Thursday, February 26, 2009

The Process Begins

In just about 45 minutes I will begin the process of my dental implant. The first step is the extraction of the tooth. I'm able to save about $250 by having my regular dentist do the extraction. The insurance will pay 100% of the extraction. Had I had the oral surgeon do it I would have had to pay myself because the insurance doesn't pay for the "specialist". Lovely.

After the extraction I will go across the hall to the surgeon's office where he will scrape around in the newly formed hole in my head. I may not have all the details correct but I think this is to clean it all out. There was also something mentioned about a bone graft during this procedure.

I won't lie, I'm a little sick-to-my-stomach nervous about it. I just hope they give me a prescription for some good drugs for afterwards. I know I'll be numb during, but I expect I'll be rather sore when the novocain or whatever they use wears off.

Wish me luck!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear One, Hopefully, your fears were not warranted and you're feeling better than you had anticipated.

Also, that your regular dentist did the extraction is not a bad idea. He should be just as trained for that as the specialist. Well, we both know that. Good deal on saving $250!

I Love You, M

Anonymous said...

OK, I hope you are sitting there with a little white pill and a nice glass of gerwitztramener (you know what I mean!) I hope you can rinse your mouth with saltwater too! And you wake up tomorrow with no pain!!
Glad the process is started, so you can finish!!
Sorry you had to even go through this pain!
Patti

Anonymous said...

Drink lots, no straws. I had a dry socket after an extraction last year and it rivaled my c-section for pain. Praying and wishing you well. And hoping you get good drugs too! Hang in there!

tina f. said...

Thank you all for your well wishes. They really do make me feel better.
The surgeon was very nice and there's a slight bonus--he's also an md! So that makes me feel better too.
Patti and Pam, Carli (my dental asst daughter) told me about the dry socket thing so I'm being careful! They told me liquids and soft foods for a while, like jello and pudding. (And lemon curd and Marie Callendar double cream blueberry pie!) Gee, I wonder if I'll be able to lose a few pounds! LOL!

Anonymous said...

Oh, goodness...I missed this one. Tina, I hope it all went well. Were you given the choice of using gas? Courtney had that and she said it was great.

Love,
LC

tina f. said...

L-Yes I could have chosen anesthesia but it would have been extra. Insurance is not paying anything for this so I'm saving wherever I can!