flea | Entries tagged with dentist

Took both kids to the dentist. Casper got a referral to the orthodonist; she has a "deep bite." Dillo got the real prize, though; one of the teeth that got a pulpotomy and crown when he was 4 is now infected, so he gets amoxicillin for a week and then gets it pulled. The tooth next to it will need to be crowned (capped, at this age; it's not a permanent tooth), because it has an existing cavity and can't support the spacer without being crowned. She thinks it may need a pulpotomy, but she can't be sure until the abscessed tooth is out. Cost for today: $425 (will be mostly reimbursed by insurance, but not for months). Cost for next week: $845. So much for our dreams of a new mattress.

Took elder cat to the vet. Talked about Feliway diffusers for her stress level; talked about switching foods (they recommend Iams hairball control); got blood drawn to look for other things that may be causing occasional puking; had anal glands expressed. I felt very knowledgeable, thanks to Homer and other b.orgian cats. Another visitor to the vet had 5 dogs in for a visit together. Could never be a vet. Or a dog owner.

Dropped cat off at home, went to get sandwiches, Casper started getting stressed out about the next event, which was an open house to meet the principal of the gifted academy, which she is enrolled for. Said freakout expressed itself in a horror of sandwiches. Luckily, the promise of a bacon sandwich on white bread calmed the situation.

The open house was okay. The principal is very experienced, originally from Brooklyn (a plus for me), talked a good game. The PTO/other parents are as obsessively organized as they were at last year's school; this stresses me out and makes me feel small. I am a little worried about Casper underperforming in the gifted academy; she's such a space cadet sometimes. Dillo is enrolled for first grade at the new school (in the same building as the gifted academy, with the same principal), but they have not hired a first grade teacher yet (school starts Aug. 22) and last I heard there are 5 first graders enrolled. So, while the principal is still officially saying that first grade will happen, I am pretty skeptical. Dillo at this point wants to stay at his old school, and we have not told him that there might be a switch, so I guess it's all okay if they cancel first grade at the last minute. It would be a pain to have the kids at 2 different schools, though.

Several really big thunderstorms rolled through at various points during all this. When it wasn't bucketing rain, it was in the 90s and soupy.

I am exhausted.

An 8:45 am phone call from the dentist, telling you your daughter has missed an appointment you didn't even know she had because your husband didn't put it on the calendar. Followed by: Girl Scouts work.

I am applying cee-lo green in an attempt to get the grump out of my system.

Do I have a plan for Christmas presents for my own children? I do NOT.

Dillo had a tooth pulled today. He was okay for the adjacent fillings, but pulling the tooth made him cry (he was numbed up, so it wasn't super-painful, but you can't disguise the feeling of having a tooth pulled, apparently.)

Yes, I felt like total crap.

$641 down, 3/4 of the mouth left to do. This will be the only tooth pull, gods willing.

We're doing the tooth fairy. Casper, of all things, was *jealous*. That child, I swear.

I went to the Historic Preservation Commission hearing tonight, and I had yto go first which was hard and scary, and our metal roof got denied as expected. But I stayed for much of the rest of the meeting, which was FASCINATING (our democracy in action!) and as is usual I found much to agree with on all sides (except the weepy sorority board member who was worried that externally applied window muntins would cause sorority girls to Die In A Fire.) And our builder and his wife came by at 8pm and we had a good long talk and they were rabidly on our side, more on our side than I was, and it is nice to be supported even if you don't fully agree. So we'll look at energy-star rated architectural shingles and creative ways to vent the roof, and see what we can do.

And in good news, it turns out we qualify for a (I think federal) program to allow mortgage refinances without PMI for people in just our situation - the value of the house dropping considerably since we purchased, but not in any danger of defaulting or anything. So we can refinance after all, for free (well, the bank paying), just as we'd been planning.

