Bad News, Dental Fans

*sigh* In spite of "significant improvement" in my periodontal condition at today's six week check-up, it looks like I'm not going to avoid surgery after all. I think. Maybe. Mostly. But, depending on who you ask, it won't do any good, anyway. Yes, it was that strange.

The New Dentist was not in today. Nobody told me that. Some guy I've never seen walked in, gave me a limp handshake, sat down at the x-rays and said, "HOW old are you?" (34) "I'd expect to see this in a 60 year old, or 70, even, but this is BAD."

He then went on to give me vague, yet unsettling, advice to prepare to lose several teeth, even with the surgery, going on and on about my cavities (of which I have none - tons of fillings, but no cavities). When I asked for details about what he was saying, he fell back on the whole periodontal onslaught that would cause me to end up toothless in no time at all, and simply reiterated that I need to be prepared to lose some teeth. I could not get him to talk to me straight. (The hygienist and I had just spent half an hour going over my x-rays and the probing results, tooth-by-tooth, and according to her, I have some really great bone density and only three spots with bone loss, although those three spots are pretty severe. She was much less apocalyptic about the whole endeavor.) I tried to get specifics about what he was saying - did this affect the applicability of implants? Are we looking at full replacements? Are crowns out of the question? Is it going to be feasible to complete the dental work the other Dr. had scheduled before dealing with the periodontal issue? He wouldn't address any of that.

Finally, unable to handle this guy's belligerent and vague attitude any longer, I asked him pointedly, "You obviously see something specific that makes you say this. You're telling me to decide which teeth I want to keep, and I think it's safe to say the answer would be 'all of them'. Yet from your tone and message, I take it that's not going to happen. If there are teeth that are going to go, and you know they're going to go, could you stop with the ambiguous doublespeak and tell me, please? I'd sure hate to pick the 'wrong' teeth."

He said, "Oh, your two front teeth, for sure. Most of them, actually. You might be able to save five."

That's when the hormones kicked in and I started to cry. I didn't sob or wail, but that pretty much did me in. (And yes, I know. I asked. I should have been pushier at the onset of the conversation rather than wasting twenty minutes getting worn down before I pushed it.) It's been a long three days, and I was so looking forward to a positive report at this visit, and the image of me out-to-here pregnant with no front teeth at all... Vanity, I know. I know that. But there's the disconnect, too. After being told my bone density is good, and my oral health is excellent (in general), and there are no cavities, and there was no build-up... well, this guy was just a breath of fresh radon.

I asked the hygienist why Dr. S had said my bone loss wasn't bad enough to warrant all of this when it is now seemingly obvious (from the very same x-rays) that it was, and has been all along, and why did we just do all this, again? She said, "Oh, he was just encouraging you to get your home care up to the level it needed to be. And it is." Um, lady, my "home care" has been consistently as you see it now for the last five years. What the -----.

Ok, this is making less and less sense. I have to leave. I have to go off and digest all this. And I want MY dentist back. I want to hear from the man who made this plan with me what nuances have appeared that have led us down this course of action, and whether, in fact, things are better... or worse. Where do we stand?

As Smidge would say, "No me no."

That, on top of getting our water bill this month, and it says we used 11,200 gallons of water! No. We. Didn't. *sigh*

Is... is that locusts I hear???

I've got to get some rest. I'll be less whiny tomorrow. Honest.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy