My saga of the bad tooth is almost at an end.
Four years ago my rear lower left molar started hurting me, since I had only been in Virginia for a short time I just picked the closest dentist that my insurance plan covered. Everything seemed fine, even though I should have gotten a clue when he was talking to me about how his patients from my company weren’t coming in anymore. At the time I figured it was just people moving or leaving the company. Later I was to find out it may have been something else.
So about 6 months later, after a root canal and a crown, I get an infection in my jaw. I went back to this doc and he sees that this same molar has an infection in the root. Now, since I am not a dentist I quickly asked “umm, I didn’t think I had any root left since you did the root canal”. Well it seems he missed a piece. He figured that some anti-biotics might take care of it and it did for awhile.
Problem was, over the next couple of years the infection would come back. I went back to him one more time about a year after that and he recommended another root canal to get rid of the rest of the root. At that time the thought of another $800 out of pocket (yes, I would have to replace the crown and no discount for him not getting all of the root the first time) was just not something I wanted to do. So for the next few years I just treated the infection when it appeared.
This seemed to work for a long time…up until last August. I had been living in Manassas for awhile and was looking for a local dentist (also, no intention of going back to my prior one). At the Manassas Park 4th of July festival I met a dentist that was starting up a new practice, he seemed eager and sincere enough so I decided to give it a go.
When I went in for my first visit, just a cleaning…I got some distressing news. The tooth had decayed quite a bit over of the prior years due to the constant on again off again infection. There was no way to save it, it had to go. This freaked me out, the thought of having a tooth pulled…about loosing part of me, well it didn’t sit well. When it was finally being done I had a minor panic attack in the chair. Afterward I was glad it was done though, it literally split in half in the doctors hand after the extraction. It was NASTY!
So next step in this journey was having a permanent implant put in. This would ensure I didnt have any drift in the teeth next to the gap or a hang tooth from above, as teeth keep growing if there is nothing there to stop them. Yesterday was the first part of that procedure, and luckily it went without any problems.
Two hours in the chair and now I have an “anchor” in my jaw. Later a cap will be put on it, but yesterday I got to have a hole drilled in my jaw and a screw put in. Surprisingly, even with the stitches in my jaw, I still have no pain. Not sure if that is common or not, but after leaving an excellent dentist in Oklahoma, I think I have found a good one here finally. Actually the whole practice is excellent, so if your in the area, go see Railroad Dental Associates (named because they are next to the railroad station, not because they “Railroad” you).
Heres a pic of my screw!
