Tooth Trauma

Do any of you recall one of my most embarrassing moments that I shared on Megan's blog? If not, let me refresh your memory. A long time ago in a land far, far away (Utah) I was taking my required Fit for Life course at good old UVSC. I had put off taking the course until my last semester before graduating. I'm a great procrastinator...but in my defense I did bear a child during those years, so I had somewhat of an excuse. I took it with my sister-in-law, Marie, which was the only thing that made the class remotely bearable. We were living with the Aitken's at the time, so it was very convenient to get up on Saturday mornings and drive to school together in the dead of winter. (As convenient as it could be, I guess, considering it was on Saturday!) Well, one fun Saturday morning we were doing circuit training in one of the workout rooms. Half the class was doing cardio on treadmills, ellipticals, etc. And the other half was doing weight training. We would do each for a set amount of time and then switch when the teacher blew the whistle. Well, Marie and I were working on the weights when we heard the whistle to switch. We immediately headed over to two empty treadmills. Very nonchalantly, I hopped on up to start my workout...only to be knocked completely off my feet and thrown off the treadmill. That's right, some dimwit had left the machine running after leaving it. Hello!!! And me, already a dimwit, didn't notice. In my defense, the room was very noisy, and it is hard to tell that the conveyor belt is moving, when it's moving very fast! I got pretty banged up, but my pride got the better of me and I hopped right back on the blasted machine and completed my workout.

So let's fast forward a few years. And we'll find out what happens when you fall off a treadmill.

I'm sitting in the dentist chair after several years of no visits due to lack of insurance, and my dentist asks me if I've suffered a tooth trauma, because my left front tooth appears to be slightly darker than the other one. I had noticed, but I thought it was nothing that a little bleach wouldn't fix. Apparently not. An exray confirmed the fact that indeed my tooth had been traumatized and the root had shrunk back significantly. Well, long story short, they told me that at some point I would probably want to have that tooth either veneered or crowned so that it would match the rest of them. I've waited three years now since hearing that wonderful news, and started the process a couple of weeks ago. I don't know if you know the process, but they have to wittle your tooth down to a veritable nub to do this work. We decided to try doing a veneer since it was much more conservative. So I had a temporary veneer for a couple of weeks while they were custom-making a veneer that would match my other teeth. Yesterday was the day that I was supposed to get my veneer. What a disaster! The tooth looked WAY fatter than my other front tooth and it still looked yellow. No improvement at all, if anything it was worse. So the dentist tells me that they need to prep it for a full crown. Okay, fine. I can live with that. So they then proceed to wittle down my tooth even more. (There's pretty much nothing left by now.) And the dental assistant makes me another temporary. Here's where I have a major problem. The temporary is hideous! I'm not exaggerating. I think I could have made a better temporary...and I have NO experience. It's all bumpy and weird colored and just plain ugly. So I'm walking around not wanting to smile or talk to anyone because I don't want them to notice my gimp tooth. My confidence has really been shaken with this dentist and the lab. I really hope that I have normal looking teeth when I come home next Thursday. If I don't...someone's gonna get hurt! But I guess there are worse things in life...I could have this guy's teeth!



And, no, I won't be posting pictures of my teeth. I won't even show Trevor.