I have been crowned. Twice, in fact. What is it the old people say as they reflect on their life? “I wish I had taken better care of my teeth.”
I was first coronated about eight years ago in conjunction with a root canal. Fun! They were short handed that day so I had to sit all alone with with my mouth open for about twenty minutes because the tech installed metal measuring pins in the hole where my tooth used to be but got called away before she could actually take the measurements. I would have impaled my lower gums had I closed my mouth. The mile of rubber she previously attached as a barrier around the surrounding teeth left a nice trail for the drool to follow. Kind of like a mini Slip-and-Slide, only in winter with no actual sliders but someone left the hose on.
This week’s coronation was just a crown with no preliminary excavation of the tooth bed. The tooth was cracked, apparently. I had experienced no sensitivity in that area but they showed me x-rays to prove it.
As if I could actually read them.
I was a bit worried the numbing would not work or would wear off half way through the procedure, because I have heard dental horror stories from friends and family and, though it has never happened to me, it could happen, hence I must worry about it. But it didn’t. Thank god for audio books:
- Concentrate on the big, scary sound of the drill as it grinds your tooth down to a nub, or
- Listen to an old Robert B. Parker Spencer novel
and try not to laugh out loud at the parts where he describes the clothing they wore in the 70’s?
I’ll take 70’s Reminiscing for two hundred, Alex. *Flash back to how awesomely cool I looked in extra-wide bell bottoms and a Star Wars T-shirt as I skated down the block on my stiff, pointy, blue, plastic skateboard from Sears with non-articulating wheels.*
Let us hope this temporary crown makes it through next week’s extended Thanksgiving noshing. (Ten working days to get the crown made? Seriously?)
No holiday brittle for me. How about crunchy Chex Mix? I will chew on the left side. Promise.
