#MicroblogMondays: Dental daze

Three weeks ago, I broke a tooth -- a molar on the lower right side of my mouth. On a piece of lasagna, of all things (!)(an overcooked piece of pasta at the edge). (This was the fourth time I've broken a tooth -- and the second time that same tooth has been broken. Twice a popcorn kernel was the culprit, once it was a hard candy -- but lasagna??)

Fortunately, the dentist was able to see me the next day & fix the tooth, but recommended I get a crown put on it. Before making an appointment for that, we sent a treatment plan to my dental insurance company to see what they would cover (nothing, as it turns out -- I opted for the cheapest plan when I retired, the others being eye-poppingly expensive. Figures...).

Meanwhile, this past Thursday, I started noticing some sensitivity to both heat & cold on the upper left side of my mouth. This has happened before, but it's usually been temporary. The sensitivity continued Friday, and subsided slightly by Saturday afternoon. But then Saturday night after supper, I brushed and flossed my teeth, and OWWW!!!  The pain ebbed & flowed all through Saturday night and all day Sunday. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would say it ranged from about a 4 up to about a 7 at some points. I popped ibuprofen, I rinsed my mouth with saltwater, I applied ice packs. Sometimes it helped, sometimes it didn't.

Of course by then, our dentist's office, which is open on Saturday mornings, had long since closed. It's not open on Sundays. There is an emergency dental office, about a 20 minute drive away, but obviously, I preferred to have my own dentist look at it, if at all possible.

So I suffered through approximately 36 hours of intermittent toothache until my dentist's office opened on Monday morning. Thankfully, by Sunday night, it had started to subside again, and my mouth was feeling relatively normal by the time I called the dentist. Luckily, he was able to see me a few hours later. The verdict? Root canal, to be followed by a crown (which will be my third).  (The crown he originally recommended after the broken tooth three weeks ago will have to wait).  This office doesn't have a full-time root canal doctor on staff, so I was referred to another office. Luckily (??) again, they were able to squeeze me in later this afternoon. I am writing this at home between appointments, before we head out again. I figured I might as well get it over with ASAP (& hopefully get back to some semblance of order). Plus, just to make things interesting, we're expecting a snowstorm to start later this afternoon & continue through tomorrow.

I know stuff happens. But it's another unwelcome reminder that I'm getting older, and stuff (MY stuff) is wearing out (like my knees :p ). (The exception to this rule being Aunt Flo -- she just keeps chugging on & doesn't seem to know when to quit...!)  Of course, since when has my body actually worked the way it should, right??

But, as I try to remind myself, getting older it is a privilege denied to many. Yet another friend of ours, not much older than I am, was recently diagnosed with cancer. So I will try to quit whining. Thanks for listening to/reading my vent, though...! ;)

You can find more of this week's #MicroblogMondays posts here.