Smile Pretty!

So, many of you know, I'm back on my biometrics program. Its a personal training and meal plan program offered by my gym... and it works for me. Except for right now, when all I really want to do is go get a danish as an afternoon snack at the bistro in our building! But instead, I'm going to blog.. I figure maybe that will take my mind off of it, and perhaps by the time I'm done blogging it will be time to head home and start thinking about dinner.. so it won't be so bad. Don't worry, I'm not starving myself- its actually really healthy eating... but its an exercise in patience and self-control. :)

But I tell you all that to tell you that last night I went for one of my workout sessions. One of the things I have always done when I workout is chew gum. It helps me regulate my breathing and takes my mind off of the working part of working out. So... I was finishing up my workout and headed to the stretching mats. This is one of my favorite parts because they have heated stretching mats- ooh so nice during weather like these-!(unless you've worked out REALLY hard and then they just make you sweat more. :) ) So there I was, basking in the warmth of the mat... stretching my hamstring, and chomping on my gum. When all of a sudden I felt something break loose and stick to my gum! I realized I had a crown on one of my back teeth that had broken free! And was now stuck in my gum.

I had no idea what to do.. there were people around... so I quickly finish stretching and head to the locker room thinking that will be a place of solace and I can assess the damage and clean the gum off and exit quickly to the car to call the dentist office. When I enter the locker room, it's full! It's never full! It was like someone was having a half-off sale at Macy's! Crowded. So what to do?

So I go to the sinks and do my best to turn my back to the party and clean off the crown. Getting it back in place was a little tricky- I have kind of tiny back teeth. So finally after fumbling for what seemed like an eternity, it clicks back in place and I make my escape. When in my Escape, I called the dentist office hoping they would still be there since it was only around 5:30. Turns out the office ladies were, but not the dentist, so it would have to wait until 8 am this morning.

So I went about my business- off to the grocery store and got to vote at an early voting center there too! Woo hoo! And kept the crown on the tooth for the rest of the evening.

So this morning, I am up bright and early to make it across town to the dentist office. Only to have them make me wait for 15 minutes to get back into a room, and followed that by an addition 15 minutes waiting in the chair while Jenny went to clean the cement out of the crown. But..I like my dentist and his assistant so I look at it as I got to catch up on the Today Show while I waited!

While there today, I got the feeling that most patients aren't like me. I figure there's nothing to fear... its their problem, they will take care of it... and I'm pretty much at their mercy if I want a functioning tooth out of the thing. And basically, all that needed to happen was throw a little bondo back on that baby, pop it back in, and send me on my way. Or so I thought.

So Jenny comes back in after cleaning it out and says Dr. Z wants me to numb you because he has to take a burr and clean the cement off the tooth too so it will bond cleanly. I think I must have given her a look that was recognizably 'are you kidding me?' because she then followed it up with 'or we don't have to if you don't want to? ' I opted for the I don't want to. Seriously... it would have been more painful to get numb, and then bite my cheek for the rest of the morning than for the 5 seconds of him chipping off cement. And that wasn't painful at all.

So Dr. Z comes in- she tells him that I don't want to be numb- he asks if I'm sure- I turn a question back to him of do I need to? He says no.. and it's a go. During the time with Dr. Z, he's also telling me how he wishes all patients were like me because I come in smiling and not crying and we just go about our business. He also spends some time admiring his handiwork on the freaky tooth and decides he needs even more after pictures of that one too... so my teeth had another photo shoot this morning. :) I'll let you know if I show up on a before and after billboard around town. :)

So this all sounds pretty mundane... but the problem is, this is the third time I had been in about this tooth. They put the crown on it last January I think.... and while they were putting it in, Dr. Z had his big man hands in my mouth trying to hold it in place while Jenny cured it with the laser. At one point in time, he said, oh Jenny, i think it slipped, so if it doesn't bond, we might have to do it again... but it bonded enough for them (or so they thought! ;-) ) and send me on my merry way. Well.. less than a week after they put it on, it was still hurting. So i went back in.. and some other girl (not my Jenny! ) worked on me and told me that she was sure my bite was just hitting high and she adjusted it and it should be fine. Well... turns out it wasn't fine... and so sometime later (maybe a couple months... ) i was back in there because it hurt again (or still really)! This time, they did xrays and thought there was just a little teeny tiny piece of cement in between the teeth causing a problem.. so they used some sandpaper floss (seriously.. that's what it was) and thought they took care of the problem. Dr. Z also told me that occasionally you bruise a tooth and it can take up to 6 months for the sensations to go away.. so it might have some ups and downs. So.. I went with that- still having whims of pain on occasion- but not too often... so I didn't worry about it- until yesterday. :)

So.. it seems all better now... nothing really affecting it yet today... but still leaving me wondering if this could be the beginning of Freaky Tooth Blog: The Sequel- I'll keep you posted!