![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
miss_lucy21So, the dentist.
The good news is that for someone who hasn't seen a dentist in the better part of a decade, my teeth and gums are actually in rather good shape. No problems with my gums at all.
The less good news is that in the past most of a decade, they haven't exactly improved on the things that make visiting the dentist extremely uncomfortable to painful for me. I have a very small mouth and it doesn't open very wide because I have TMJ disorder, so actually doing any cleaning, scraping, actual work on my mouth is pretty painful for me. Although, thankfully, for the x-rays, they had pediatric sized sensor holder thingys (I'm sure that's a technical term) because given the trouble we had getting the pediatric sized holders in certain positions of my mouth, I'm absolutely certain it would have been impossible to fit the adult sized holder in my mouth at all.
The bad news is I have several cavities. None of which are bad enough to need a root canal or anything more than a filling, but they do need fillings. They are, of course, all in the back of my mouth and between my teeth, which makes them the most difficult type to deal with even without the additional challenges of the structure of my mouth. Adding in those constraints means that it's going to be even more of a pain in the ass. Or jaw, as the case may be. Usually, they'll do all the fillings needed on one side of the mouth in one visit. In my case, the dentist is seriously concerned that she's not going to be able to do more than one at a time (at one point, when she was checking things out, she asked if that was all the farther my mouth opened. When I said yes, and that I have TMJ disorder, she said, "yeah, *that* was obvious"). So it's going to take many visits to get this taken care of. And of course, it's hard to get appointments on Saturdays, so it's going to require me missing work to deal with this. So much for my attempt to not appear like I'm falling apart, huh?
At any rate, I feel like someone has hit me in the face with a softball (which, I actually do have experience with). I had rice for dinner because I can't chew anything else. I'd say that this is why I have not been to a dentist, but honestly, it was because I didn't have insurance or money. But I will admit that I did not miss this feeling.
The good news is that for someone who hasn't seen a dentist in the better part of a decade, my teeth and gums are actually in rather good shape. No problems with my gums at all.
The less good news is that in the past most of a decade, they haven't exactly improved on the things that make visiting the dentist extremely uncomfortable to painful for me. I have a very small mouth and it doesn't open very wide because I have TMJ disorder, so actually doing any cleaning, scraping, actual work on my mouth is pretty painful for me. Although, thankfully, for the x-rays, they had pediatric sized sensor holder thingys (I'm sure that's a technical term) because given the trouble we had getting the pediatric sized holders in certain positions of my mouth, I'm absolutely certain it would have been impossible to fit the adult sized holder in my mouth at all.
The bad news is I have several cavities. None of which are bad enough to need a root canal or anything more than a filling, but they do need fillings. They are, of course, all in the back of my mouth and between my teeth, which makes them the most difficult type to deal with even without the additional challenges of the structure of my mouth. Adding in those constraints means that it's going to be even more of a pain in the ass. Or jaw, as the case may be. Usually, they'll do all the fillings needed on one side of the mouth in one visit. In my case, the dentist is seriously concerned that she's not going to be able to do more than one at a time (at one point, when she was checking things out, she asked if that was all the farther my mouth opened. When I said yes, and that I have TMJ disorder, she said, "yeah, *that* was obvious"). So it's going to take many visits to get this taken care of. And of course, it's hard to get appointments on Saturdays, so it's going to require me missing work to deal with this. So much for my attempt to not appear like I'm falling apart, huh?
At any rate, I feel like someone has hit me in the face with a softball (which, I actually do have experience with). I had rice for dinner because I can't chew anything else. I'd say that this is why I have not been to a dentist, but honestly, it was because I didn't have insurance or money. But I will admit that I did not miss this feeling.
no subject
Date: 2013-10-30 08:10 am (UTC)And X-rays are also near impossible cause of an extra small mouse. Even child-size thingies are nearly impossible to use. I did not even know about this TMJ disorder till you mentioned it.
no subject
Date: 2013-10-30 10:40 am (UTC)TMJ Disorder doesn't have anything to do with the size of your mouth. It has to do with how your jaw (the temporomandibular joint, hence TMJ) fits into your skull. I just happen to also have a very small mouth.