IMPORTANT WARNING

[Jjbreans]

Gosh, I went to a dentist many years ago that made a bad situation worse. She seemed to have a good reputation in a nice city on the east coast, she had won awards and was in the newspaper, but I got suckered into letting her drill out all of my evil metal fillings and replace them w/ the white composite.Gave me a few porcelain crowns, drilled 2 of my molars until they were paper thin craters. I think I financed at least one college education for her kids. Then, icing on the cake, at the end of all this, she convinced me to buy an overpriced electric toothbrush that I could have gotten for 1/3 of the price elsewhere. I was quite an idiot back then & believed that all doctors & dentists were god-like, altruistic, and only out to help the masses.

I had an amazing dentist before then out west who had shown me the holes that I was grinding into my teeth at night, using a camera and projecting video images onto a tv in the room. That was quite cool technology back then. Ha. He was wonderful and even living in a city w/ beautiful plastic gleaming white toothed people, he never once suggested that I change anything that wasn’t ‘broke’, or cavity-filled b/c now I know that he could see how damaged my teeth were from both grinding & clenching. I’ve worn a mouth guard dutifully ever since then (until now - i try but I’ve kind of given up).

Then I move cross country, realize it’s been ages since I had a checkup, go to this blood sucking wench of a dentist, and have never been the same. I did finally find someone that I could trust, but only after having a bad tooth extracted by a moron & suffering immeasurably just grinding away on the stitches waking w/ a red pillow every morning. Anyway, 4 implants, 2 root canals and 2 gold crowns later, I feel I’m fighting a losing battle. It pains me to think of anyone having a more difficult time with teeth b/c it is not fun.

I’ve moved away from the lady that was helping me so much and had basically cured my grinding, (she was a TMJ specialist) but was crestfallen when she told me that she could not resolve clenching. I mistakenly believed that they were one & the same. She said clenching was caused by anxiety.

Jeez so sorry that I’ve written a babbling novel, but I just wanted to say that I feel for anyone that has issues with their teeth. I am probably lucky compared to what you’ve endured, Charon. I am truly sorry to hear how you’ve struggled w/ your teeth, among other things.