I emerged unscathed from my annual physical (more about that
in future posts) but a few weeks ago I started getting worrisome messages from
my mouth. Nothing hurt, but whenever I aimed the water pick at my upper right
molars, there was blood. When it comes to problems with teeth, I am
super-vigilant because my dental past is checkered, to say the least.
From my early teens to my mid-thirties there was one crisis
after another: large cavities requiring extensive excavation, abscessed molars,
root canals, and extractions. Heredity and stress probably contributed to this
and I probably could have taken better care of my teeth, plus the fact that I
was a smoker then. When I moved to Bloomington somebody put me in touch with
The SuperDentist. He got right to work fixing up the damage done by neglect and
less-than-successful remedies by previous dentists. The SuperDentist (now
retired, alas) is a master craftsman; when his patients would move to other
parts of the country their new dentists would ask, “Where did you get that wonderful dental work?” After a few years,
during which I also quit smoking and my stressful job, my teeth stabilized.
Apart from replacing the occasional old filling, there was not much to be done.
(Side Note: There has been a lot of talk about whether
silver amalgam fillings can cause high levels of mercury in the blood. For
decades of my life I had a mouth full of those fillings, most of them replaced
now. I also worked for a dentist one summer and mixed up the silver amalgam for
him. This year I had my mercury level tested and it was very low. If anyone
would have been harmed by silver amalgam, you would think it would have been
dental workers. In the years before they wore masks all the time, clouds of
dust from silver amalgam would be in their faces for much of their work day.
Has anyone surveyed them?)
Anyway, I went to my regular dentist and he cleaned out a
little something under the gum. Two days later, the bleeding started again so I
went to my husband’s periodontist. MHP surveyed the situation. The bad news was
that this was the beginning of periodontal disease. The good news was that it
was early enough that he could do a laser procedure – no cutting, no sutures –
that should take care of it. Since I’m always in favor of getting out in front
of impending problems, I said “Let’s do it.”
I’ve had so many medical and dental procedures over the
years that I’ve developed a routine that helps to reduce stress and anxiety.
First, I try to get a good night’s sleep the night before. The next day I don’t
do any strenuous exercise but I do a stretching routine, like the ones in
RushFit and P90X. This gets my circulation going, which helps me relax and will
promote healing. I wear layers of comfortable clothes, including a light
sweater in case the office is over-air conditioned. I bring along something small
to read, like a cell phone or paperback book, that can stay in my lap. When I’m
waiting for the appointment or sitting by myself in the treatment room I don’t
want to be staring off into space worrying about what comes next. Finally,
following a tip from my grandmother, I focus on what I’m going to do
afterwards.
Compared with many of my past dental adventures, the laser treatment
was a piece of cake. There will be follow-up after a couple of weeks and then
at longer intervals after that. I’m actually glad to get established with MHP
because he will keep an eye on things so that I can avoid periodontal problems
in the future.
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