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Post by tod2 on May 15, 2016 12:37:19 GMT
Good shot Mossie! Your teeth look wonderful...
Now some baaaaaaad news - I was enjoying my Sunday lunch of a chopped salad, rib-eye steak and baked potato when all of a sudden I was chewing on something hard. A quick spit out revealed I had dislodged a bridge of three teeth. I have no idea when they were put there but I hope I can get an emergency appointment to stick them back tomorrow! If I had a medical aid which paid for implants I would rather have that done. I have three or four implants and they are not cheap. Looks like I'll request a stick 'em back appointment....
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Post by htmb on May 15, 2016 13:35:55 GMT
Bad luck, Tod, but at least the whole thing came off all at once. Having to remove one half that is fixed on tight while the other side is loose can be a brutal ordeal.
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Post by Kimby on May 15, 2016 15:01:03 GMT
Implants are indeed not cheap. And not fast. With three major events - extraction/bone graft/sinus lift; implant placement; and attachment of new tooth - each separated by 4 months of healing time and numerous follow up appointments and X-rays and molds made of my mouth, this thing will take most of a year and cost about $7000 US.
My implant placement has been scheduled for June 2, as I passed my follow up exam with flying colors: more than enough bone growth to support an implant.
(Yippee.)
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Post by tod2 on May 15, 2016 17:45:27 GMT
Kimby I was made aware of dentists drilling to far and going through into the sinuses. My dentist at the time said this was not good at all. I have never heard of them trying to fix the problem with bone graft until now. Well not into the sinuses but I was advised against bone graft where I had had an implant of my left front tooth. Implanting was in its infancy at the time and too much bone was taken from my upper jaw bone. The reason they didn't want to do this lengthy and complicated process was because when I smile my gums do not show. So only I would know I have a small recess kinda above my one front tooth. I liked their thinking - it saved me a whole lot of money! Implants here - the last time my husband got a quote was around $10,000 - but that was for several teeth not just one.
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Post by Kimby on May 15, 2016 22:56:30 GMT
The bone graft and sinus lift is not because of a mistake, but because large upper molars leave huge sockets when extracted, with not enough bone left to anchor a tooth solidly into. They "lift" the sinus to avoid puncturing it while pumping in bone mixed with your own platelets.
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Post by Deleted on May 15, 2016 23:09:17 GMT
Reading this thread, I realise I have been so very lucky with my teeth, I guess I got them from my dad. I went in for a cleaning yesterday and the preliminary appointment for another crown. I had one done last year, and save for a few fillings, I've never had anything more done with my teeth. Oh, except for my wisdom teeth in my '20s, which was luxurious because I was hospitalised for those.
I'm needing another crown because I was very, very ill when I was 10 and my back molars are calcified. It happens, but now everything is compounded by the fact that I grind my teeth horribly and now need a night guard. Ugh. I dread that way more than the crown.
Kimby and tod, I wish you speedy healing.
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Post by tod2 on May 16, 2016 17:07:53 GMT
Hey thanks Lizzy! I see the dentist on Friday. At this practice they do not retain Oral Hygienists as the dentist does this chore. He will clean me up and stick back the three porcelain teeth bridge. In past years my hygienist took a soothing hour to scrape and polish - lovely 4 seasons and the like music wafted around the room. Last time I went to this new practice the guy whizzed around my mouth in 30 minutes, and it was not all that pleasant. Before you asked me why the change....this darling beautiful lady hygienist is dying of pancreatic cancer. Only the good die young is definitely true.
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Post by tod2 on May 26, 2016 7:22:35 GMT
My late oral hygienist passed away on Sunday morning. She was such a beautiful soul. Gentle and thorough in her work. She leaves two boys and her husband. What makes me feel so very sad is that as she left this earth I was gazing at the red ball of fire rising from the sea and thinking what a lovely day it was going to be....
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Post by Kimby on May 26, 2016 13:57:38 GMT
Sorry to hear of this sad passing. Why can't the BAD die young?
We need a thread on death and dying here, if we don't already have one...
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Post by tod2 on May 26, 2016 15:07:14 GMT
Thank you Kimby - some people might wander how come a person who just cleaned my teeth twice a year could have such a profound affect on me. Well, I have been going to her for at least 8 years and she in turn was a customer in my shop. That is the last happy memory I have of her chatting away as if nothing in the world was wrong with her. And this after being diagnosed with pancreatic and liver cancer two years previously. She put up one hell of a fight and has my undying admiration - maybe she had something worth living for but being in the medical profession must have known it would never ever be alright again. Brave little lady - very brave.
