Second visit to Sam the Dentist

[mamadeb]

He was pleased with my gums. All this past week, I've been brushing them properly at night - two full minutes - with a faster brush post-breakfast. I've also been flossing and using the prescription rinse (timing the swishing for thirty seconds.) And I used the medium bristle brush. And by Thursday - that is, in two days - my gums were pink and not bleeding. At this point, I can and do brush directly on my gums and there is no blood.

If my gingivitis could make that much progress in just a couple days of proper care, so can anyone else's. Just saying. Although I suspect the prescription rince made the difference.

So today he filled a cavity. He'll probably fill one next Tuesday as well, which means I'll be nice and numb for the family Chanukah party. Watch Aunt Debbie try to eat a latke and fail...

As usual, the worst part was keeping my mouth open. Also - dental technology marches on - he used what I think was a small laser to ... do something to the compound in my teeth. Which doesn't feel metallic.

So. I suspect I'll need at least one more filling, something done to a couple of chipped teeth and a cap over the one that just feel apart. And then I'll finally get that polishing. Somehow, it's far less dreadful than I expected.

Comments

[gryphons-lair.livejournal.com]

he used what I think was a small laser to ... do something to the compound in my teeth.

If you got a tooth-colored filling? The "laser" was a UV source, and it "cured" (hardened) the resin the filling is made out of. No, I don't know how; I just know what my dentist told me the first time he did one.

One reason I like my dentists is that they explain things as they go along, so I know what's happening and why. :)

[jacquez.livejournal.com]

This.

The tooth-colored fillings are AWESOME.

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

It's not tooth-colored. It's sort of grayish.

Not that I care particularly. Most of my teeth got filled long before tooth-colored filling were invented.

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

Not tooth-colored. Grayish, in fact.

But it could be the same sort of compound - it does make sense.

[jonbaker.livejournal.com]

Yes, he's been doing this for a while. It's been ages since he gave me a metal filling. And since it's putty-ish when it goes in, he doesn't have to put that metal band around the tooth to shape it, which was often difficult/painful to insert between the teeth.

[slytherin-heart.livejournal.com]

Yay dentists! Well, not so much for me, as I strongly dislike going to the dentist.

On a side note, my hygeinist would love you; instead, she's stuck with the bratty teenager who never flosses.