You can either see it as my body loves my front tooth unconditionally and never wants to part from it, or you can see it as my body saying it would prefer I get dentures early. Jeanette and I arrived in Cincinnati after a night of flying and a day of driving to visit my brother and his family on Saturday evening. I foolishly glanced in the mirror and noticed that one of my teeth was a rather hideous shade of brown and looked like it would fall out soon. Even I had to agree with Jeanette (the practical one) that I should see a dentist. And what did I find out? That my body is trying to reabsorb my tooth. Seriously.
Apparently it's been dead for a while due to an "unknown trauma" and when I had a cavity filled a few months ago, it trigger something in my body to notify me that it was a toxin. So, my body was trying to reabsorb it to get rid of it. It's funny colored because it's filled with blood. The dentist said this isn't rare, but it is uncommon. Because we're about to leave on this trip to areas with questionable dental care, I have to get it extracted.
But here's the best part: in it's place I'm getting a flipper. I feel a TV dolphin. It's a fake tooth attached to a retainer (like for braces) that I can take in and out. I'll wear it until I can afford a dental implant, which costs the equivalent of spending about 120 days in Ethiopia. Needless to say, I'm gonna feel like a dolphin for a really long time, but at least I have an automatic Halloween costume.
One advantage of this happening now is that, since I'm staying with my 3-year-old and 6-year-old nieces, the tooth fairy may have to give me something for it... (You can email the tooth fairy at jeanettealas@gmail.com to plead my case.) Also, I still have dental insurance for the next five days. That's nice, too.
Apparently it's been dead for a while due to an "unknown trauma" and when I had a cavity filled a few months ago, it trigger something in my body to notify me that it was a toxin. So, my body was trying to reabsorb it to get rid of it. It's funny colored because it's filled with blood. The dentist said this isn't rare, but it is uncommon. Because we're about to leave on this trip to areas with questionable dental care, I have to get it extracted.
But here's the best part: in it's place I'm getting a flipper. I feel a TV dolphin. It's a fake tooth attached to a retainer (like for braces) that I can take in and out. I'll wear it until I can afford a dental implant, which costs the equivalent of spending about 120 days in Ethiopia. Needless to say, I'm gonna feel like a dolphin for a really long time, but at least I have an automatic Halloween costume.
One advantage of this happening now is that, since I'm staying with my 3-year-old and 6-year-old nieces, the tooth fairy may have to give me something for it... (You can email the tooth fairy at jeanettealas@gmail.com to plead my case.) Also, I still have dental insurance for the next five days. That's nice, too.
Poor you. Hope the tooth fairy visits. And that you enjoy your flipper.
ReplyDeleteCan I start to call you Black Tooth? "The Adventures of Black Tooth and Jeanette"
ReplyDeleteGlad your dental is still valid.
It's funny that nothing in this story surprises me at all. I just kind of expected your body to want to absorb one of your teeth one day. Jeanette needs a nickname now that you're "Black Tooth Magoo".
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing such great Blog. Some people develop really little tonsil stones that are so little that they do not even know that they have them. Usually these tonsilloliths can loosen and fall out if a particular person coughs or even laughs too tough.
ReplyDeleteWhat a way to begin a trip, think of all the children you can scare along your journey by "falling" down and then getting up.. only to smile with a missing tooth.. priceless.
ReplyDelete