And use the money saved in the first year to pay for dental work on the Dillo. With that plus the fact that architectural shingles are cheaper than metal, we may have saved enough money today alone to pay for the dental work.

mr. flea took the Dillo to the dentist today. You may recall he'd had multiple cavities filled in January of this year. Well, now he apparently needs 4 caps, and one is so bad they might have to just pull the tooth and put in a spacer until the permanent tooth comes in.

We brush the child's teeth. They took x-rays in January and took care of everything that showed up at all. And yet in the ensuing 6 months, he got cavities so bad he now needs caps and might lose a tooth? What the hell?

Casper got crown #1 today. She was apparently fine at the dentist, but after they were home for a while the novocaine wore off and she was crying in pain. (mr. flea called the dentist and they said that the pain was probably because they seat the crown under the gumline, not from the pulpotomy action.) Motrin is helping.

And I'm at work, and not home with my baby whose cavities are all my fault anyway. Wah.

Last night in bed Casper asked me, "Eliza says that when a man and a woman make a baby the man puts his penis in her crotch. Is that true?" I said yes, and said the penis actually went in the vagina. She asked if that was how mr. flea and I made her. I said yes. It transpired that she thought the penis had to remain in the vagina for the entire pregnancy, which would be somewhat inconvenient, and I disabused her of this notion by explaining the sperm the the egg (although I described the egg as a special kind of cell, I think she is still placing it in the general category of eggs-from-which-birds-and-dinosaurs-hatch, stupid English language.) We also cleared up that the vagina is not the same as the anus, and I am surprised that she should mix this up, since we've talked about genitals pretty consistently since she was 1 year old.

She was much more interested in the baby being born, which we discussed at length (she asked if it hurt, and I used my marathon analogy), and segued into a discussion of how cute she was when she was born. We also talked about what colors babies are when they are born, so I introduced the concepts of vernix and amniotic fluid. We'll see what she retains!

ION mr. flea is making arrangements for ANOTHER new pediatric dentist (who actually takes our insurance). Their web site makes me shudder, with the twee, but I suppose most patients want that in a pediatric dentist. My brain is actually in panic hand-flapping mode even though HE'S doing everything. ARGH. I hate that this is so hard for me. There's the practical hard PLUS the me personal insane-o hard.

What's it about? What it's always fucking about around here, folks - dentistry. Casper went in today. At her cleaning 5 months ago they said she had one cavity. We switched dentists (for various unrelated reasons). These ones say two crowns, possibly root canals, and 8 additional fillings, and sealants, and the treatment plan comes to more than $2000. WTFF? We JUST paid these people $1000 for Dillo's fillings. How can she have developed this much more tooth decay in 5 months, during a time when we have been working pretty hard to brush teeth appropriately? This is the kid who cooperates! Who brushes her teeth and has been to the dentist regularly! And had clean checkups until that one 5 months ago. How did we get to 2 crowns?

mr. flea, who did the honors this time, was too stunned to do much but make an appointment.

AND I can't even post about it on Facebook because my mother is there now and we lie to her about this. Because I'd never hear the end of it, otherwise. She is EXTREMELY holier than thou about dentistry, being married to a dentist.

Lately we hold hands and say what we're thankful for at dinner. Today Dillo said, "I'm thankful for talking about butts."

And now, we're making "ice krispie treats." He will not be corrected, even when I explained that RICE krispies were made from RICE.

Today he was sedated and had all his cavities filled. He clammed up when I tried to get him to drink the medicine, and I had to use a syringe and force him. But then they took him back strapped into a red wagon and apparently he was fine, very cooperative and mellow. They were pleased with the overall condition of his teeth and gums - he didn't bleed much, and the dentist seemed surprised by that, given the extent of his cavities. I think these were definitely nursing cavities. All 6 of his top front teeth had cavities along the gumline, in between, and in back, and none of his other teeth. On this plus side, this should means we're done with the matter, assuming we keep brushing as we have been.

