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Crowned
Last week I had my permanent crown installed. It turns out the tooth I thought was getting a crown only had a filling replaced and the crown was the same side but upper jaw instead. At first I thought the lower tooth was better with regard to the food getting stuck. Today I think it’s as bad as ever and I don’t know why this is such a problem area if it wasn’t the tooth that was broken. There’s a part of me worried that it was supposed to be the lower tooth that was crowned and a mistake has been made. I would like to think that surely wouldn’t have happened and he’d have noticed the problem. The crown itself is fine. It feels rather odd at the moment but I guess I will get used it.
Last week I was also plagued with issues related to menopause. There were about 2.5 months between one period and the next so it was another of those ones that seemed to make up for the missed one and then some. Fortunately this one didn’t go on so long as the bad one last year. Still I should be taking those iron tablets and I have been slack since things settled down. This was the direct follow on from the sore throat/cold/cough that had hit the family the week before. I still have a bit of the cough but it’s not a constant thing.
I became a great-aunt last week when my nephew and his wife had a baby boy. He’s a cute little fellow and seems to be getting heaps of attention. It was an interesting case of lots of us keeping up with the progress of things via Facebook because the wife had been updating until she was induced and then my nephew kept a log during the labor. Now it seems to be back to the wife to keep track of everything.
After a bit of a break or a lapse in commitment, I have been working on a few MOOCs again. This time all three are on edX and all three are sort of biology/human body related. The one that got me going again is one about the anatomy of the upper limb. I did this course on Coursera a couple years ago and liked it. They have moved to the different platform for some reason and I have started it again. I’m enjoying it just as much as I did last time. I am pleased to remember quite a few bits but then there is plenty I have forgotten. Most of my time is spent watching videos on this one so that’s okay. There are two others that are self-paced, which works a bit better for me. One is an into biology course which I started once before but didn’t continue due to other factors at the time. It’s a fairly long course but the instructor is quite enjoyable and I think I will learn more this time around. The other is a human cell biology unit fhat’s done at an Australian university. This covers some of the stuff not included in the biology unit. My goal is to understand enough to try out the immunology courses there, which are also enjoyable. I just need to understand some of the basic processed better. It’s all quite a fascinating study for me, which wouldn’t have been the case back when I really was a student.
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Costly morning
I had the “pleasure” of sitting in the dentist chair for 90 minutes today while having a filling replaced along with the really exciting crown made for a broken tooth. I’d put off the crown from my previous regular check up due to some tight finances at the time. While our finances aren’t exactly rosy right now, there was no way to put it off any longer due to food constantly getting stuck in the broken tooth.
The first fun was having the anaesthetic injection. Not sure if it was the first or second injection that hurt going in but it wasn’t pleasant. Then further along I had another injection for the lower jaw and needed yet another before the work on the crown could progress because the numbness didn’t spread quite as far as it should have. Of course now it’s an hour after I finished and the numbness has really set in the last area.
After the numbing was the contraption to keep my mouth open. Just totally awkward all around, possibly more so in the non-numbed area since I could experience the full discomfort there. But to add insult, I was expected to open and close my mouth to varying degrees anyway. I don’t think I had this done when I had my root canal years ago although I’m sure there was something used to open up the mouth. Anyway, The work is finished and we are hundreds of dollars poorer, even after the insurance kicks in. I go back in two weeks to insert the permanent crown.
I will add that the dentist did give a discount to the service today and I’m not totally sure why. The only reason I could consider is I was asked to rinse my mouth and spit and ended up with water all over my clothes due to the combined effects of contraption and numbness. It did dry up by the time I left and I wasn’t that fussed about it…mostly a bit embarrassed at the time.
Our doctor’s office is in the same building as the dentist so I stopped in there to check on a new prescription for some medication that I’d requested online. I asked for it a couple of days ago but hadn’t heard anything so thought it easy enough to check while there, numbness aside. Turns out I needed to see a doctor for that particular medication. The receptionist had said I could get in to see another gp shortly and had me sit down. But happily my recent doctor was free and had me come in immediately and wrote my prescription out. No charge for the visit either. I really do like this doctor a lot. And I can make appointments online. I do fear she is going to become so popular that she’ll stop seeing new patients and I will end up in the situation of having to phone in each time again.
Funnily enough I went to the pharmacy straight afterwards and the lady who took the script from me was rhapsodising about the same doctor. I really should fear her becoming too popular. :)
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Tonight the Scientist and I went to our tai chi class as is usual on a Monday night. This is week eight of ten for this term and I finished learning all the moves for level five. The next two weeks will just be spent revising and “perfecting” the moves. I have one more level to complete before I’ve learned the entire long form of tai chi. It’s amazing to realise I now know almost all the moves that seemed so overwhelming back at the beginning. After I finish level six next term, both the Scientist and I will switch to the advanced class.
