Dentist Visit - A Bummer!

Warning: If you are easily grossed out or do not like going to dental clinic, this post is not for you.

I had a sort of emergency dental appointment yesterday because the bridge I have (molar) was loose.

As soon as our dentist looked at my dental chart, she was alarmed. "Liza, you have not come visit us for 2 years. You have not done the check-up and cleaning. This is not good". And of course she was right. It was not good. The tooth that my bridge was attached to has a deep cavity. Not only that , my gums are not in a good shape, and the other tooth I have with a crown is also not in a good shape (our dentist had to refer me to a specialist for the crowned tooth). I was bummed. Really bummed. Actually, I was feeling guilty. Very guilty. I should have known better. I shouldn't have missed those appointments. But I was busy. I'm a working mom who do not have enough time for myself. Now, I wasn't only feeling guilty. I was also wallowing in self-pity. Discouragement. After several X-rays and exams (poking my gums so hard), I was told that they would have to extract my molar where the bridge attached and then I would have to have an implant. I also need to do some deep cleaning to restore the health of my gums. Then I need to go to the dental specialist for more exams. They found a couple of cavities. Yikes! my teeth are in a bad shape!

Again, I am feeling guilty. I should have known better. I should have taken advantage of our dental services. Had I been faithful to going for my annual check-up and 6 month cleaning, this would not have been like this. I do brush my teeth regularly morning and night but is not good at flossing. I grew up not having fluoride in our drinking water, nor taking fluoride like my kids do. I also grew up in a country where dental services cause an arm and a leg - only the rich can afford to do a regular visit. My parents have full dentures and my older brother has half of his teeth with dentures. My younger brother (who is in L.A.) and I are fortunate to have out teeth still intact (or partly intact - several has fillings).

My husband asked, so how much will all these dental work going to cost us? The answer is I don't know. I didn't have the heart to ask our dentist yesterday. I'm, scheduled to go back there on Tuesday, I guess I'd asked for a quote.

They say misery loves company..ad since I was so bummed with the result of my dental visit yesterday, I started searching for blogs related to dental visits. Someone must have experienced this before...maybe. Well, I found a couple - here's the links:

Mommy Bites Back
Cost of Dental Work

Moral of the story: Don't miss your dental appointment.