Ed gets a crown

[Ed]

I went to the dentist today and got a temporary crown on one of my back molars. While not an overly painful experience I would have rather avoided it. I would say it was my worst experience at the dentist office. It seemed like there was no amount of Novocain that was going to help me not notice the pain of them reducing the tooth near the gum line.

I managed to run a couple of errands on the way home and even had a nice homemade BBQ pork sandwich for lunch. Nothing like chewing on one side of your mouth. Three Advil's later and I still feel sore.

I agreed to go a baseball game tonight. I'd back out but I committed. They're also really great tickets.

My advice is to avoid dental work if at all possible. I brush and floss regularly but I'm going to make sure I pay even better attention in the future.

 

[Gandalfe]

I'm convinced it doesn't matter how much you brush or floss assuming you do so at least once a day. My wife brushes every night and I brush and floss twice a day. She almost never has cavities and I at least a cavity a year!

Now about crowns, from 48 till now we have both had 5 or 6 crowns put in. As children, she went to expensive dentists because her daddy was a doctor. I went to the only guy in town because my dad was a small town minister. Both our teeth had cracks for the same reason, fillings that went so deep as to weaken the tooth it was supposed to help.

So my hypothesis is that genetics more than anything else play into the strength of your teeth and gums. That said, the most common thing I've heard from oldsters, before I became one, was, "I wish I had taken better care of my teeth." My advice, go to the dentist ever year; I go twice a year. Get the teeth cleaned at both visits. And yes, I go to an expensive dentist because he typically spends half the time to do a procedure as the average guys. And there is less pain.

 

[Steve]

I had one crown put in last year. I had a tooth that was split in 3 areas for the past, ooh . 6 years. It was a tooth that was slightly higher than the rest and I used to push on it while cycling real hard . until it finally gave. and i thought the tooth just got soft !! LOL

but i had another tooth recent had the cavity fall off, along with part of the tooth. So im' in for another crown.

FWIW, i had the shots, I try to avoid them at all cost s because they hurt more than the work that they do. I get cavities w/o any novicane. the crown would have been a tossup with or without it. BUT last time he gave me 3or4 shots and it still hurt .. i just told him to get the work done and don't worry about me having pain.