S had another rough night with lots of coughing and getting up twice. We decided this morning that it would be best for her to go to the doctor to make sure she didn't have a sinus or respiratory infection. Thankfully she doesn't. The doctor did swab her throat for strep but I expect it to come back negative. Neither one of my kids has ever had strep and they have both been exposed to it. In fact, I can't remember the last time I've had strep (if ever) and I know I have been exposed many times - by the same child. When I used to teach I had one student who would do two weeks of antibiotics for strep, be fine for a day or two, and then wham! come down with strep again. That kept happening for a three month period. I felt so bad for that kid! And yes, they finally found the right antibiotic to get rid of it. So if I was going to get strep, I would have gotten it then. I think my kids are very lucky and resistant to strep. We'll get the results of her throat swab by Saturday morning.
After coming back from the doctor I had a short break before it was time for me to head off to the dentist. C was able to watch S for me so I could go. Yay? I could have rescheduled the appointment but I decided it would be better to just get it over with. So I went and it wasn't as bad as I expected.
They did an incredibly thorough exam - they checked facial muscles, my thyroid, how my jaw opens/closes, and did a visual mouth cancer screening in addition to checking the health of my gums and my teeth. The dentist only found one major problem area - that effing tooth that's had two root canals on it. Apparently the tooth under the crown has broken. He said he had never seen anything like that before. Since there are no nerves left in that tooth, I haven't had any pain from it so I never knew anything was wrong with it.
Between a visual inspection and the x-rays, he decided that there is no way to save the tooth so it's going to come out. Honestly, I've had so many problems with that tooth that I will not miss it. Yeah, I'll be short a tooth but you know what? I'd rather it be gone than causing harm in my mouth. He said I've lost some bone where the tooth has broken and by taking it out it will stop any problems spreading to the tooth in front of it. There are some gum issues related to the tooth but hopefully those will get better once that tooth is gone, gone, gone!
The other thing he noticed is that my bite is effed up - I only use my 8 back molars when I chew instead of all my molars. The ones that aren't crowned are quite worn while the premolars look like practically brand-new teeth. He said that's probably what led to me breaking the tooth under the crown. He's recommended a mouth guard at night to protect my remaining molars from any teeth grinding I may do while I sleep. I doubt there's a way to change my bite easily, so I'll wear the mouth guard and know that probably one day I will have more crowns on those teeth back there.
So now I have a bunch of appointments for April - the extraction, having a couple of fillings redone because they are showing some wear, a cleaning and then a follow-up to the cleaning to make sure problem areas are getting better. I'm sure there will be an appointment for fitting the mouth guard too. Dental fun for me!
All in all, it could have been worse. It is Thursday after all. The dentist said that except for that stupid tooth everything looks pretty good for not having been to the dentist since before we moved. Yeah, yeah, I know. But the staff at the dental office was wonderful and didn't lecture me about anything. They just made me feel like they wanted to do what they can to help me have a healthy mouth. I walked out of there feeling good about how things went, which didn't happen often at the dentist I went to in Virginia.
Today is Thursday, which means tomorrow is Friday. And Fridays mean a new clue for my mystery Snow Queen shawl. I have been waiting all week for the next clue. I have other projects I've been working on but I am enjoying the Snow Queen pattern so much that it's hard to wait for the next clue. If I was hardcore (I'm not btw) I would stay up until midnight and get the clue then. I can wait until I get come from the kids' teacher conferences tomorrow to print it out and get started. But I am definitely looking forward to tomorrow!
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