I'm spacing out

Yesterday I got the spacer for my braces, they kinda suck. I'm already on a pain killer right now so they don't hurt too much, but they are uncomfortable and it feels funny to eat. Dr. F asked if I had started to process through insurance yet for Dr. S, which I have not done since I have to change insurance. He accepted that as an answer. But conversations like that make me a bit nervous, what happens in 6 months if I have trouble with insurance?

Taking the first step

I went to the dentist today to have the root canal tooth finished. Unfortunately I have recently noticed a very slight pain in the tooth, not enough to run and get the tooth looked at (I'm really sick of dealing with this tooth), but enough to make it a consideration when choosing what to do with the tooth. LF decided to do a provisional crown on the tooth and see how it goes, she felt it might even be a better option for the tooth since I'm getting brace next month.

The other thing was that since this tooth would take much less time she decided to do the two tooth cap/bridge today instead of tomorrow. With that LF took a drill to my tooth. My first thought was - there goes a couple grand in dental work. Then I had a moment of almost having an anxiety attack, that panic about taking that first step on a long road... It lasted about a minute and then I just sat there as the bridge was drilled away. I got some good news - the two teeth are in good shape, which was very much a concern. LF said that the mobility in the bridge wasn't from the teeth. She did find that one tooth had a touch of mobility in it, but she thought that would go away now that the teeth are separated.

So how does it look and feel? The tooth next to the middle teeth looks almost exactly the same, though is irritating my gum a bit tonight. The other tooth you can now tell is set back in the mouth a little bit and looks a little smaller, though it doesn't look "bad." That tooth is irritating my tongue and the gum in the front is sensitive, I suspect that part of the gum there had been protected by the old bridge and is now exposed to my mouth for the first time in years.

A filled in

My tooth with the root canal was filled in this weekend, just in time, I think the temporary filling was starting to deteriorate. LF had wanted to put in a post of some sort in this tooth, but the dentist in the office that I saw (she's on vacation) thought it just needed to be filled and that the tooth was ok otherwise. I'm still need the tooth crowned later this month, which I'm doing with LF. I wonder what she'll think of the not doing the post. Either way the tooth will last until then.

Moving things up.

I spoke to Dr. F on Friday and it was an eye opening phone call. He didn't have too much to offer in the way of health insurance, though seemed to mention HIP a lot. He did say though that we have to get started with things much sooner then I thought. I had been given the impression that the palate expander would be done early during this whole thing. However, Dr. F needs about 6 months to get my teeth in order before doing the palate expander. I was blown away! He said if I want to do the palate expander in mid February then I need to start with the braces in August. August is right around the corner! This is going to require a shift in thinking and a lot of work I hadn't planned on just yet.

Before he can do the braces though I need to have the cap/bridge replaced, a slight problem since LF is going to be away for most of July. I did manage to get an appointment with her for the end of July, which is good. I also need to finish the work on the tooth that just got the root canal, which is scheduled for the end of July too. I have another tooth that I know will eventually need to be crowned. It now has a little chip in it, I need to find out if this tooth is still sturdy enough to hold up for the braces or if it needs to be crowned before.

My other issue that this is screwing up is that I was planning on taking a little trip to Scotland in September, as a pre-braces trip for myself. I had figured once I got the braces I would scale down my travel to long weekends in the US, so this was to be my last big trip for a while. I'm now considering some other stuff, but money will definitely be an issue once I start everything.

Talking to the orthodontist

I made a call to the orthodontist today, I wanted to let him and the office know that I was delaying my treatment. I also wanted to ask about health insurance. Health insurance plans will sometimes cover part of orthodontic treatment for Cleft persons. The girl explained that they will submit to insurance after surgery because then it's more apparent the need for braces and they're more likely to cover them. So then I asked about my two choices: GHI and HIP, she thought I might have better luck with HIP. She's give a note to Dr. F and said he would probably give me a call to discuss.

A Memory

The other day I was thinking about children who are in the hospital for the holidays, and how sad it is to spend those special times in a hospital and how glad I was that I never had to do that as a child. Then I remembered that I actually had a surgery right before Halloween one year, not the same as Christmas, but as a 7 year old girl it wasn't really cool. If my memory serves me I had the surgery 2 or 3 days before Halloween and then was released a day or 2 before Halloween. My mom did buy me a little bunny thing with ears, not really a costume but it was all I go. I remember on Halloween wearing my bunny ears and answering the door for the 4 people who actually stopped at our house and really wanting to go out trick or treating and getting candy. I'm sure my mom gave me whatever candy and treats I wanted, she was always good like that, but it's not the same as getting dressed up and getting candy from strangers.

Visit number 10

I was back at the dentist this weekend because my tooth was bothering me, again. I waited an hour on a Saturday morning because it was an emergency appt, and the endodontist spent about 5 minutes with me. What seems to have happened is that the bone was soft while it was healing and then hardens again, in the meantime the tooth can float around a bit until it hardens then settles. Apparently it settled in a spot where the bite was off. I got a bite adjustment and am feeling better now. I had to cancel my June 23 appt because of work. It looks like right now I'll end up having another dentist from the dentists office put in a permanent filling and when my dentist returns from Kenya she'll do the crown.