All that money in my lifetime that was invested in my teeth. The goal was to keep them.
My visit to the dentist 4 months ago did not end as I had expected. I was anticipating pouring more money into my mouth..a couple of inplants and I would be all fixed up. Not so. My dentist had other ideas. He advises against the expensive implants as the teeth were not stable and it would be investing more money into implants while other teeth were sure to go. Deep pockets, gum disease and unstable teeth and it was time to go another route. Tears streaming as he said it was not time to think about dentures. All these years he has tried to prepare me for this day. I thought I would be ready but apparently I wasn't.
We had the discussion. I don't want to have all the problems my friends and family complain about with dentures so I let him know that I wanted the implanted dentures. I left the office that day with a prescription for Halcyon and some antibiotics. In two weeks I would return all Halcyoned up...and the extractions of molars would begin meanwhile a care plan would be initiated with the costs detailed.
21,000.00. I wasn't too shocked. I had researched the cost of having this done and knew it wouldn't be cheap.
Two weeks later, and 1 hour before the appointment, I swallowed the Halcyon. I do not remember getting to the office nor getting in the chair nor any of what happened during the next hour. What a blessing! I'm a white knuckle dental patient and was not believing that Halcyon would be this effective. I'm a believer and already have my next dose for my next visit. Love me some Halcyon. Someone should have told me about this when I was having root canals and implants done!
My next visit was not supposed to be for 4 months as a bone graft was done on the first visit and a 4 month waiting period is needed to give the bone graft time to grow and fill the huge pocket from an old infection. I had to visit earlier then expected. A cavity was rocking my head; one that could not be repaired. A root canal would be necessary and neither the dentist nor I wanted to put that much money in a tooth that would be eventually extracted. Our plan? We pushed the extraction of the remaining teeth forward. An impression was made for the temporary denture that should arrive in two weeks. The remaining teeth will be extracted at that time and I will have to wear the temporary denture for a longer period of time. The bone graft will have to fill that space (4 months) and then the implants will be placed and those have to heal for 4 months. During this time I will be wearing the temporary dentures.
My dentist had warned me this would be a long process and would take patience and to just "hang with me" till we get you through this. It's one day, one month at a time right now.
My little cavity is being medicated with Orajel and hopefully we can move to the next step. The temporary dentures should arrive in two weeks and one week has already passed. I'll contact the hygienist next week for an update.
I'm not looking forward to the conventional dentures as most people I know are not happy with them. I've heard all kinds of stories on soreness, looseness and inability to chew. Hopefully this will be temporary and the implants will not offer these problems.
Updates to follow.
Friday, August 16, 2019
Friday, April 26, 2019
Great Plans Laid To Waste and Trippin to The Coast
I had some great plans and one of them was to blog daily. The last time I posted was almost a year ago and it was on the trip Carrie and I took to expose her to as many states as possible.
We were on Day 2 which had us arriving in Casa Grande Arizona. It was Friday and we decided to stay with my sister in law through the weekend and escape the weekend motel rates on the coast. We would eventually leave early Monday morning for San Diego.
We rolled through El Paso, stopping to drive up to UTEP for the view across the Rio Grande. The housing situation appears to have improved since the years past from the last time I was on this site. The tar paper shacks with tin roofs had changed to wooden structures scattered on the hill side terraced down from one level to another. The heat hadn't changed at all. 111 degrees recorded making the exterior of the car impossible to touch. We took a few pictures of Carrie with Mexico across the river in the background, and moved on. We rolled along to Tucson and finally to Casa Grande.
Family appeared to visit bringing along Kentucky Fried Chicken and all the fixins. Saturday we lazed around town and headed later to Chandler, Arizona for lunch. We would later appreciate this down time as the rest of the trip found us on the move exploring new places and old.
Monday morning as planned we headed to San Diego. Through Hotels.com we reserved a room in the hotel circle. The hotel circle, if you are not familiar with San Diego, is an area that has most of the major hotels close to most of the attractions of San Diego. We could have walked to Old Town had we known we were so close. We checked in to the hotel for seventy dollars a night. The room was clean, the pool was clean and the jacuzzi was awesomely warm and the jets powerful we found late that afternoon. This was a hotel frequented by the college crowd but it was quiet and safe and in the right price range. As soon as we unpacked we headed for Old Town. First stop was a wonderful Mexican food restaurant. I had a margarita; Carrie didn't. Later we strolled the streets looking in the shops for souvenirs for Carrie's friends.
The pool and the jacuzzi finished off this day in San Diego. The next morning we headed for the beach. This part of California has a rough rocky beach. The seals were sunning themselves on the ledge and the water was frigid. Later in the day we went to Balboa Park where we spend the rest of the afternoon. We parked in the parking lot and took the tram into the park. I love spending time in Balboa Park. The museum is a must see and the artists that have their oil paintings, the pottery places and the jewelry shops are quaint and afford an afternoon of wandering from place to place. The artists are happy to explain their craft. Again to the jacuzzi in the late afternoon and tomorrow would we would be on our way to L.A.
Freeway driving was an experience in it's own.
I'm going to finish the blogging on this trip in the hopes that someday Carrie will look back on this; read and reminisce.
We were on Day 2 which had us arriving in Casa Grande Arizona. It was Friday and we decided to stay with my sister in law through the weekend and escape the weekend motel rates on the coast. We would eventually leave early Monday morning for San Diego.
We rolled through El Paso, stopping to drive up to UTEP for the view across the Rio Grande. The housing situation appears to have improved since the years past from the last time I was on this site. The tar paper shacks with tin roofs had changed to wooden structures scattered on the hill side terraced down from one level to another. The heat hadn't changed at all. 111 degrees recorded making the exterior of the car impossible to touch. We took a few pictures of Carrie with Mexico across the river in the background, and moved on. We rolled along to Tucson and finally to Casa Grande.
Family appeared to visit bringing along Kentucky Fried Chicken and all the fixins. Saturday we lazed around town and headed later to Chandler, Arizona for lunch. We would later appreciate this down time as the rest of the trip found us on the move exploring new places and old.
Monday morning as planned we headed to San Diego. Through Hotels.com we reserved a room in the hotel circle. The hotel circle, if you are not familiar with San Diego, is an area that has most of the major hotels close to most of the attractions of San Diego. We could have walked to Old Town had we known we were so close. We checked in to the hotel for seventy dollars a night. The room was clean, the pool was clean and the jacuzzi was awesomely warm and the jets powerful we found late that afternoon. This was a hotel frequented by the college crowd but it was quiet and safe and in the right price range. As soon as we unpacked we headed for Old Town. First stop was a wonderful Mexican food restaurant. I had a margarita; Carrie didn't. Later we strolled the streets looking in the shops for souvenirs for Carrie's friends.
The pool and the jacuzzi finished off this day in San Diego. The next morning we headed for the beach. This part of California has a rough rocky beach. The seals were sunning themselves on the ledge and the water was frigid. Later in the day we went to Balboa Park where we spend the rest of the afternoon. We parked in the parking lot and took the tram into the park. I love spending time in Balboa Park. The museum is a must see and the artists that have their oil paintings, the pottery places and the jewelry shops are quaint and afford an afternoon of wandering from place to place. The artists are happy to explain their craft. Again to the jacuzzi in the late afternoon and tomorrow would we would be on our way to L.A.
Freeway driving was an experience in it's own.
I'm going to finish the blogging on this trip in the hopes that someday Carrie will look back on this; read and reminisce.
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