Tuesday, February 24, 2009

The Visit To The Dentist!



First I'd like to thank you ladies for welcoming me back to blogger. HUGS~to all of you.

Well, lets talk about the dentist. First I have not been to a dentist in Nineteen years. Okay I know y'all sucked all the air out of the room after reading that lol.

For many reasons I didn't go...fear, no insurance, fear..oh I said that twice lol, It's expensive and we never seemed to have the money honestly. My teeth were always very healthy, white no cavities or anything. When I was about 4 years into my diabetes I noticed my teeth were starting to trouble me. I started seeing my teeth break off little pieces at a time. From then on it was little by little, and honestly as long as I had good front teeth I didn't worry.

This past year my teeth rapidly started breaking off and plain just falling out of my mouth! it's a disease your teeth get when you have diabetes, but I cannot remember the name. That's what was happening to me.

So today they did a through oral exam, lots of X-rays, and castings for my upper and lower teeth. I have severe tooth decay in my mouth and gums, most of my bottom teeth we will be able to save and just have a parcel for that. My upper mouth will also have a mini denture or percale as I have 4 that will be taken out, plus the two I'm already missing. They are also going to have to do gum surgery, since the decay is below my teeth line.

Today he put me on heavy antibiotics~as he found that I had a rampant bacterial infection to go along with every thing else. He put me on heavy pain meds till the antibiotic start to work. I had to get a very special kind of tooth paste from them and mouth wash as this along with antibiotics will kill the bacteria infection. The tube of toothpaste which is called "GC MI Paste Plus was $35.00 for a 4 oz tube! I use it twice a day and have to leave the tooth paste on my teeth for 30 minutes each time. The PerioRX mouthwash was $15.00.

The visit today was $420.00. Thanks to our dental plan I only had to pay $86.00!!! LORD was I thankful.

I go back late next week for a re-check to make sure the infection is gone. He will also discuss how many teeth exactly he will be pulling out. They are already making the dentures and partial, so that when he pulls out most of my top teeth in the one visit, he will be able to have my new dentures to put in the same day.

He is an excellent dentist and I will never go any where again. The facility is so clean and sterile. Everyone is wonderful, helpful and polite. The dentist wants as much input as I'm willing to ask when it comes to questions. He told me everything he was going to do before he did it. Wow. Why can't there be more dentist like that? Heck I would have gone long ago. But as I said before raising a family, no insurance and only one of use working we just could never make it work.

So I am so very thankful that with the dental insurance I can actually get help. I tell you truthfully my confidence has been shattered since my teeth just started falling out. I am afraid to smile or talk to someone just in case they may see my teeth or lack of them.

I cannot wait till all the work is done and with confidence I can smile and feel good about it once again.

HUGS~To all,

Donna

7 comments:

Tina of Moon Shine said...

wow.I don't even want to think about the total bill.
glad you are getting all that taken care of though! and welcome back, by the way!
tina

Missie said...

Thank God for dental insurance!!

Just imagine what a great smile you will have when the work is all done.

Sybil said...

Oh Donna, I feel for you. I am petrified of the dentist. You are so brave to have been able to go at last. It must be at least 20 years since I was brave enough to visit. ( I have always said I would rather have my other leg chopped of than go to the dentist !! everybody laughs lol...I am not laughing !) I am lucky that I have good strong teath and that so far they have no caused me any trouble..So fingers crossed I stay pain free...Getting a dentist here now is quite difficult especially an NHS one and I could never afford a private dentist... Anyway I will be thinking of you and keeping you in my prayers.
Love Sybil xx

Lynne said...

What a blessing to have insurance. I am glad it worked out well for you. God Bless!

Cathy said...

Oh Donna I'm SO glad you're going thru all this bec believe me, when you ignore your teeth they just go away. Partials are good for the interim but eventually, say 10 years, they can't hold as well and a full denture might be needed. It's not a sign of aging, our teeth start to gather bacteria from the moment they push up from our baby teeth. Keep it up I'm proud of you!

ADB said...

Pleased you're getting your teeth sorted, Donna. Just as well you only have to pay part of the bill

Lisa said...

Thank goodness for dental insurance. The last time I went I had an $800 bill and we don't have dental so I dread going back!

Somehow I lost you! I found you again though and will be visiting frequently.
Lisa