P
powerwus
Member
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2020
- Messages
- 20
- Location
- Canada
So, after three cancellations due to Covid 19, my appointment to remove my upper right first molar is set for Friday, June 12th. Just typing that sends shivers of anxiety through my chest.
This is my first adult tooth extraction, brought about by a root canal that served me faithfully for 18 years. An infection in late February-early March set things in motion for extraction. The Endodontist took less than 2 minute to declare the tooth incapable of further treatment (it had been re root canalled six years previous, and I have bad gum recession and some bone loss) and extraction was recommended.
Part of me wants to just keep the tooth. There has been no infection flare up since the one that triggered this whole series of events, no pain. Another part of me realizes that should such another flare up inevitably occur that some health dangers open up far more serious than tooth and mouth discomfort.
My wife, she tries to be supportive but sees this as "just a tooth" and not a tooth anyone can see so why worry? a couple of days of some discomfort and eating soft foods and all will be well. I worry about the two adjacent teeth and how they will react to the removal of their comrade. I worry about how this might affect my appearance. The deeper seeded revelation is that this is a sign of my soon to be fifty body's decline, a further sign of my mortality.
I can't lie, I have contemplated cancelling the appointment but that just kicks the problem further down the road,and isn't the wisest course of action should the infection return with a vengeance. I do sometimes wish the tooth WOULD be in pain to remind me that yeah, the fucker's gotta come out.
I don't know. I need to keep the anxiety at bay until Friday, and I also need to just go in and lose a part of me I've had for forty years. As far as replacement goes I doubt my gum recession and bone loss makes me a candidate for implant and well, it is very cost prohibitive even on a payment plan (which in the Covid era would be a difficult thing to set up.) Also I will be fifty in July. It's not an impending death sentence but I worry how many years I would get out of say an implant that would take a year minimum to get done.
Needless to say, I am a budle of mixed emotions.
This is my first adult tooth extraction, brought about by a root canal that served me faithfully for 18 years. An infection in late February-early March set things in motion for extraction. The Endodontist took less than 2 minute to declare the tooth incapable of further treatment (it had been re root canalled six years previous, and I have bad gum recession and some bone loss) and extraction was recommended.
Part of me wants to just keep the tooth. There has been no infection flare up since the one that triggered this whole series of events, no pain. Another part of me realizes that should such another flare up inevitably occur that some health dangers open up far more serious than tooth and mouth discomfort.
My wife, she tries to be supportive but sees this as "just a tooth" and not a tooth anyone can see so why worry? a couple of days of some discomfort and eating soft foods and all will be well. I worry about the two adjacent teeth and how they will react to the removal of their comrade. I worry about how this might affect my appearance. The deeper seeded revelation is that this is a sign of my soon to be fifty body's decline, a further sign of my mortality.
I can't lie, I have contemplated cancelling the appointment but that just kicks the problem further down the road,and isn't the wisest course of action should the infection return with a vengeance. I do sometimes wish the tooth WOULD be in pain to remind me that yeah, the fucker's gotta come out.
I don't know. I need to keep the anxiety at bay until Friday, and I also need to just go in and lose a part of me I've had for forty years. As far as replacement goes I doubt my gum recession and bone loss makes me a candidate for implant and well, it is very cost prohibitive even on a payment plan (which in the Covid era would be a difficult thing to set up.) Also I will be fifty in July. It's not an impending death sentence but I worry how many years I would get out of say an implant that would take a year minimum to get done.
Needless to say, I am a budle of mixed emotions.
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