When they brought him back out he was a little dopey but not particularly funny, like that kid on Youtube. He was a little uninhibited, in speech, I think, but didn't say anything amusing. He was fascinated with the numbness of his upper lip. By lunchtime he could feed himself rice and by 1pm or so he seemed fully back to normal.

Took Dillo to the dentist. He was very cooperative. He has cavities in 5-6 of his front teeth, deep enough that they should be filled. So, we're doing that in January.

The office does Versed sedation, and doesn't allow the parents back into the rooms. Cash, Steph, does this jive with your experiences of fillings in preschoolers? I felt good about the office and the dentist was clear and frank. It still won't be fun. Also, expensive.

And of course this is a parenting fail - several of the cavities are in full view on the front of his front teeth. He hates to brush teeth and doesn't really spit, so we have been lax and haven't done fluoridated toothpaste yet.

Argh, argh, argh.

On my upper left side where my wisdom tooth was until 3 weeks ago, if you run your finger back along the gumline on the cheek side, above the teeth, there's something really sharp at the far back. Like, sharp like metal or bone sticking out of my gum. There's sort of a generalized ache there, too, but that may be psychosomatic due to the trauma of having practically pricked my finger on my GUMS.

So, I guess I call the oral surgeon in the morning and get it looked at, right? Anybody know anything about this? Dr. Google is giving me no love; it's not in the standard lists of wisdom tooth complications.

I took the afternoon off work and psyched myself up to visit a new dentist today. A new dentist who had been personally vetted by my stepfather (a dentist), selected by me looking up the periodontists in town, Stepfather asking his periodontist buddy if he knew either of them, calling the one the periodontist knew, asking him who he thought was a good dentist in town, and calling the dentist himself to grill him. I printed out the coverage manual for my insurance and was all ready to discuss many things. Remember, I hate everything to do with dentistry and as a result, have to work really hard to keep my normally calm and rational self functioning during an office visit.

I went to the appointment and discovered that my appointment is actually for a month from now. I made it 2 weeks ago - I guess I must have mentally placed it in the wrong month because I couldn't believe it would be a 6-week wait just to have a preliminary appointment. (Note: I have a broken tooth with a raw edge right now, and they knew this when they made the appointment.)

So, this may be the magic dentist. If I ever get in to SEE the guy. And now I feel like an idiot, and can't go take a nap because the Home Energy Audit guy is here blowing our ducts. (The air leakage in this house is INCREDIBLE; it was like a gale force wind coming out of the pocket doors when he did the blower door test. More on this at my house blog when he's done.)

I was praised for the overall state of my teeth - nothing horrific in the tartar department - but I have 3 cavities and an appointment to get them filled in 2 weeks. I knew there were spots being watched last time I was at the dentist, so this is not a huge surprise. Still mr. flea is disappointed in me. It has cost $250 so far.

Very tired and unmotivated this morning, possibly as a result of having left the house without food or a caffeinated beverage. I am now remedying this situation with coffee and a chocolate and pecan scone from Saladelia.

I bid on (and did not win) a lot of 4 identical Nine West purses on ebay last night. They were black, burgundy, red and pink, mock-croc, an old-fashioned style with a kiss-clip. I think I want a purse, even though it is completely impractical for my stuff-carrying needs. So in the coffee shop I noticed the woman in front of my had a beautiful croc purse, and was about to ask her what brand it was so I could check it out on ebay, when I realized she and her husband and teenager were probably prospective Looni parents, and there was a decent likelihood that that beautiful croc bag was in fact a genuine Hermes Kelly bag. That would have been tacky, eh?

Have I mentioned in this space the shocking revelation (via a student column in the student paper) that 60% of Looni students do not receive financial aid? Total annual costs are now estimated at $48,000 (I think this includes books and food and stuff). Pretty much anyone with a family income under $200K who applies received financial aid of some kind. So, 60% of the students here come from families making $200K a year or more. Less than 3% of US households make more than $200K a year. I hate working at a place that caters to the rich.