Day 307/365 - At the Dentist, Again

It was time for my six-month check-up, so I stopped by the dentist's ofice on my way to work this morning. I didn't realize that much time had already gone by since my last visit. I was a bit worried she'd tell me today that the repair job she'd done on my crumbling tooth wasn't holding and that I'd need a root canal.

Thankfully, that wasn't the case. However, she did find some new decay on the sides of two of my bottom teeth. That's them in the photo on the monitor above. My dentist's office is cool. This flat screen is attached to the patient chair and it can display a map of your mouth and it can also show photos that she takes inside your mouth with this wand camera thing. Then she points out the problem areas in the photo and you can see exactly what needs fixing.

Because the decay was on the outside of the teeth, she didn't need to do any drilling. Just a quick bit of grinding and then she spackled them over with this tooth-colored filling goop. Then I got to walk around for a while with one cheek and half my tongue numb. Made answering phone calls at work sort of interesting.

(Taken with my iPhone)

Day 117/365 - Reason No. 912 Why I'm An Idiot

Apologies for the somewhat gross nature of this week's self-portrait. This is a close-up of the left side of my mouth. This is the point where I confess that I haven't been to a dentist since the exit dental exam I received prior to leaving the Navy. That was in 1994. Yep, I'm an idiot.

I'm a guy, so I don't like going to the doctor or dentist unless something is really wrong with me. I believe this qualifies. As you can see in the photo above, I am missing a sizeable chunk off the side of one of my incisors. I first lost a little piece off this tooth about a year and a half ago, but it didn't hurt and it didn't cause me any inconvenience so I didn't feel any need to get myself to a dentist, pronto. I figured I'd eventually get around to making an appointment.

Then about three weeks ago I lost another little chunk from this tooth. Now I was starting to get a bit concerned. Plus food was getting caught in the gap and that was bothersome. But still I didn't feel the sense of urgency to find myself a dentist. Then last Thursday night I lost another chunk off of this tooth and now the gap between it and the neighboring tooth was seriously big. I was officially concerned at this point.

So Friday morning I got on my dental insurance company's website (yeah, I've had dental insurance for about four years now but I still haven't bothered to go to the dentist -- that's the special kind of stubborn and stupid I am) and found a dentist. When I tried to call and set up an appointment, however, I couldn't reach anyone. Today I finally got ahold of the receptionist at my prospective dentist and made an appointment for next Wednesday morning.

Hopefully I won't lose another chunk off my tooth between now and then.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)