

Dentist: You may have lucked out. There was some decay, and according to the xray and you not feeling any pain after the break...you came as close to exposing the nerve as you could have without actually exposing it. I'm going to give you a temporary cap, then you'll come back for the permanent one.

He starts grinding the tooth away. Anytime water is used it sprays all over my face. At one point he says "you're a real challenge on a day when no one else is here. That's ok though. I like a challenge."

If you've ever gone to the dentist they usually have the assistant working the water and vacuum. I found it hilarious that water was spraying everywhere because I could only imagine what it looked like with him trying to hold a drill, a mirror, and a water sprayer all at the same time.

He gets closer to finishing.

Dentist: Like I said, it's pretty close to the nerve. I'm going to put some medicine on it and put on the temporary. There is still a chance that you'll have to do a root canal.

He finishes everything.

Dentist: For the next 24-48 hours you'll feel some dull, achy, throbbing pain...which is normal. If you feel that PAST the 48 hours, call me right away...because we'll have to do a root canal.

So here it is nearing the 36 hour mark. I went and bought a big bottle of advil before feeling returned to my face. He said I could take up to 4 advil every 6 hours if the pain was bad, so I wanted to stock up. As time progressed and my face denumbed I had no pain. Cold beverages, hot beverages...no pain.

So, it looks like I'll have another fake tooth in my face with extremely minor chance of a root canal.

I have to wait a week for the permanent tooth to be ready.