Teeth part ?

I have lost count as to how many times I have been to the dentist in the past year.  I know I posted that this was going to take a little while since I have such bad teeth.  Well Thursday evening was like no other I had ever experienced, an extraction!!!   I needed to have a wisdom tooth removed in order to save another tooth.  It made sense to lose one to save one.  The other alternative was lose both; that was not an option.

It went surprisingly well.  I was all done in 45 minutes.  I was a little anxious about this one.  But God is so good!  I was praying on the ride over and while I was still a little nervous, I had full confidence that it would go well.  And it did!!!

My jaw is still very sore and tender.  I will be on my liquid diet for today and possibly into tomorrow.   Which stinks because I love food!!!!

Update

This is the latest update on Abigail's mouth. She lost a tooth that was attached to the braces on Tuesday morning. Up until lunch time it was still attached to the wire but upon eating a banana out it came. We were just 7 days ahead of our original appointment. We went to see Dr. Nic this morning and he asked her if she received any money. We don't do that. I took her out to Starbucks for a frappuccino! (I think that is a far better deal.) She is managing well. There is a minor discomfort today as he did tighten them up. She is also progressing well as her tooth that needs to move forward, is doing what it is suppose to be doing.
Her only problem is the brushing and flossing part. I say only like it is no big deal. Believe I know it is THE biggest deal and I try to stress to her. She is so fortunate to be homeschooled as that enables her to get to the bathroom and brush after anything she eats. But she is pig-headed! (Must be a trait from her Daddy.) I need to show her the photos of the rotten teeth if one doesn't take
proper care!!! Maybe I can scare her into healthy habits! Anyway, here is my sunshine!

Ouch!

Extraction.  A word we are becoming very familiar with in this household.  I was back at the dentist today and while assessing one of my teeth the doctor informed me that my wisdom tooth needs to come out in order to not lose the tooth right in front of it.  Sounds odd that we must remove one to save one but since my wisdom tooth is at an angle it butts up against the tooth that we could lose.  Mind you it is a tooth that had root canal done to it but due to the positioning of the wisdom tooth, there is more decay there.  YUCK!  I went in the office today thinking it would be an easy visit.  Not only was the information a little more than I thought but the tooth that was worked on needed a crown.  So I need to go back to have the permanent one put on.   Remember my earlier post about the dentist?  He did say he would start me easy but as we got further along in the mouth it would become more complicated.  Wow was he correct.  I must say that with all that is going on I sure do hope and pray my kids are really seeing the benefits of taking care of your teeth.  Let me also say that I make sure they get it!!!  I don't let them slide in that department.  I have even gotten them out of bed to brush.  There have been times when they had to brush twice because they took a little drink of something before bed and had already brushed.  I am not letting them develop any bad habits.  Some of my problem is that I do have poor teeth to begin with but some of it is improper care.  And some of it is normal wear and tear for silver fillings.  Its just if we caught all this earlier, it would have gone a lot simpler.  I can't stress enough to make sure you have a great dentist!!!   One that knows what should be done with teeth to keep them healthy so you can have them later in years.

I must say that I am not boring for any of my doctors that I visit.  I am due for an eye exam.  I can't imagine what will be found when I go there.  Oh boy! The joys of growing old.  (Come, Lord Jesus, come!)

I will keep you posted when I go back to find out what the oral surgeon says about the xrays!  I am sure it is coming out, it really needs to.  Then I will be looking at scheduling an appointment for that.  It is then that I will have some time off from the dentist for my mouth to heal.  

Dentist - for Abigail

This morning I was only the driver and loving Mom for the dentist visit. Abigail is beginning the work that needs to get done for her braces. Today she had to have 3 teeth pulled. Ouch!! The pulling of course did not hurt as she was shot with novocaine. It was the shot that bothered her. She was a trooper. I felt bad as I have never had any teeth pulled (yet) so I was unable to help her through this process. The doctor said she gets an A+. I was very proud and considering how uncomfortable she looked I decided to be a good Mom/teacher and require very easy school work to be done. We sat together and worked on some language arts. She got to finish one of her novels for school. All easy things. Especially because she looooves to read!