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Post by htmb on May 26, 2016 16:03:21 GMT
Some people can be such an inspiration, and these types of relationships are often very important to each of us, as you can attest. As much as I hate to think of a thread on death and dying, it is a part of life. There is a thread I started when I wrote a tribute to a special person in my life who died a few years ago. It might be a good place to put things if you didn't want to start something completely new.
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Post by Kimby on May 26, 2016 23:33:26 GMT
(I was envisioning a thread about death and dying, sort of a sister thread to the Aging Parents thread. For those of us of a certain age for whom these issues have stopped being abstract...)
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2016 10:22:35 GMT
I fear that such a thread would turn into a contest about who has the saddest story, but the discussion of it as a philosophical subject could be very interesting.
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Post by tod2 on May 28, 2016 14:28:16 GMT
Yesterday I did go to Carina's funeral. There I learnt she was only 47 years old. I expected a church service full of wailing and weeping, lasting over an hour but what a pleasant surprise to find it all over in just 45 minutes. One very short hymn, and the usual bible reading and translation by the minister ( a woman) - some thank you's by Carina's husband and it was time for tea and cake. What I admired about the memorial service was that her two boys were supported by all their classmates at the service.
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Post by Kimby on Jun 2, 2016 12:06:58 GMT
Implant Day!
If I survive, I'll let you know how it went. (I have an ice pack waiting in the freezer, in case I need it.)
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2016 14:26:13 GMT
You'll survive. Good luck!
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Post by Kimby on Jun 2, 2016 18:41:48 GMT
'Twas over in a flash. Home relaxing on the couch with an ice bag. Ate a cool soup and ice cream for lunch.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2016 19:18:56 GMT
When I had my implant, the dentist gave me an ice bag and I never even needed it.
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Post by Kimby on Jun 2, 2016 20:57:23 GMT
Not for pain. To prevent swelling.
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Post by htmb on Jun 2, 2016 21:03:43 GMT
Ice can be quite the "miracle" treatment for all different types of things. Glad it went well, Kimby.
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Post by tod2 on Jun 3, 2016 13:23:20 GMT
Glad it's over and you can relax Kimby. Think of me on Monday....the completion of my root canal and 'post' cemented in to re-attach my bridge.
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Post by Kimby on Jun 3, 2016 21:37:53 GMT
Thanks folks. And I hope your procedure goes as well as mine did, tod!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2016 21:44:21 GMT
Since going to the dentist is still not pleasurable, I wince when I think of how it was 50 years earlier, when it was already so much better than 50 years before that.
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Post by Kimby on Jun 4, 2016 12:10:20 GMT
"IV Sedation" is SO nice! The procedure is over before you know it. And recovery from the implant placement was a breeze, compared to the extraction/sinus lift/bone graft. Worst part is the antibiotic has liquidated my gut. Strange rumblings and frequent trips to the WC.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 4, 2016 12:35:25 GMT
Yes, antibiotics tend to wipe out my intestinal fauna as well. Luckily, my GP turned me on to some yeast pills that get things back to normal in 24 hours usually.
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Post by htmb on Jun 4, 2016 12:47:52 GMT
Eating yogurt is supposed to be good. Since I can't eat much dairy I took good quality probiotics when I was prescribed antibiotics for the tooth abcess. They were a big help.
Many of us will remember when dentists didn't wear masks, gloves, or other protective gear. Now I can't imagine ever going back to those days.
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Post by tod2 on Jun 9, 2016 17:23:47 GMT
My procedure went well but he warned me that chewing hard food ( like a steak) on that side may result in the pin splitting the cement it's in, so only soft food on that side....what a pain.
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Post by Kimby on Jun 9, 2016 18:48:11 GMT
My neighbor who winters in Arizona crossed the border to get his teeth cleaned in Nogales Mexico. He said the first few blocks south of the border are just lined with dentists and doctors catering to cost-conscious US consumers.
His cleaning was satisfactory, his mouth looks great, and he paid a fraction of what I pay in Montana. He was a bit put off, though, when the hygienist dropped a rubber glove on the floor and picked it up, shook it off, and blithely put it on before working on his mouth!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 9, 2016 19:56:31 GMT
My new crown went in today (no anesthetic, yay!) and I was fitted for a mouth guard. Bleck. But I snap my teeth in my sleep and I'm wearing them down, so no help for it.
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Post by tod2 on Jun 10, 2016 7:39:11 GMT
You have given us the answer Kimby why it's only a fraction of the US cost....Just for a clean-up I wouldn't worry too much but when it comes to gums and blood that's another matter. During my root canal and bridge replacement procedure the dentist could not emphasis enough how everything must be perfectly sterile. He repeated it several times to me ( who was as good as gold and not moving a muscle).
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