OldsterHolster
April 29th, 2004, 08:29 pm
Still got 'em all, and do you take care of them, regularly? I'm just curious because I had to have my bottom, left, molar pulled last Monday. Its the first one I've lost, so I guess I'm doing pretty good for my age; but I hated to see it go. Especially since there's nothing wrong with the tooth, itself. I've got it sitting right here on my desk, and; other than a couple of fillings, its perfect.
Periodontal disease, they call it. Bacteria find their way below the gum line, and; especially without regular dental care, they proceed to eat the jawbone and form pockets. These bone-loss pockets are just little hidey-holes for even more bacteria, and the process continues merrily along. If the gum abcesses, you can treat it with antibiotics, but there's no blood flow inside these pockets, so the bacteria survive; and sooner or later the bacteria can find their way into the root, or the next tooth is threatened by the bone loss. That was my situation. I needed to pull this one to save the next one from future problems.
I'll tell you what, though! Modern denistry is a wonderful thing. I'm lucky to have found a fine young dentist who just has angel's hands, and the only pain I could detect was when I got up out of the chair to leave and bumped my head on the light. Heh, heh. Anyway, it went well; and I feel infinitely better for having solved the problem.
I'm getting a lot of milage out of the tooth. I tell people the good news is that I still have all my teeth; but the bad news is that I now have to carry one of them in my pocket, and I show it to them. Heh, heh. Shocks the pretty girls, and starts the whole bar telling tooth stories.
That's all. I won't preach about taking care of your teeth, but remember that eating is one of the few renewable pleasures we enjoy; and, over a lifetime, affords us more total pleasure than even sex; so you can make your own decisions. I went thirteen years without going to the dentist, one time, and that's when I created the problems I'm dealing with, today. "Older and wiser" is sometimes "too late," so take care of them chompers. You'll be glad you did if you ever make it to "old fart" status, like me. Heh, heh. Edward.
Periodontal disease, they call it. Bacteria find their way below the gum line, and; especially without regular dental care, they proceed to eat the jawbone and form pockets. These bone-loss pockets are just little hidey-holes for even more bacteria, and the process continues merrily along. If the gum abcesses, you can treat it with antibiotics, but there's no blood flow inside these pockets, so the bacteria survive; and sooner or later the bacteria can find their way into the root, or the next tooth is threatened by the bone loss. That was my situation. I needed to pull this one to save the next one from future problems.
I'll tell you what, though! Modern denistry is a wonderful thing. I'm lucky to have found a fine young dentist who just has angel's hands, and the only pain I could detect was when I got up out of the chair to leave and bumped my head on the light. Heh, heh. Anyway, it went well; and I feel infinitely better for having solved the problem.
I'm getting a lot of milage out of the tooth. I tell people the good news is that I still have all my teeth; but the bad news is that I now have to carry one of them in my pocket, and I show it to them. Heh, heh. Shocks the pretty girls, and starts the whole bar telling tooth stories.
That's all. I won't preach about taking care of your teeth, but remember that eating is one of the few renewable pleasures we enjoy; and, over a lifetime, affords us more total pleasure than even sex; so you can make your own decisions. I went thirteen years without going to the dentist, one time, and that's when I created the problems I'm dealing with, today. "Older and wiser" is sometimes "too late," so take care of them chompers. You'll be glad you did if you ever make it to "old fart" status, like me. Heh, heh. Edward.