Holy Molars!

I finally made it back to the dentist after, ahem, two and a half years. Oops. I used to be really good about going every six months, but I clearly have slacked off recently. An intermittent, dull toothache reminded me, so I finally made an appointment last week.

The good news is that despite the long time since my last cleaning, the plaque buildup on my teeth was not that bad and most of my teeth were fine. The bad news is that the toothache was from a pretty bad cavity in one of my wisdom teeth and it needs to come out. Soon. I was not too surprised, but I did not expect the urgency of it. I had not really thought through the financial aspect, either, since my insurance does not cover dental.

I had a consultation with the oral surgeon last Saturday and the surgery is scheduled for tomorrow morning, bright and early. The surgeon was very generous and waived the consultation fee since I do not have dental insurance. He is also giving me a bit of a discount on the surgery itself. I applied for and received CareCredit, which is a credit card for health care expenses that has no interest if you pay the balance off within six months. So overall, it should work out pretty well.

I am stocked up on ice, ice cream, applesauce, mashed potatoes, soup, yogurt, peanut butter, and Jell-O. I should have taken advantage of today by eating lots of crunchy food, but alas, I only thought of that right now.

The moral of the story is: go see your dentist regularly. And, uh, get your wisdom teeth out early . . . and often?