Dentist Blues

You know how some people use their blog to talk about stuff that is probably totally boring to other people? Well this is me about to do that. If you are reading, I apologize for the time you are about to waste.

I went to the dentist today for my six-month cleaning. Everything was fine, no cavities or anything. Just one problem, actually. I've had a back tooth that started hurting when I chew on it back in December. About a month ago I went to have them check it, and the x-rays didn't really find any problems. The most likely scenario was either I had a tiny crack in one of my molars, or get this, it could be totally sinus-related. My dentist gave me an antibiotic in case it was a sinus issue and that was that.

So needless to say, it wasn't a sinus problem. The tooth hasn't gotten any worse, but there also hasn't been any improvement. I can barely chew on that side, but mostly don't out of fear of making things worse. I heard that a root canal could be the only option to fix this. My dentist pretty much confirmed that today. However, he basically told me I was in this weird gray area of the tooth being a nuisance, but also, in his opinion, not being damaged enough for a root canal. His prescription? Let it go for a few months and see if it somehow happens to improve on its own (to which he gave a 25% chance). Isn't that just great? I also have to try to break my bad habit of chewing ice, which he said could have led to the tooth cracking in the first place.

The kicker to all of this is, my teeth have always been extremely healthy. In fact, I didn't take out insurance when I started my job because it was a.) expensive, b.) I could use that money for better things, and c.) my dentist is a family friend of ours and gives me a discount on the cleanings. It actually costs less for me to pay for cleanings two times a year than to pay for insurance. Of course, that was before I cracked my tooth. A root canal costs about $800 - $1000. Lucky me.

Finally, since I don't have any pictures to relate to this blog - I don't have copies of my x-rays, sorry to say - I present you with this picture of Vince, the "Shamwow" guy. BTW, it's made in Germany, so you know it's good. This picture actually comes from a pretty cool website, http://www.obamicon.me. It has a ton of pictures done in the style of the Obama (false) "Hope" poster. Funny stuff.