New bionic tooth

Well, that's how I'm thinking of crowns, darnit.

The good news is they didn't need to give me Novocaine for it. When I got in, the hygienist asked me if I wanted it and I asked if they usually gave it (in the past, I had). She shrugged and said, Not always. So I decided to give it a try, because at least then I wouldn't have to deal with waiting for my face to unfreeze.

Removal of the temporary was kind of not-fun. They had it cemented on really well but finally the dentist was able to wiggle it off (which hurt a little, and every movement had me fearing the tooth was going to crack again, and THEN where would I be?)

Seating of the crown was not hard. It fit almost perfectly the first time, so he only had to do a little adjustment and then put it back on. And now they use some kind of bonding agent that cures with UV light, instead of cement where you are biting on cotton forever. Apparently the new bondo is stronger, as well.

That side of my mouth feels better than it has in months; I suspect the tooth was slowly failing until I finally did crack it last month.

I had also talked to the dentist about my concerns in re: grinding my teeth at night. My main fear was that I'd break/wear more teeth, and have to have more work done in the future. But he also noticed, after feeling my face and having me open and close my mouth a few times, that my jaw "clicks" and apparently that's a strong indicator of a need for a night-guard. Also possibly some of my upper-tooth pain is tied to the whole thing.

So they took impressions. The hygienist asked me if I'd had it done before and I said, "I had braces" and added "That was over 30 years ago, now" But it's a similar process, though I don't remember the awful smell (they use something like tile cement to hold the goo in the tray). And I don't remember all the effort in finding a tray that actually FIT my too-small jaw.

But they got it done. The upper set of impressions nearly did me in - the combination of the impression goo pressing on my soft palate, plus the horrible adhesive smell (I told the hygienist after: a smell like that just says, this is something you DO NOT want in your mouth) and I was gagging. I thought I was going to throw up but I managed. (The lower impression was a lot easier. And then at the end the dentist took little "sectional" impressions right along where my bite is in the premolars - after he carefully put my jaw in a comfortable alignment (Seriously, my jaw felt better than it had in a long time).

So I'm hopeful when this thing is ready in January, that it will mean (a) an end to potential tooth damage at night and (b) maybe less pain in my neck and face, and potentially less decline of my jaw joint (I suppose a person can get arthritis in their jaw).

Surprisingly, insurance is paying for almost all of the night guard. I suppose once he found my misaligned jaw the dentist was able to tell them it was a functional problem, and maybe they figure that it's cheaper to shell out $300 for a night guard than it is to keep paying to fix broken teeth.