Thursday April 22, 2010...Believe in your dentist?

I've often said that as you get older parts of you retire earlier than other parts.

I've heard of people losing their hair or losing their balance or losing their hearing, but I seem to be losing my teeth one by one. I've spent a whole lot of money over the years on root canals and crowns and fillings and bridges and even partial plates. It's been fun!

The dentists always said “We can save your teeth!” and “you'll be sorry if you don't take care of those teeth”. I believed them.

But now the base teeth that were root canalized and crowned are starting to give out. I've had some get infected and some have just plain broken off. Currently, my front top tooth broke off at the gum line so I look like a goofy guy with a goofy smile. We tried putting in pins and anchoring the crown to the pins, but that didn't last a week.

So, now we can spend another thousand dollars trying to bridge or anchor pin or partial plate the durn thing. At the end of last year my dentist convinced me that I should spend the two thousand dollars to create the 2 partial plates for missing teeth instead of pulling the remaining teeth and getting trouble free dentures. He told me that I had “good root structure” and should keep those remaining teeth.

I accepted his reasoning. I believed him. It's good to see your dentist on a regular basis.

I'm just glad that my hair isn't falling out. My barber is a lot friendlier and a whole lot less expensive.

I guess my teeth retired but my hair is still working.