No Fun!

Last week, or maybe even the week before that, I started noticing that my bite was off a bit, especially after brushing and flossing. I tried to ignore it, but it got worse. Finally, on Monday evening of last week, I poked my finger in and started exploring. Sure enough, I was able to wiggle the crown on one of my back molars.

On Tuesday I got in to see my dentist who popped the crown off and gave me the bad news. It wasn't exactly that the crown was loose. The crown was firmly attached to the tooth, but the tooth itself had broken off almost at the gum line. It was a tooth that had a root canal. There was no way to save it, so he made an appointment for me with an oral surgeon and sent me home with that broken-off tooth. The next day, Wednesday, I saw the oral surgeon. He highly recommended extracting the tooth, doing a bone graft, and a tooth implant.

So, I started this morning in a most unpleasant way - having the tooth extracted and getting the bone graft. In about three months I will be able to have the implant placed, and then about three months after that I can get a new crown to finish it all up . . . a lengthy and expensive procedure. It's not my first dental implant, so I'm not a rookie to this ordeal. Here we go again!