My nightly and morning torture

So, I had my 6 month cleaning last Thursday. They did find one small cavity (booo!), but it was next to a filling I already had...it's in between two teeth, and she said it likely formed because of the filling next to it. I also have to get my crown re-done. I don't know if I posted about this before, but last May I ended up with an abscess. This tooth had been cracked 3 years prior, and had a root canal and a crown applied. Which I had to fight with Delta Dental to pay for...that's another blog. Anywho, well somehow the root canal got abscessed - that is a pain I would not wish on my worst enemy! I know women who have had kids, who said the abscess was WORSE than child birth. Just to put it in perspective.

The end result of that was me having to go to an endodontist to get the root canal re-done, to the tune of $800...of which DD only paid $600...ugh. Anyway, he was trying to get the crown off and he could not do it. That jammy was cemented on there perfectly. He had to drill through the back of it. Which left me with a hole in the back of the crown and a temporary filling. The dentist told me that I needed a new crown. In my head I was thinking, "the devil is a liar," because I know that DD only pays for a crown every 5 years, and my 5 years ain't up! I kept putting it off, because I just did not have $1300 to be coming out of pocket for a new crown!

Last Thursday they discovered that the temp filling has come out (I thought it was feeling weird), so now I really do need to get that crown ASAP. Well my dentist is truly a blessing, because she is going to do the crown for FREE, and all I have to pay for is lab fees. So now, instead of $1300 + the filling, it's going to be about $215 + the filling. I just wanted to cry happy tears right there...but I was really stunned that she was going to do that for me. Definitely a blessing!

So back to the cleaning. The hygentist recommended that I rinse with Listerine Total Care. She said that it has flouride in it, and instead of me having to do a separate flouride treatment along with the mouthwash, I could just use the Listerine.

I tried to put in my bid for Crest Pro Health. She vetoed me. Apparently the Crest does not have the flouride in it.

Y'all know Listerine burns like the dickens. If you read the bottle, you are supposed to keep it in for 30 seconds. Not the end of the world, and definitely doable. However, with the Total Care, you have to keep swishing for ONE MINUTE. ONE MINUTE is an eternity when you have Listerine in your mouth, burning like the chambers of hell! I fight with myself every night, but I know I have to do it. She also gave me a smaller bottle and I keep that at work. I'm still working up to using it after lunch. It really, really, burns. On the plus side, your breath is straight fresh in the morning! Well, as fresh as it can be, considering you've been asleep fro 6-8 hours.

I guess what they say is true - no pain, no gain!

If you haven't been to the dentist in a while, get there. And make sure to have your 6 month check ups and cleanings done. I slacked on these for a good chunk of years, and now I'm dealing with the consequences on the back end.