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Aug. 21st, 2013 10:34 amAs I said in my last entry, I went to the dentist yesterday because I thought I had broken off a piece of filling. Nothing major, just scary because I hate dentist drills like burning, right? Well, I got there yesterday, and the hygienist looked at the tooth with her little mirror – and she informed me I hadn’t broken the filling, I’d broken off a little piece of the TOOTH! Now, I had NO idea how this happened, because I go out of the way to take care of my teeth. Brush twice a day, rinse with Listerine, eat only sugar-free candies and mints, take calcium supplements, get checkups and cleanings every six months, etc. (Um, this may be slightly related to my terror of drills. Slightly.)
So the dentist comes in, she looks at the X-ray the hygienist took of the tooth and says the break is small enough that she can fix it with a regular filling. And as to how it happened, she asked me if I clench or grind my teeth at all. Which I do – I feel my jaw tense whenever I get stressed. I also have mild TMJ symptoms – snap-crackle-popping sounds in my jaw sometimes. (Which I’d chalked up to arthritis, which I have in several other joints). Verdict: I’ve been grinding my teeth in my sleep. (Well, that explains the normal blood pressure reading from the other day. Apparently, I was subconsciously taking out all the horror of the past year on my own teeth).
She went to start the filling and said, “I’m not going to have to do all that much drilling – just roughen the surface so it’ll take the filling. Do you want to go without Novocain?”
Me: O_____________O
Dentist: Never mind. I saw your face. We’ll give you Novocain.
(I’d like to add that my dentist and her assistants have never been anything but nice, gentle and compassionate with me. My terror of drills actually stems from experiences I had before the age of 5-6 – my very first dentist was a bastard who didn’t believe in Novocain for child fillings. They say that anything that happens with you at that age sticks with you more than anything that happens afterward).
So after she did the filling (which, thank God, really did involve minimal drilling), she took impressions of my teeth to build a mouth guard, which will keep me from doing any further damage in my sleep. I got one of those over-the-counter mouth guards to use until that’s ready (it’ll take about two weeks).
BUT! The good news is, when I got home,( look what was waiting for me! )
So the dentist comes in, she looks at the X-ray the hygienist took of the tooth and says the break is small enough that she can fix it with a regular filling. And as to how it happened, she asked me if I clench or grind my teeth at all. Which I do – I feel my jaw tense whenever I get stressed. I also have mild TMJ symptoms – snap-crackle-popping sounds in my jaw sometimes. (Which I’d chalked up to arthritis, which I have in several other joints). Verdict: I’ve been grinding my teeth in my sleep. (Well, that explains the normal blood pressure reading from the other day. Apparently, I was subconsciously taking out all the horror of the past year on my own teeth).
She went to start the filling and said, “I’m not going to have to do all that much drilling – just roughen the surface so it’ll take the filling. Do you want to go without Novocain?”
Me: O_____________O
Dentist: Never mind. I saw your face. We’ll give you Novocain.
(I’d like to add that my dentist and her assistants have never been anything but nice, gentle and compassionate with me. My terror of drills actually stems from experiences I had before the age of 5-6 – my very first dentist was a bastard who didn’t believe in Novocain for child fillings. They say that anything that happens with you at that age sticks with you more than anything that happens afterward).
So after she did the filling (which, thank God, really did involve minimal drilling), she took impressions of my teeth to build a mouth guard, which will keep me from doing any further damage in my sleep. I got one of those over-the-counter mouth guards to use until that’s ready (it’ll take about two weeks).
BUT! The good news is, when I got home,( look what was waiting for me! )
