teeth update

[jwgh]

Before today, the last time I went to a dentist was when I lived in New Jersey in 1999. So, that isn't so good, and I was worried that I would pay dearly for my years of dental neglect.

The cleaning was, in fact, pretty damn painful. (It is time to start flossing again, since I seem to recall that makes dental visits hurt less.) On the upside, apart from one small cavity everthing seemed to be pretty OK; no problems with bone loss (I was worried about gum disease), my existing fillings seemed to be in good shape, etc.

So I got off pretty easy. Although I have to go back in a month for a follow-up cleaning and to get the cavity filled. Well, we'll see how that goes. In the meantime: floss.

Providence-area folks looking for a dentist may wish to know that I went to see Dr. Pochebit on Waterman Street (274-2743), who I heard about from coffee_drinker.

Comments

Yay!

[notr.livejournal.com]

Both times I've stayed away from dentists for long periods, it's taken fractured molars to get me back there. So let's hope your office is good about following up on followups!

(OTOH, I'm not convinced they wouldn't have fractured even if I'd gotten them cleaned regularly. I still suspect the jerk who put in all those fillings back during my last year of college did most of them unnecessarily and all of them badly. Both of the bicuspids he filled eventually needed root canals. On one visit, he was actually lecturing his assistant about how to hand him the implements correctly while I sat there with the Novocaine wearing off waiting for him to work on my mouth.)

[doctroid.livejournal.com]

I had several years of painful and sanguine teeth cleanings. I'm not sure why that stopped, unless it just took that long for daily (for a while twice daily) flossings and rinsings with antiseptic mouth rinse to beat the problems... or unless it really was the switch from Colgate to Crest MultiCare (since replaced by Crest SomethingElse) right after the last of the owie cleanings. Seems unlikely but I refuse to change toothpastes again, just in case. Anyway, these days the cleanings are pretty much painless and nearly bloodless.

And my procrastinative tendencies are countered by my dentist's office's habit of scheduling my next appointment while I'm in the chair.

[fire-truck-yeah.livejournal.com]

I have 3 hours of fillings and a half hour of cleaning when I go to Minnesota next week. These are the things I do when I go on vacation. Not to mention a phsycal and a mole removed. Yay! I know how to have fun!