Intervals, Inflation, Implants: The I’s Have It

I try to take good care of myself, and so far through a combination of good luck and healthy living, I haven’t had any serious issues. My weight is fine, my blood work is really good (no statins for me) and with medication my blood pressure is under control. As my regular readers know, sometimes too much so. My cardio fitness is off the charts and my joints and muscle tone aren’t too bad for someone who is 66 years old.

But my teeth refuse to cooperate.

I practice excellent dental hygiene, that isn’t the problem. The problem is that I have double rooted molars that are prone to cracking, failing suddenly and catastrophically. With severe consequences both physical and financial.

Over the years I’ve had 3 bridges, one of which failed. I have had multiple implants and a few single tooth crowns. I have put more money into my mouth than I ever paid for a car, even our very nice Honda Accord. And the fun isn’t over yet…

I saw my dentist on Wednesday for a cleaning. I mentioned that I was having occasional noticeable discomfort in the area of one of my remaining two bridges. Occasional and not really bad, just noticeable. Both the hygienist and the dentist looked but couldn’t find anything obvious. We decided that there wasn’t really anything to do unless it got worse.

On Friday afternoon it got worse. Much worse. Something must have cracked or come loose or unseated, possibly as a result of the cleaning. Suddenly any chewing or pressure in the area produced a very sharp pain. Here I go again…

I had a bad night waking up in pain, and called my dentist’s service this morning. I just wanted to make sure I could see him Monday, but to his credit the service contacted him and he called me a bit later. He even said if the pain was too bad he could make an emergency office opening today, but I told him I was pretty sure I could survive until Monday.

Now since this has happened to me before, I kind of know what to expect. He will drill out the bridge and examine the teeth underneath. He will probably find that either one, or perhaps both, are no longer able to support a bridge and so will have to be removed. That means one or two extractions, followed by two or three implants.

If that is what he concludes, I need to see the implant doctor ‘stat’, which might not be easy to do. The implant specialist likes to to the extraction himself, and sometimes he can start the implant process right away. It takes at least 6 months to complete.

That is not certain and I won’t know for sure until Monday. But this is my third rodeo with this kind of thing, and it has always gone this way.

Added complication: I’m supposed to fly to France for a cycling trip a week from Monday. The timing is perfectly not perfect.

That means that I will be in France (if I go) with some wounds healing in my mouth, perhaps covered by a ‘temporary’ which makes me a little nauseous with its bad taste. It also means I will be taking antibiotics which upset one’s stomach. That will make hydrating and taking electrolytes for long rides even more difficult for me. Every time I’ve had this kind of dental work done, my cycling has suffered. And the rides on this trip are through the Pyrenees Not flat!

And that assumes I get to see the implant doctor, who is very, very good and I wouldn’t want to see anyone else, to do the extractions next week. And while he is very, very good, the process is not pain free. Far from it.

I think I need a dose of that (Ukraine friendly) Latvian vodka Stolichnaya to take the edge off of my pain and anxiety about what is coming. I just have to be careful to keep the ice cold liquid on the right side of my mouth.