I had the tooth out this morning. It apparently was a damn good idea that I did.
I'd known for a while that this would be necessary. Periodontal disease had eradicated most of the supporting bone, so that it was only a matter of time until it failed. Two weeks ago, when it became apparently that the dental appliance was being damaged due to it hitting the tooth, the oral surgeon said Now's The Time, and we set it up. This morning, when he took it out (which was completely without incident; I truthfully told him that I didn't know he was doing it until he was done), he expressed surprise, bordering on astonishment: apparently, not only had there been bone loss, but there was an actual cyst there, one that had not shown up on the Xrays, harboring an infection. Since he's been really tense about keeping germ levels down, this was the equivalent of finding a dead rat in the Thanksgiving turkey.
He said that as a result of the cyst, the area where the tooth had been was pretty large; while I did not have to do anything, if I didn't, it would be impossible later to put an implant in its place. So, the question was, did I want that? Well, as I've said, I assumed that was coming, so I said yes, and he spent another twenty minutes making some kind of 'bone slurry' (I've no idea what the actual term is), packing it in, and then suturing it shut. I then got his usual mix of good news and bad news; the bad news was that he doesn't think I'm taking nearly good enough care of the implants, plus he thinks my blood sugar levels are way too high for him, while the good news is that he thinks I'm really a Good Patient, willing to work with him in an intelligent manner. Well, I don't know about the blood sugar levels, since mine are pretty damned good (could they be better? Yeah, always. They're not in the range of 'normal for someone who isn't a diabetic'. But they are in the range of 'normal for someone who is a diabetic, with good control.'). Well, he's like them lower. Truth to tell, I'm not opposed to that, so I'll try. As for the taking care of the implants -- yeah, guilty. I have to take them more seriously.
So the bottom line is that he's not as optimistic as he had been, but he apparently wants me to feel as if he is. While still understanding that, Good Patient or not, if something goes wrong, its either fate's fault, or mine -- not his. I think. Could be wrong.
Man, this is fun!
2 comments:
Come on Bill, grab that 'healthier living' bar by the hands and swing on in. You can do it.
Partially because I rarely see healthy food that looks appetizing. And because 'nutritionists' have an amazingly narrow view of what its okay to eat. But mostly because I don't think that I eat badly. Rarely candy, ice cream. Rarely fast food. Usually cereal or waffles during the week, bacon and french toast on Sunday. That doesn't sound awful to me. I imagine the pursed-lip brigade would not agree.
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