Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Grieving a lost molar

Monday I had a molar extracted from my mouth.I have spent my whole life maintaining my smile. Frequent trips to the dentist when I was younger were common place. I never had to wear braces because I was told that if you don't stick you tongue in the space where the tooth came out, your teeth won't come in crooked.I believed that advice.

I used to have mercury fillings, but as an adult I had all of them removed. My health and well-being improved considerably.I have three teeth with gold caps, one porcelain, and have had an assortment of surgical procedures including three root canals and a periodontal scaling.One of the root canal treatments was botched. Dr. Scott did not remove the whole root and over time the pain came back whenever I bit down on my left side.

Eventually the tooth got infected and the dentist told me that I had a choice to make. Live with it, or have it extracted and replaced with an implant. I again, put the matter on hold figuring that I would just tolerate the pain and would have it taken out when the pain became unbearable.Well, that happened. Dr. Politz from Napa's Oral and Maxillofacial clinic had the job of removing the tooth.

Later, I was given a prescription for antibiotics and painkillers.As it turned out, I only took one painkiller and have nineteen pills left over.I don't know what to do with them.If I flush them down the toilet the will leech into the water supply.My plan is to return them to the pharmacy an let them deal with them.

Today i have a gaping hole where my molar used to be.I will have to wait six months before being considered for implant surgery. Great. Well,that will give me time to save up three grand to have it done.I still miss my molar.