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24 October 2008

Pearly Whites

God did not bless me with healthy teeth. I have struggled for most of my life with all sorts of troubles regarding my teeth. My parents spent thousands of dollars on oral surgery, dental appointments, braces, cleanings, sealants, fillings, and crowns....only none of it seemed to hold {except the braces part}. For the past 7 years I have been struggling to keep my teeth healthy, to not much avail!

And yes, I am venting here {what better place}.

I have seen numerous dentists from Dallas to Waco, and no one has been able to REALLY help me until recently. Most of the dentists I have seen have passed most of my problems off as genetic, enamel deficiencies, and some even said the didn't know why. Its not because I have poor dental hygiene {I always receive great praise for my brushing and flossing skills!}.

Every dentist I have seen has said that I will not have any of my own teeth by the time I am 30 {oh....I am 30}, and most quotes have been around 30k to fix my teeth!!!! Do these people think that I am made of money? HA!

My new wonderful dentist is a true God send! He is amazing. On my 1st visit with him, he spent over 2 hours looking and x-raying, and taking inter-oral pictures so that he could devise a plan. Well, I do not have all of my God given teeth, but I still have a lot of them! Five are completely gone, if you want to count wisdom teeth too, that makes 9!!! So sad. And of my remaining 24 teeth, 10 of them are crowns!!!!! Which if you know anything about crowns a) they cost about a grand a pop, and b) it usually means a root canal came first! I've had 12...2 had to be re-done because the dentist botched the job and I was still in pain!

My bottom teeth are okay, mostly just some fillings. Its the top ones that don't seem to like my mouth as a residence.

All this to say that I have been in pain yet again for the past week. So, on Tuesday my sweet daddy is taking me to to dentist for more dental work. And yes, someone has to take me and hold my hand...they drug me heavily before I go, and there is always lots of tears and panic on my part. I have severe anxiety when going to the dentist.....gee, I wonder why?

Hopefully this will be close to the end of my dental woes....I already have some more serious dental work scheduled for January....that SHOULD be the end!

So please everyone, think happy thoughts and say some prayers that I will have a little peace on Tuesday!

And just for fun...I will show you some before and after pics of my teeth. And yes, this is slightly embarrasing for myself, but its the only way for you to truly understand my dental anguish!


I know this picture stinks,
but you can see all the dark spots where
my teeth just chipped away

On top of them breaking
they have always been yellow

The day after I got my first set of front crowns

Pardon my silly face
Caroline was sitting in my lap taking pictures of me
I wonder where she gets that?

2 comments:

Mommy of Multiples said...

Well, hope things get better for you. You sure do look great!! But you were already beautiful, but I'm sure you feel better now that you can smile proud. :)I've had a lto of dental issues myself, and due to being on so many heavy medicines in the hospital the last few years my teeth are in really bad shape. I'm going to the detist tomorrow about it and nervous, but hopeful after hearing your story.

Alicia {Murry Mayhem} said...

Awwww....thanks! I'll keep you in my thoughts since I'll be at the dentist too tomorrow!