A Crown

Turtles have terrible teeth. Why wouldn't we? We aren't supposed to have teeth.

I've gotten fillings almost as long as I've had teeth. I think all my baby teeth were filled, until they fell out, and most of my adult teeth have had some kind of work.

It's not for lack of hygiene, either. I brush. I floss (how many can say that honestly?). I stay away from sugary drinks. Except chocolate almond milk. Love the stuff. I get cleanings twice a year. The current theory is high fever at 3 months rotted my teeth bones. Could also be they were never meant to be used 24/7.

For the record, I've always had good dentists. My blood pressure drops when I go there because that's the one place I know I get a warning before anyone does anything that could be painful. Where else on earth does that hold true?

Anyhoo, I finally got a cavity that needed more than a filling. I wanted to ignore it, but the twinges and the temperature sensitivity got to me. I brought it up at my last check-up and heard that dreaded word: crown. 

That word isn't as dreaded as the hyphenated root-canal, but it's close. Mostly because I didn't know what it was.

To make a crown, your dentist files down the existing tooth and then glues a fake tooth or crown over it. It takes two visits - a long one to file the tooth down and make an impression and a shorter visit 3 weeks later to put the new crown on.

Lots of people have crowns. Lots of people groan and wince when you tell them you're getting one.
I don't know why.

I just finished my first visit, and it was ridiculously simple. For me, anyway. I just had to lie there and relax.

Half my face is numb, so I won't know how truly painful it was for another couple of hours, but at the moment, I'd say it was among the easier fillings I've had, including the last filling done on that same tooth before we figured out it was time for a crown. That filling involved a numbing shot in my jaw that gave me cold sweats after I figured out exactly how that shot had been administered. Sometimes I wish my brain didn't work so hard to solve certain problems.

Even better, this temporary crown shouldn't interfere with my night guard, which means I'll have a much better 3 weeks than I expected.

The kicker? My tooth coloring is A1.

I'd expect nothing less.