Dental Issues, Part 2

Well, I mentioned bad news from the dentist a few days ago about the condition of my teeth.   They are in wretched condition.  Think of a pile of loose boulders compared to a good pyramid...  It isn't a question of "will they start breaking, but how soon?".

So yesterday, I had a "consult" with the Dentist.  Not my usual "fillings and routine stuff", but a more specialty one who visits weekly for advanced work.  He recommended placing new crowns on most upper teeth and replacing old existing ones then, but yesterday's visit was for a more detailed exam, a timetable, and costs.

The news is serious.  Though I don't currently have any tooth sensitivity, it is coming soon, and each repair will be harder as less durable.  Basically, I can wait for each individual tooth to fail and be in pain for several days waiting for an available appointment, or get it all fixed over a couple months.

Here's what he wants to do...

1.  Put temporary caps on the 2 left and right upper back molars.  This is to provide some slight leverage on my jaws to align them better and get me used to feeling a change.  Part of my problem is that I have a small jaw and an overbite.  And BTW, I have a family history of bad teeth.  I have outstanding health otherwise, but bad teeth.

2.  The Dentist will also do a digital scan of the shape of my teeth at the same time.  Well, good, I won't have to suffer that hard molding stuff they used to use.  I always hated that.  A lab will create new permanent crowns based on that (as needed - this whole process will take several months).

3.  After those few weeks of adjustment, the Dentist will put temporary crowns on my 8 upper front teeth.  And I will wait several weeks to adjust to those.  

4.  Then, he will replace the back crowns with permanent ones.  A week later or so, he will put on the permanent front crowns and make any minor crown-shaping to make the new crowns

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So he had described the procedure.  He had advised me that each active appointment would mean numbing both sides of my mouth each time (ack).  His insurance tech developed a cost estimate.  I was shocked!  Apparently, my health insurance company does not provide the same level of coverage as they used to (and I didn't notice that in the renewals).  And on my Federal Govt health care program, I can only change plans in December each year.  😭

Something just short of $13,000!  😠. OK, I can afford it.  I am planning some home and driveway renovations/repairs anyway and that would just be a 1/4th of all that.  But I wasn't expecting such a large cost.  

So, sitting in the Dentist's chair and looking at the detailed cost chart, I thought about how legitimate this all was.  So I asked him about implants (which I already knew they didn't do themselves.  The Dentist said that was a good option.  He said there were some advantages to that.  It could be done in just a couple visits, and offerred to refer me to an implant specialist with a great reputation.  He said that can be easier on some patients and that there is even sedation implant specialists.

So that answered my internal concern about the Dentist just wanting to do all the crown work just for the money.  

I also asked about the general cost of full implants.  He said they were a good option.  He said it is generally about $25,000 "per arch", meaning both upper and lower.  OK, $50,000 will make me think twice too!  😰

So, I am going ahead with the 12 crown replacement at my regular Dentist.  I'm going to hate it.  Just having one new crown is miserable, 12 is going to be much worse.

I asked about the durability of the new crowns.  He said 10-15 years.  OK, 15 years from now I'll be 90 (if I live that long).  I guess I have to do this...  10-15 years of good teeth is worth something, and there is not much point in dying rich when the option is good teeth for most of the rest of my life.

I have another option that just occurred to me now.  If I wait until December, I can switch to a Govt Health Care plan that covers major dental work.  I'll have to call the Dentist and ask about the consequences of delaying all this work that long.  He may say yes that would work or he may say I have some teeth that won't last that long.

But it won't hurt to ask.

Advice welcomed...

Maryland Primary Day Voting

Of course I voted.  Since I turned 18, I've only missed one Primary or General Election.  That was Carter vs Reagan.  I din't want to vote for either.  I preferred John Anderson then and the lines were so long it didn't seem to be worth standing in line for a few hours for a protest vote.

Maryland (at least my part of it) is VERY good about providing many voting places these days.  20 years ago, the lines were HOURS long; today, they are MUCH shorter.  

Today, I rolled in and there were no lines.  Got approved to vote, was given a folder with a strip of paper, escorted to a touch-screen voting machine, and told to entry the paper strip into a slot.  It didn't work.  So they escorted me to another.  That one accepted the paper strip.  

Voting was so easy.  Tap a button for your choices.  A review comes up showing your choices, offering ways to change them in case of a mistake.  If you agree, the votes are recorded.  The machine sends the paper strip back out for a final review.  It was correct.  

Then you bring it to the counting machine.  And, BTW, the election officials won't even touch your slip of paper (lest there be any "sleight-of-hand").  I was in-and-out in 10 minutes.  I can't think of any way Maryland could make the voting process any easier or more secure!  And I got another "I Voted" sticker...  I wish I had saved them from decades ago.  I would have quite a collection!

I won't reveal my votes for the major Democratic Primary candidates (they all won, so you can figure it out if you want to).  But there were 10 Electoral College candidates and you could vote for 9.  One was "uncommitted" and the others were committed to my Presidential choice, so I voted for them.

School Board candidates are usually difficult (yes I even care about them).  I used to read summaries about each one from The League Of Women Voters, but they are blocked from providing information like that now.  It's not like they made recommendations.  They just allowed each candidate to provide several paragraphs about themselves.

I used to read those carefully.  School Board is officially non-partisan, but each candidate almost always used a few hints and code-phrases to tell you where they stood.  I miss that information very much.

But it didn't matter this time.  There were exactly the same number of candidates as there were positions to be filled, so there was no point in voting for them.  Maybe next election, I'll toss my name into the list!  I care about general education enough.

I now look forward to the General Election.

Quest For Wine

 I have been trying to find a decent inexpensive replacement for a Old Vine Zinfandel I have bought for a decade.  The winery shut down.  Some research suggested other Old Vine Zin (or course) but also Malbec and Merlot.  Visiting my regular local meat/deli/liquor store (weird combination, I know), I bought 3 Zinfandels, a Malbec, and a Merlot.

The first thing I noticed was that the price had nothing to do with how much or little I enjoyed the wines.  The 2 most familiar and drinkable were 1.5 L bottles and the cheapest.  And neither was a Zin!  Of the 2 most expensive Zins, 1 tasted "acidic" and the other "dusty".  I don't actually know the "wine terms" for that, but that was my impression.

One Zin was "OK", but at $17 for a 750 bottle, I wasn't very impressed.  Why is it that I liked the cheap Zin but not "better ones?  LOL!  The Frontera Malbec (Argentina) at $10 for 1.5L  was closest to the Twisted Zin I can't get anymore.  The Mondavi (Private Selection) Merlot 1.5L at $17 was better.

I'm obviously not a wine-snob.  I like what I like.  And the foods I cook probably have a lot to do with the wines I like.  So what wine I drink with dinner has a lot to do with my choice.  I mean, I cook a lot of different foods, but I do tend to use the same spices and such.  Regardless of whether I cook chicken, pork, shrimp, or beef, there is garlic, oregano, and sometime ginger involved.

So, after tasting a variety of other Zins, some Merlot, and some Malbec, I'm probably going with the Malbec for regular dinner and Merlot on occasion.  The local meat store will special order as many cases of either as I want.  It is easier just to order 6 or so at a time (so that I don't have to bother them to do it often).

I am sure you were all just waiting anxiously to see what I decided...  LOL!

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BTW, is there a difficulty commenting on this blog?  I get lots of visitors but no comments lately.  Has something gone wrong with my blog settings?  Or am I just boring everyone to death?

cavebear2118@verizon.net