The pictures below are ones she took of herself with the computer camera. (She also got to keep the teeth that were pulled and the bottom two had some big roots!!!!)

New Year, Same Dentist

Yup, I am back to the dentist to get this mouth taken care of. I really do like this dentist office. I must say that is helping this process. Today I had two teeth worked on. He was so nice to start at the easiest teeth. He said he would gently get me back into the swing of things. He mentioned that there will come a day when he can say that everything looks good upon peering into my mouth. I laughed. And joked that that would be when I was 50. He laughed too and then realized he did not know my age. When I said it was a mere 8 years away. He said, Oh no we will be done in a year. YEA!!!!!!!!!

I know Bill will also be happy when this is all over. Especially with the kids beginning in the next couple of weeks. AHHHHH!

The kids did well for two days in a row having to do work without Mama close by. I know this won't last long so I don't want to abuse this privilege. I actually prefer being around when they are doing work. I even have to beg them to sit with them sometimes. I am thrilled that they are independent but also know that there are some things I could add as they are doing work in order to drive it home more. Please know that I am NOT complaining, just commenting!

Pain

Oh my aching jaw. This current set of fixing my teeth has taken its toll on me. I am in such pain that I don't even want to open my mouth to drink let alone eat. And if you remember - I LOVE to eat. Smoothies for the rest of the day!!

Dentist say what?!

Boy oh boy was I thrown for a loop today. I went to the dentist for a consultation in regards to the orthodontics for my older two. Originally it was believed that Stephen was going to be the one who was more urgent. His being older and needing some alignment with the back molars. Well, I was greatly mistaken. My poor sweet Abigail is in some desperate need of quick attention to her mouth. She has a tooth that did not even form which needs some consideration due to its location. She has a bite that is off. She also has some teeth that are coming in all twisted and at wicked angle. Shocked I was to see this. This is all in addition to the original findings of her bite.

So off to the specialist I head in about a week to see where we begin!!! I am in pain just thinking about what these next 5+ years she is in store for. Her Dad on the other hand will be in pain due to the financial impact this will have on our lives.

Crowned

Finally my tooth is crowned! Yes, tooth number 13 is officially done! Now we will be attacking teeth numbers 18 and 19. Yuck!! It really does stink to have bad teeth. I don't wish this on anyone. I do hope I can instill good dental hygiene into my kids. I go back in about 3 weeks to begin the next series of work that needs to be done. I am going to become very familiar with the folks in the office. It is sooooo good that they are a nice bunch. Between myself and my kids, I should move close to their office as I will be there several times a month.

Since it was just put on today, I am on my standard liquid diet as they suggested no hard food. So in order to not have any complications, I am eating a very liquid diet today!!! It just means I pee a lot!

Smooth(ie) Day

Another phase of the root canal occurred this morning. I actually prefer to have these appointments early so that I can get home and we can start our day. Have the temporary crown in while I wait for the permanent one to be made. I go back in 2 1/2 weeks for that. Meanwhile I need to be cautious and careful about what I eat. No hard candies or sticky food should be consumed lest the temporary come out. I decided on making myself a smoothie to ease my hunger and also prevent myself from eating something wrong. (Plus my gums are sensitive!) I made a banana granola smoothie. YUMMY!!!! Oh so simple here goes:

1. some ice cubes

2. banana

3. milk

4. yogurt (vanilla) 1 cup

5. buzz granola (no sugar) 1 cup

All ingredients are organic and purchased at Whole Foods. Very delicious and very filling. Enjoy!!!

Brace Yourself

Ahhhhhhh! Today we finally got to have our consultation with the orthodontist for both Abigail and Stephen and yes they both will need some type of braces. We go back next week for the records day - which involves xrays and molds of the teeth. Once they have those we will be able to see when and what will be needed to begin our next few years of ortho appointments.