The Tooth Fairy

One of the most important things to take care of at any point in your life is your teeth-- especially when you are diabetic or pregnant, and I am both. I say this because of my visit to the dentist today.
I haven't gone to the dentist in 6 years, because we really haven't had dental insurance until this year. So my poor mouth went unchecked, through cavities and abscesses, for 6 whole years. I used to go every 6 months when I lived at home with my mom. Needless to say, due to neglect, I had to have one of my teeth pulled today. It's not entirely fun to say the least. I was born without some of my adult teeth, and the tooth that was pulled today was one of my baby teeth. So not only do I have a hole in my mouth, I don't have another tooth to fill it in with.
Regardless of what you tell your children, there is no magical tooth fairy to give you money and make a new tooth grow in.
So, please, PLEASE, people, take awesome care of your teeth! I cannot stress this enough... my parents and grandparents were right.
Take care of them. They're the only ones you've got (teeth and parents).

On a positive dental note, my new dentist was totally awesome and I can't wait to see him & his staff again. I know this must sound insane to those of you who have periodontal phobia, but I have my excuses. The main reason was because I got to watch Monster House while my poor little abscessed, cavity-ridden baby tooth was extracted. They had a little TV & VCR set up in the corner & the nurse asked if I'd like to watch a movie. I was totally into that, but then it occurred to me I wouldn't be able to see it once they laid the chair down... but as they laid the chair down my eyes transfixed on a beautiful PLASMA TV on the CEILING!! Holy cow! Since when did technology advance to personal entertainment while in a dental chair?! I was totally mesmerized. The dentist kept asking if I was ok, did this hurt, how did that feel, etc, but I was totally absorbed by the TV & let him know that between the movie and the drugs to numb me up, "I'm highly amused right now".

I need to have 3 cavities filled toward the end of the month. The dentist was hesitant to do it now because of the pregnancy, but the receptionist convinced him to let us do it so our insurance wouldn't charge us as much.
Which brings me to another note. All these years, in addition to not having insurance, or good insurance, I was afraid the dentist would cost not only an arm & a leg, but my firstborn as well. Today's deep cleaning (picking out tartar the size of rock chips from beneath my gums), exam, anesthetics, and extraction was just over $50. HOLY HANNAH!! I'm SO going back... yes, you dental-phobes, willingly.

I've spent most of the day dealing with the weird sensation of a gap in my teeth (sticking my tongue through it like a little kid), and the discomfort of the anesthesia wearing off. I can only stand gauze in my mouth for about an hour before it drives me crazy, physically, and I let my mouth rest for about half an hour, then reload with more gauze. The bleeding is slowly tapering off. Luckily the tooth was on the side of my mouth, and its absence can't really be noticed when I grin unless you're looking really hard. At least I won't be having any more pain when I chew after it heals up.

On a side note, I get to see Clarene on Thursday. I can't wait to show her the great numbers I've been having. I think she'll be really pleased.

While the dentist didn't limit me entirely to a liquid diet, I've been trying to stick to one.. man am I craving a pop tart right now!