Day After Appointments...

 

The day of errands & appointments went alright.   The appointments themselves went fine.  Getting over there & back was a little annoying.   The traffic was weird & patchy.  Then it decided to storm during most of the outing.

We got home & it rained for the rest of the day.  I'm dealing with day after cleaning teeth.  Everything feels a little off & sensitive.   That's handled for the next 6 months.

That's all for now, take care.

Cya...

Another Crown...

A serious thing they don't mention enough these days, is how just being HIV+ can adversely affect your dental health.  Some meds, especially older kinds, are hard on your teeth. 

I went for my cleaning yesterday.  They buffed out a rough spot on a crown.  I'd noticed a notch in a tooth.  I thought maybe a filling had broken.  It had & taken part of the tooth with it.  I need another crown.  Here goes at least 2 appointments, time & a lot of cash.   Even with insurance crowns aren't cheap.  

For those new to HIV, this virus affects every aspect of your body & health.  From your obvious health to your teeth, weight, mental state & skin/hair. HIV is a whole package deal & at times it's very overwhelming.

Cya...

Sensitive...

The dentist finished my crown yesterday.  Hopefully, the last 1 I'll need for quite a while.   Since last night, the new crown has proven to be a bit sensitive.   That's not uncommon, but its still jarring.  Its like a small electric shock in the outer part of my tooth heading into my sinuses. It'll pass, but for now it's a little disconcerting.

We had some shopping to do this morning.  That went well enough.  We're supposed to warm up over the next few days.  We might actually hit 60 F.

That may seem nice, but the abruptness of it won't be.   If we're lucky, the pollen won't jump up with the sudden warmth.  I doubt we'll be that fortunate.  Oh well, we're done for the week.  NO more plans or outings.  Yay!

Cya...

Early Post...

I'm doing this post early, because I'll be busy tomorrow.  Tuesday started out well, but it didn't last.  My roomie got a flat tire.  No big deal, then we changed the tire & the spare is flat as well.   The mechanic came  took the car.  It needs  2 new tires & an oil change, there's some $$$.

I got some unhappy news about a internet site I frequent.  I don't know if it's situation is permanent or not.  I hope it isn't. 

Later, just after eating chicken & dumplings for dinner, I somehow break a tooth.   I don't know if a filling fell out or if it's yet another tooth affected by HIV.  I've had this happen once before,  The tooth simply softened & broke.  I was just at the damned dentist office.  I called him & he told me to call in the morning to set up an immediate appointment.   I don't know when that will be.

Tomorrow isn't looking fun.  Tomorrow is disrupting my schedule.  Tomorrow is looking expensive.  So far, I'm not liking tomorrow.  Hope you're having a better day.  

Cya...

Soreness...

It's been a few says since my dentist appointment, but some soreness still lingers.   There's a slight scrape on my gum right beneath the tooth.  That seriously smarts when the toothbrush gets near it.  My jaw is sore to the touch & there's been some swelling in my cheek.   Break out the Ora-gel & Sensodyne.  Or at least their generic knock-offs.

The worse part of it is that I've had a minor ear ache for the past 2 days.  It was fairly bad last night.  I  took some medicine for it right before bed.  I slept fairly well, but's it still slightly sore this morning.  It'll pass as my mouth recovers.

It's a fairly pleasant day outside.  Probably 1 of the last of the year.  It's supposed to start getting unseasonably cold here by Tuesday.  So much for nice, mild Fall.  That's all for now.

Cya...

Toothy...

A little off today.  Just got back from going to the dentist.  I'm in the process of getting  a crown replaced.  My mouth is a bit sore, but so is most my face from sitting with my mouth open for nearly an hour.  Overall, it wasn't bad. 

The only downside to it was that I had to get up a hella early & get out of here fairly early to make the appointment.  I am not a fan of mornings, especially not ones that end up with me in the dentist's chair.  After this crown is replaced, I have 2 more that need replacing.  At their cost, it'll probably take me another 2 years, but at least it'll be done.

I'm ending this now, I've got other stuff to do & I"m just not feeling quite up to par.

Cya...

Groundhogs & Bad Teeth...

The little beastie saw his shadow again, so here comes another six weeks of wintery hell.  This little animal shouldn't get to do the weather report even if it is only on February the second.  To add to the drama, I had to go to the dentist.  This meant a 30+ drive on the ice.  Wouldn't have done it but somehow I cracked a tooth.  Never felt a thing until I noticed a sharp place on my tooth.  It had happened yesterday, but no one was in my dentist's office so I had to wait until today.


I got up earlier than normal to get cleaned up just in case the dentist will be in this morning.  I hate morning showers.  My early morning zombie stare self goes into pissed off cat mode for getting wet that damn early in the morning.  Finally they call & say I can make the treacherous drive over to his office in Fort Smith, AR.


I warm up the car & get the roommate in their as well, mind you she went willingly, but sat white knuckled & silent the entire way.  The drive was tedious, it took nearly an hour and a half to make a just over thirty mile drive. The roads were either ice slicks or worse, they were rutted from the semis driving over them.  We only badly fishtailed once, maybe twice, but we made it there.


I had just been in the dentist office in December to have my teeth cleaned & annual looksy/X-ray.  Then they saw nothing, but apparently somehow my tooth had been decaying from the inside, yuck.  I was convinced he was going to say, "You need a root canal," but he didn't.  He just drilled & hacked away at the tooth.  Then the bondo experience began.  He'd do a layer, then wait, do another then stop.  All I could think was that, this is how they plaster walls. Finally he was done.  Actually it took almost no time, it just felt like it was an all morning job.


The dentist told me that somehow the X-ray had missed the internal issue with tooth & that it was a good call to get into him so soon.  There very well might've have been a dreaded root canal in future if I hadn't have gotten in when I did.  


It's not that I fear the root canal because of pain, my dentist is good at dealing with pain issues of dentistry.  No I hate the root canal, because they're expensive.  First a few hundred $$ for that procedure & the several more hundred $$ for the crown that would be needed to cover the root canal.  In my best Mr. Mackey from South Park voice, " Root Canals, they're bad."


The real problem here is that I am +. HIV is hell on teeth, HIV meds can be hell on teeth & in turn not taking care of your teeth can be hell on your HIV.  I'd give a link, but you'd be better just to google HIV dental issues & get the most up to date info, the results are fairly immense.  HIV can lead to numerous dental complications & these complications can lead to infections that can impact your overall health.


I'm home now, tooth fixed, roommate sedating herself with facebook & cats & I am thankful.  I'm grateful my tooth wasn't in worse shape, that we survived the drive & that my roommate (who is terrified of ice) went with me to my appointment.  I am also very thankful for my dentist & his office.  I found a good one, Dr. J, Stephen Wilson At Dental Solutions.

To all those out there in the cold, keep warm & safe.  I hope your teeth are doing well, if not I hope you have a good dentist like mine.