We are Outliving our Teeth

 My mouth has been too much on my mind in the last few weeks.  It started with an ache in the back bottom molar.  After three days of listening to my complaints, Jim encouraged me to call our dentist in the morning.  They had a cancellation and asked if I could be there within an hour.  That didn't give me any time to think about it.  Jim had a phone interview so I had to drive myself which is a rare thing for me.  

After an x-ray I could tell the dentist had bad news.  He said it was an abscess and  I needed a root canal.  I asked about just pulling it out and he said that was an option but then I would need to go to an oral surgeon.  I didn't think about it any further.  I was sitting in his chair and I told him to go for it and do the root canal.  An hour and a half later I paid a "down payment" of $733 and drove home.  We picked up an antiobiotic which I choked down for the next ten days.  The pain was gone. 

I had a followup appointment two weeks later but I got very stressed because I didn't know what was going to happen next.  I didn't want to commit to a crown if I was going to lose the tooth eventually--which he had said could happen.  However, he said that things looked good so we should proceed.  After another hour and $1142 later, I went home with an uncomfortable mouth but no need for more antibiotics.  That night I was emailed follow up instructions.   If the front office had sent such an email after my first appointment, it would have eased a lot of my stress.  Someone probably made a mistake.  Information is helpful! (later--it probably was overlooked because my appointment was an emergency one--the dentist and his assistant will look out for that for others--I was glad I said something)

We don't have dental insurance as such although the office will submit the bill to our  Medicare Advantage insurance and we might get some reimbursed.  I have an appointment for a temporary crown and then they will do a permanent crown.  

I asked what was the cause of the abscess and he said it was probably a crack in an old filling.  There is nothing one can do about that.  Jim has had more than one tooth crack in recent years. His last episode involved an oral surgeon and a bridge which cost well over $3000.   We are getting old and our teeth are not lasting as long as we are.  A positive way of looking at that is we have lived a long life.  But it is uncomfortable and expensive to be spending so much time in a dentist's chair.