Not so bad, actually

One of the things I was dreading a little bit (OK, more than a little bit) about the end of vacation was that I had to go in and get a tooth prepped for a crown.

This was the first crown I'd ever had (my mom has lots; I guess she got the British/Scottish bad-tooth genes). Generally my teeth are pretty good because I'm fairly obsessive about taking care of them, but I don't know if this one just had weak enamel or if having the "band" on it when I had braces damaged it or what, but it's been filled a couple times and this time the dentist decided he couldn't fix it up any more; it had to be a crown.

I think what scared me badly was that they first had nitrous treatment down on the list of things. I've never had nitrous, I really don't WANT nitrous, and actually, once I've had the initial anesthetic, I'm pretty OK with the process. (I don't like needles.)

So I kind of freaked out a little when the appointment-set-up person recommended it.

"Is it REALLY that bad?" I asked.
"Well, most of our patients want nitrous. I can take it off if you don't want it."

I told her I didn't - partly because I hate the thought of being out of "control" during what should be a fairly simple medical procedure, partly because I react strangely to some medications (I cannot, for example, take any decongestant - they shoot my heart rate up to dangerous levels), and partly because I'm claustrophobic enough that having someone's hands in my mouth is bad, and having a thing over my nose too would be even worse.

She kind of shrugged and took it off the list of procedures but her attitude seemed to telegraph, "OK, it's your funeral."

So I wondered how bad it really was going to be.

My mother - who, as I said, has had several crowns done - assured me that it was not that bad. Not really any worse than having an old filling replaced, which I've had done (It's not fun, but sometimes it needs to be done). She was surprised they even suggested nitrous. (But then again, she had two babies the "natural" way, and she also doesn't take Novocaine if it's a "small" cavity being repaired).

Another person I talked to that I know who has crowns assured me that it really was not that bad, and that I was wise not to get the nitrous. "I started to get hysterical when I was going under," she said, "I wound up ripping the thing off my face. The most miserable part of the process was the nitrous."

So I went in this morning, not knowing for sure what to expect.

An aside - I think for me one of the real hallmarks of being a "for-real" grownup is doing things you absolutely detest, absolutely DO NOT WANT to do, but doing them because they are important and need to be done. Driving over there, I thought how easy it would be for me to turn off onto the highway and drive far away and blow off the appointment, but I knew if I did that, I'd have to re-make the appointment (and maybe pay a fee for missing - I don't know if this dentist does that but one of my former dentists did - if you failed to show without cancelling, he charged you something like $15 to re-make the appointment). And I figured if the tooth got any worse, it might mean a root canal, which I really didn't want.

So I went in. The nurse (What do you call the assistants who are kind of more than a hygienist but aren't themselves a dentist?) said she was expecting me and showed me back.

(This is the part that, if you're really dental-phobic, you might wish to skip. I won't be too graphic though. Go down to the asterisks if you're skipping).

I reminded her of not wanting nitrous. "Oh, that's fine, that's no problem, you'll be OK" she assured me.

The dentist came in and I started to tear up a little. (I HATE that. I wish I could be totally stoic and calm but the anticipation makes me cry). He assured me I'd be OK, that I was actually pretty calm as patients went (he's done work on me before). He told me that it was really no worse than having a filling replaced, and that he had done that on me before with no problems. He told me there would be a couple of things that were a little different and explained them. (I kind of wished he hadn't gone into detail about the "shaping near the gum line" because that freaked me a little. I don't like anyone screwing with my gums). The nurse swabbed some kind of stuff onto my gum and he gave me the first novocaine injection.

I really, really, really, really do not like needles. I had several bad experiences - both at a dentist and at the doctor's - when I was a young child and even though I don't consciously remember the events, the thought of an injection (more than allergy shots) really bugs me. (I have to do a major process of "gutting up" to even go in and get the flu shot).

"You're OK, you're OK" he assured me. "Worst part will be over soon."

The worst part though was the injection into the roof of the mouth. I know it was necessary, having had it eliminated any pain during the process, but I really did not like it.

Once that was done, I calmed down. The dentist went off to attend to another patient while the nurse prepped me and did the various molds that were needed.

****

The molding process was actually kind of interesting. First she tried wax - they wanted a mold of the tooth for the final crown. But she couldn't get the wax warm enough to shape to suit her, so she asked me if I was "OK" with them using a gel type stuff (they call it blue mousse) to take the impression.

Well, what I wanted to be "OK" was the finished crown, so I said yes.

It wasn't bad. It was a lot worse when I had the impressions taken before I had my braces. This was little and easy. She also held tooth-color-chips up to my teeth to pick the right color for the crown. (They are doing porcelain. Gold was an option, but meh. I'm not the right culture to go for "bling" in my mouth.)

The dentist came back and did the work. And you know, it really was not that bad. He told the truth when he said it was no worse than replacing a filling - and in a way, it was better, because they didn't have to do the step of putting the solvent in the tooth, which always made me feel ill.

Also, I was glad it was the older guy - there are two dentists in the practice and while they are both good, I think the older guy is a little surer of himself (more years of experience) and also is gentler.

Once that was done they cleaned the whole area up and fitted some kind of plastic junk in a tray onto the area - to make the temporary crown. (That was actually worse than the "blue mousse" because some of the plastic oozed out and was pressing on the roof of my mouth, making me want to gag).

There was a long process of fitting and shaping the temporary, and finally they cemented it in. So I was sent home with a warning not to chew anything too hard or to eat taffy until the final crown is put in, and also to rinse my mouth out with salt water periodically for the next couple days (something about the gums having been messed with, I didn't ask too much detail at that point).

(I don't generally eat a lot of hard stuff - or taffy or caramel - but I will have to remind myself not to chew ice. I have kind of a bad habit of chewing ice if I'm out somewhere and get a drink with ice in it.)

The temporary is kind of ugly so I'm glad it's far enough back in my mouth that you can't see it. It's sort of a gray color, but I suppose that since it's for just 3 weeks, it's not worth using any kind of a coloring agent.

The other thing I'm glad of is that I sprang for the dental insurance when I started working here. It's something like $25 a month taken out of my paycheck but it saved my tail this time - the whole crown process would have been over $1000 if I had paid for it all myself, but with insurance it cost me $350.