The rest of Wednesday...

[deborahjross]

Still flying with the Shadow draft.... 17 pages into Chapter 5.

And this after: get up, do Pilates, breakfast, piano, dentist appointment*, visit friend with post-surgical-knee dog, pick up Su (our Thai exchange student) and friend after school, cart them to photographer's (via frozen yogurt place) to choose shots for school yearbook, then home, make dinner... sit down to write.

*unhappy tooth news. This was a recheck on surgery (apicoectomy) done a year ago on a tooth that had a root canal the year before that. Seems the bone in between the roots has not healed, is vulnerable to abscess, and seems to be draining through a tiny tube to the outside. Not good. Dentist is not optimistic about being able to restore the bone surgically, so option is extraction and implant, as not suitable for bridge. I Am Not Happy About This. I've never had a tooth pulled before, and this one is healthy. We meet again in 6 months, unless it blows up on me. Then, if things unchanged, I will go for a 2nd opinion before making a decision. Grrrr.... at least, the tooth is functional and comfortable (although the gum, where the dentist poked and prodded, will be sore for a few days) for the time being.

Comments

[christymarx.livejournal.com]

As you know, I just went through this. I suffered for months, agonized over having the tooth pulled and dreaded the whole thing. In the end, it was easy and painless and I am tremendously relieved that I had it done.

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

Yes, I've been following your adventures on your LJ. I remember your saying something about getting a bridge instead of an implant. I assume that if one does nothing, one is not only left with an interesting gap and migrating teeth? I just noodled on the Mayo Clinic site about implants -- months of healing in a 3-stage process, not to mention beaucoup bucks. My concern would be whether the bone would heal properly around the implant post when it hasn't healed in between the natural roots. Ah well, dentist says there's no rush, just not a good prognosis for the long term. We'll see what she says in 6 months.

Thank you, though, for reassuring me that the extraction itself is not a thing of terror.

[christymarx.livejournal.com]

I've decided I don't want a bridge. My jaw needs to heal for at least 3 months, then has to be x-rayed to see whether I'm okay for an implant. I had a long-term abscess in there, too, so the bone needs to heal over that.

Yeah, the big issue is coming up with the money. Argh.

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

We're both in waiting mode, then. My dentist doesn't want to do a bridge because the tooth in front has had no dental work -- no fillings, nada. After reading about bridges and seeing the incredible pain a friend has gone through with one of hers, I'd opt for anything else. I'm just hoping there's a way to save the natural tooth... there's no abscess, at least not yet, just a tiny area of unhealed bone. No symptoms. We'll see what it's like in 6 months.

Meanwhile, sending healing vibes your way!

[imhilien.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry to hear about the tooth woes... I hope things get resolved happily.

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

Thank you! At this point, it's more upsetting than anything else. Except for a little gum soreness, I have no symptoms whatsoever. The worry is that the dead area could become infected and result in substantially more bone loss, but I'm not going there. I'm going to try to just turn it over to the Tooth Fairy or the patron saint of bone healing or whatever. Wait six months, take another x-ray, see what dentist says, go talk to another dentist...