Way back in the 1970's, when I was younger and things didn't cost so much, I had a great dentist in Rockland, MA. Dr. Jacobs, to my delight, is still in business, and has his son in practice with him now.
A couple months ago my remaining gold crown popped off. Now I can't really complain too much, it lasted twenty years with the original cement. I glued it back in, but it only lasted a month or so before it popped off again. Then this past Friday night, disaster struck. I lost a big chunk of amalgam, pretty much the front third of one molar. That was something I could no longer ignore. I've chipped other fillings and I've made do without replacing a crown I lost about ten years ago, but this is a tooth I need and would like to retain if possible. Unfortunately, it will most likely need to be capped, as I doubt there is enough tooth left to refill.
I managed to get in to see Dr. Jacobs this afternoon. He cleaned and re-cemented my gold crown, although we both have some doubt about how long it will hold this time. The underlying tooth may need some reshaping. But we'll burn that bridge later. It was great to see him again after all these years. He no longer has my old records, but was glad to see that the two porcelain caps he did for me back then are still in excellent shape. He doesn't think my 2/3 tooth is in any imminent danger of splitting, so I'm scheduled for x-rays and cleaning next month, and we'll go from there.
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
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Alas, the gold crown came off while I was eating a sandwich for lunch today. I'll clean it up and glue it back in later tonight.
ReplyDeletegeez.... sorry to hear that...
ReplyDeleteI hope the glue job works longer! Your lucky you haven't had to pick through your poop to find it. (how about that for telling it like it is) Eating has it's hazards for you now!!
I used to have two gold crowns. One day about 11-12 years ago, I discovered that the one in my way-back molar was missing. I picked through poop that day, but it must have fallen out and been pooped out prior to my search, because I didn't find it. I've lived without it all these years and can't afford to replace it now. Even with insurance, crowns still cost about $500 each, and I'll get two new ones soon enough. Since I don't have dental insurance, I'll be paying $900-1000 for each of them, so the volcano that is my way-back molar can be pulled afaic.
ReplyDelete