The past month has been downright bizarre! First, it starts with a filling falling out of my front tooth. I rush to the dentist after practically having to throttle the HR person for my dentist's info because at the last renewal we changed companies so I changed dentists and I hadn't been to him yet and could not for the life of me remember who I had selected and she was taking her sweet time getting the info for me. Actually she never did. After waiting two hours and asking twice, I decided to call the insurance's customer service and they helped me. Luckily I managed to get an appointment later that afternoon.
I slipped into the dental chair several hours later. I open my mouth and he makes a strange noise which I expected because my teeth suck. However, he then had me open and close my jaw several times to listen to the lovely clickety clack sound that it makes. He pulled his gloves off and refused to work on me until I went to USC to have a TMJ evaluation. I was shocked to say the least. I thought he was some kind of charlatan until I got home and searched him online and discovered he teaches at UCLA.
So a week later I go to USC and fork out $230 to be told that I clench my jaw and have muscle tension which has displaced the disk and put me at risk for TMJ. News to me! I have exercises that I'm supposed to do throughout the day to release the stress from my jaw but I keep forgetting to do them. And here it is a month later and I still haven't been back to him to start work. Partly because the week following my TMJ consultation, I had a week and one day's worth of jury duty. Yuck!
But that story will have to wait until tomorrow. I'm exhausted. Stay tuned! Jury duty sucks but I at least had a somewhat interesting case. Very Hollywoodish!
Picture above is me when I had a mouth full of good teeth thanks to Florida municipalities having florinated drinking water. The red head is my grandmother and the brunette is my aunt.
8 comments:
Good grief, it's hard to get a filling done, isn't it? When you get time, give us some details of the court case you sat in on!
That dentist thing is really weird. My jaw clicks, my teeth don't come together very well...but every dentist I've ever been to asks two questions--"does your jaw hurt? Do you get headaches?" I answer "no" to both and we just ignore it. Proving that the whole jaw thing CAN be benign, so why mess with it (or spend a bundle on it) if it doesn't bother you?
Can't wait to hear about the jury duty...
you were the 2nd person i know of to reference ketchup this week. today, on Access, they were introducing a restaurant called "Ketchup". since that is the 3rd time this week, does it mean i'm supposed to go???
sorry to hear that you had to go through all that hassle for a dentist. at least the one you went to took the time to refer you to a specialist.
Ever since I can remember my jaw has clicked so loudly it sounds like Mah-jong Night at the Flamingo. I too was told I'm tense and jaw-clenching, and I probably shouldn't do that. Is this serious? What the heck is TMJ anyway ~ Terribly Mobile Jaw? Toxic Mastication Jubilation? Totally Machavellian Jerrymandering...ok, that's actually a 'G' and makes no sense, but it sounded good... :)
How cute are you with your Gran and Auntie? Beautiful smile and great teeth ~ you haven't changed a bit.
Good to see you back, Robbie. You sound a bit like me...the last time I went to the doctor he told me it was about time I had a check-up so gave me the form to take to the pathologist for a blood test, which has to be taken on an empty stomach...that was a couple of months ago and I still haven't had the test done! Well, the pathologist caused it! She told me the doctor's form is applicable for twelve months! So I've still got time! ;)
You are an interesting case
Hey Robbie, my daughter fixed my wireless router. I told her to email the directions to what she did so I could tell you. Send email to mosie1944@aol.com and I'll forward her email to you.
What a cuuuuuutie-pie you are in that picture!
What a dental-mess you are going through! Blech!
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