It’s another rainy night here in Perth. That makes two in one month! Apparently the temperature will be quite cool tomorrow and the recommendation is to dress just a bit more warmly than usual for this time of year. Lego Lover has a dentist appointment in early afternoon in Perth, then we will head down to Fremantle to see the Queen Mary 2 ship while it’s in town. He wants to travel by bus and train but it depends on conditions and on whether he wakes up early enough in the morning. Â I’m hoping the rain eases a bit by the time we get there but the latest forecast showed rain continuing well into the day. Whatever the conditions, I’m sure we will adapt. :)
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Teeth
I stopped in to the local medical center to pick up a prescription for the Scientist and decided it might be good to make a dental appointment. I think it’s probably been a year and a half since I was last there but I have simply procrastinated about it. I had a lecture about getting regular dental care when I was in the immunology clinic last month and I’ve even had some problems with a couple of teeth where food was getting stuck and causing pain. Anyway, it turned out there had been a late cancellation so I was offered an appointment within half an hour and took it.
I never used to mind getting my teeth cleaned. But the newer equipment always hurts and sometimes causes pain. I survived that ordeal and had x-rays done before the dentist came in. The good news is I had no new cavities and the calculus build-up was limited to the areas between my teeth. The bad news was that two of my fillings have decayed and will have to be replaced. This is exactly where I’ve had trouble with my teeth. Apparently it’s partially caused by my Sjögren’s syndrome because I sometimes don’t have enough saliva. Not sure exactly how that works. He has also recommended that I get amalgam fillings because they don’t decay so easily. I’m almost certain the current fillings have only been in less than five years…possibly less. I go back in two weeks to spend an hour in the chair having that fun. I must admit it will be good to be able to return to once-a-day flossing once this is done.
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After almost a year…
we have a lost tooth! Lego Lover had an upper lateral incisor that the dentist reported was loose when we saw her last May. It finally came out today, after months of misery. There’s not a permanent tooth coming in, which is at least a partial explanation for the long term wiggly tooth. There are still a couple of his canines yet to be lost so there is more wiggly tooth fun to come.
Both boys saw the pediatric dentist last week and had good reports on their teeth. I had visions of the dentist deciding the tooth had to come out at the appointment, but I am pleased to report the idea was never mentioned. The dentist is the first and longest serving pediatric dentist in Perth and has a very good reputation for working with kids with special needs like Asperger’s and autism. As Lego Lover also has a very crowded mouth, we have been referred to an orthodontist for a consultation as to future treatment. It has been suggested that Lego Lover is not a good candidate for orthodontics so it’s possible we may be looking at a couple tooth extractions under general anaesthetic to reduce or eliminate the need for it. It will be interesting to hear the orthodontist’s opinion before decisions are made.
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Fillings and pain
I had a dental appointment a few weeks ago where an an x-ray showed I had developed two cavities. This past week I went to have them filled. Everything during the procedure seemed to be fine and I had the usual five hours of waiting for the numbness to wear off. I thought that was the end of it. But a couple days later I started getting pain when chewing in that area, which is something I’ve never experienced after getting cavities filled in the past. It’s not a constant problem but does seem to be affected by temperature, especially hot foods. The Scientist had this experience earlier this year and it continued for quite a few weeks after he had the initial dental work so I am not too encouraged about the prospects of this disappearing any time soon. He did some research at the time and discovered there have been many complaints of this sort of pain with the newer types of fillings due to them being more conductive than the older style ones. I’ve also noted that I’m unable to get dental floss between the teeth in the area so may end up back to have that sorted out some time. The dentist apparently was quite surprised by the pain when the Scientist went back to him so I wonder what he will say if I end up returning too.
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Missing
Last week I took Lego Lover to have a dental x-ray so that we get an idea of what the future holds for him, dentally speaking. There was a bit of chaos getting these to the dentist. I was told by him to just come by (no appointment required) with them on a Monday afternoon and he would see me about them for a few minutes. I suspect his wasn’t a practical solution. When I arrived it was packed and I ended up being sent away and leaving them at the office. It would have been easier to have the radiology service send them directly and save me a long trip (it wasn’t that long because I was reasonably close but it was still well out of my way).
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Appointments
It’s been a week of running to various appointments, most requiring significant driving time. The boys both had dental appointments with a pediatric dentist on Tuesday. This was their first visits to a private dental service and I think it was so worth the extra expense. I won’t say it went completely smoothly though. The anxiety and selective mutism of both boys did cause some bumps along the way. But both cooperated in the end and I think they are less worried about returning, even though Lego Lover claims his dental phobia is worse. I think the worst that happened for him was having to taste the latex gloves used by the dentist. Apparently they try to keep the staff the same at each visit so that children build up trust and confidence in the professionals. I suppose this mostly works until they have staff turnover, of course.
Anyway, both boys got good dental reports with regard to brushing and don’t have to return for another nine months. The dentist was actually gushing about Game Fanatic’s almost model mouth. His teeth have come in beautifully and there hasn’t been any staining or early signs of plaque as he usually see at this age in his patients. So braces will play no part in his future, which is great. Neither the Scientist nor I have had them either so I guess that’s genetics at work.