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Periodontal Woes
June 13 2006
Goodness, but it's been a long time since I posted. Nothing much has happened, except...
I had braces until about six months ago. Not a big deal--many people have braces, and mine required little remarkable treatment (four teeth pulled at once, but that's another story). However, since I had the bottom ones removed, the gum from one of my lower teeth has receded. A lot. We're talking half a centimeter here.
On the good side, it's not my fault. I say that because usually when your gums recede it's because you haven't been taking care of them, pockets of infection develop, and you have to have (what seems a me) a rather gruesome procedure: they split your gum, peel it back, clean away the bacteria, and suture (stitch) it back together.
However, as I said, this one isn't my fault. Apparently, when you get braces and your lower teeth have to be moved forward quite a bit (one of mine was), the tooth can kind of break through the thin covering of gum that shields the root. Basically, this is what has happened. On the very good side, it's on one isolated tooth, the tooth has not become sensitive to cold and is not loose (ie, there's no damage to the tooth or the root), and I just have to have a gum graft.
Which sounds just terrible. I'm told, though, (and have read several places online) that it's pretty simple: they go in, clean the exposed root, take a small piece of tissue from the roof of the mouth (pain=that of a pizza burn for a couple of days) and suture it over the exposed root. Add some fancy-named cementing gel, and you've got a new gum (pain=can be taken care of with Extra Strength Ibuprofen for a couple of days). Presumably, not that bad.
The irritating part in all of this comes on the way home from Lebanon (where the periodontist is). It's time for me to get my teeth cleaned, and the periodontist said I needed to do so before I have the gum graft. Okay. We schedule the gum graft for the last day of June (a Friday, giving me an entire weekend to recuperate, even though it's only supposed to take 12-24 hours). I call my longtime dentist's office to schedule an appointment to get my teeth cleaned. No need to see the dentist. None.
I explain that I'm having oral surgery, have to get the teeth cleaned by then, and morning will not work (missing 1 day of summer class=very bad). I'm informed that they are unable to accommodate me unless I'm willing to have the cleaning done at 10am or the middle of July. This will not work. I explain again that I have to get this done. Again, they are unobliging. Therefore, I very merrily (actually, very irritatedly[?]) call the other dentist in town and have an appointment for next Friday at an excellent time.
Now, I don't think it's too much to ask for the dentist's office where I've gone for several years and always paid promptly to schedule this for me. Cleaning my teeth takes 20 minutes. That's not a long time. Givena a couple of other small incidents that have happened at this same dentist's office, I'm seriously considering changing dentists, if I like the new one. It seems as though my current dentist is doing me a favor by allowing me to be one of his patients. The inherent problem in this? People don't usually pay over-priced fees for favors...
Especially when they're going to have to undergo surgery at the end of the month. Bah!
I had braces until about six months ago. Not a big deal--many people have braces, and mine required little remarkable treatment (four teeth pulled at once, but that's another story). However, since I had the bottom ones removed, the gum from one of my lower teeth has receded. A lot. We're talking half a centimeter here.
On the good side, it's not my fault. I say that because usually when your gums recede it's because you haven't been taking care of them, pockets of infection develop, and you have to have (what seems a me) a rather gruesome procedure: they split your gum, peel it back, clean away the bacteria, and suture (stitch) it back together.
However, as I said, this one isn't my fault. Apparently, when you get braces and your lower teeth have to be moved forward quite a bit (one of mine was), the tooth can kind of break through the thin covering of gum that shields the root. Basically, this is what has happened. On the very good side, it's on one isolated tooth, the tooth has not become sensitive to cold and is not loose (ie, there's no damage to the tooth or the root), and I just have to have a gum graft.
Which sounds just terrible. I'm told, though, (and have read several places online) that it's pretty simple: they go in, clean the exposed root, take a small piece of tissue from the roof of the mouth (pain=that of a pizza burn for a couple of days) and suture it over the exposed root. Add some fancy-named cementing gel, and you've got a new gum (pain=can be taken care of with Extra Strength Ibuprofen for a couple of days). Presumably, not that bad.
The irritating part in all of this comes on the way home from Lebanon (where the periodontist is). It's time for me to get my teeth cleaned, and the periodontist said I needed to do so before I have the gum graft. Okay. We schedule the gum graft for the last day of June (a Friday, giving me an entire weekend to recuperate, even though it's only supposed to take 12-24 hours). I call my longtime dentist's office to schedule an appointment to get my teeth cleaned. No need to see the dentist. None.
I explain that I'm having oral surgery, have to get the teeth cleaned by then, and morning will not work (missing 1 day of summer class=very bad). I'm informed that they are unable to accommodate me unless I'm willing to have the cleaning done at 10am or the middle of July. This will not work. I explain again that I have to get this done. Again, they are unobliging. Therefore, I very merrily (actually, very irritatedly[?]) call the other dentist in town and have an appointment for next Friday at an excellent time.
Now, I don't think it's too much to ask for the dentist's office where I've gone for several years and always paid promptly to schedule this for me. Cleaning my teeth takes 20 minutes. That's not a long time. Givena a couple of other small incidents that have happened at this same dentist's office, I'm seriously considering changing dentists, if I like the new one. It seems as though my current dentist is doing me a favor by allowing me to be one of his patients. The inherent problem in this? People don't usually pay over-priced fees for favors...
Especially when they're going to have to undergo surgery at the end of the month. Bah!
Josh Morgan
June 26 2006
Well, the mistakes were not made in a design phase nor were they critical calculations. During the construction of some parts, notes are made about how much torque is required for something or how much force is required. This varies from part to part as much as 30-40%, and it is just for future reference. No semis are going to go careening off the side of the road, but it's still a little frustrating.
