periodontitis. They showed me a different way to brush my teeth – angling the toothbrush so that the bristles would go under the gumline – and told me to come back in three months. When three months was up, I didn’t even get a chance to call and make an appointment, because they called me first. I had that appointment last week, and the hygienist poked around in my mouth for a few minutes before declaring that the periodontitis hadn’t gotten any better. “It’s not real bad,” she told me. “We caught it early!” And then she went on to suggest that I have something called Scaling and Root Planing done, and she started a movie about periodontal disease and how Scaling and Root Planing helps to control periodontal disease, and when the hygienist came back, I told her to go ahead and make the appointment for me. Did you know that periodontal disease CANNOT BE CURED, only controlled. KIND OF LIKE HERPES. All those nights of half-assedly brushing my teeth before bed were coming back to roost, I guess. So my first Scaling and Root Planing appointment was yesterday, and from the video the hygienist had shown me, it was going to consist of very painful scraping with a dental instrument to get all the crap out from under my gumline. Believe you me – I was SO looking forward to THAT. Sharp dental instruments digging around in my gums? GIMME SOME OF THAT. Except that MY dentists are directly on the cutting edge of all that is cool and awesome – I mean, they have little TVs in every single exam room! – and instead of using sharp dental instruments, the hygienist used an ultrasonic instrument that basically shot medicine-tasting liquid into my gumline and cleared all the crap out of there. First, though, she had to take measurements of my gums using – you guessed it – sharp dental instruments. She poked at the gums in front of every tooth, and then in back of every tooth, calling out numbers that didn’t really mean anything to me, so that someone else could write them down. And then she gave me the Rota-dent, which is a dentist-recommended toothbrush-type instrument. She opened the package, discussed ways of taking care of the Rota-dent, and then had me open my mouth and showed me how to use the Rota-dent. Did you know that Only the Rota-dent� has patented microfilament brush tips designed to reach underneath the gum line and in-between the teeth? I bet you didn’t know that. She showed me how to hold the Rota-dent – at an angle to the tooth so that the bristles can reach under the nasty, nasty gumline – and when she turned the Rota-dent on and held it to one of my teeth, this really nasty foamy stuff came out from under my gumline. “That’s plaque,” she said. And it was nasty. But cool. And I felt like a dirty, dirty whore. I mean, who can’t brush their teeth well enough to prevent periodontal disease? ME, that’s who! And along with the nasty foamy plaque came blood. A lot of blood. Practically a geyser of blood. Every tooth she held the Rota-dent against bled like it was going out of style. After she’d brushed a few teeth, she handed over the Rota-dent and let me give it a try. Apparently I’m a natural at the Rota-dent. After a few more instructions on the care of the Rota-dent and telling me that they sell the heads to the Rota-dent there at the dentist’s office – of course they do – she put the Rota-dent back in the box, and got started on the cleaning of my nasty, nasty gums. I don’t know how much crap she got out from under my gums, but I saw a lot of stuff fly up into the air when she was doing the back gums. There were places where it hurt, but the experience wasn’t as bad as I’d feared it would be – like I said, I thought there was going to be a lot of scraping with sharp objects – and once it was over I only had the slightest bit of gum tenderness. She only did half my mouth yesterday, though. I have to go back in two weeks so she can do the other half. And in the meantime I get to brush all kinds of nasty crap out of my gumline with the Rota-dent, using some kind of medicated fluoride stuff that tastes really nasty, every single day. What could be more fun than that?
Miz Poo cools off her belly.
Mister Boogers lays and considers the fact that he has the biggest feet in all of catdom. I think he might be part rabbit.
I think that same procedure, my husband’s dentist calls a “deep cleaning.” He had it done, and he actually had to go in two visits, one for each side of his mouth. Horrible crap.
I have really bad teeth, full of fillings; and ever since the teeth started popping out of their gums, I have been telling the kids over and over again how important it is to brush their teeth. How important?
All I have to do is open my mouth and show them all my nasty, dark, metal fillings. 😐
Wish I could say that I feel for ya. But weirdo me, I haven’t been to the dentist since I was…3? Yeah, so pretty much never. So who know’s what icky germs play in my mouth!! lol (bet ya LOVED to know that!)
Damn, I am in pain just from reading this entry!! Ouch!
I am now completely and utterly freaked out. I think I’ll make an appointment for that cleaning I’ve been putting off–I’m having some issues but have been lax about getting cleanings ever since we lost our insurance.
Hope you get E’gar back safe soon! It’s probably a good sign that they’ve waited this long to change the sensor–means they’re doing their job and making sure that what the sensor was saying wasn’t actually true. (Sometimes mechanics are guilty of changing a sensor for reporting an error condition when the sensor is just doing its job…) Sucks that it had a problem so soon after you got it, though!
Oooh, my boyfriend had the same procedure done last month, and his did not go quite as smoothly as yours. It was very, very unpleasant.
I sent your entry to my husband who has been a recalcitrant pain in the ass about flossing his freaking teeth. Every time he doesn’t, we have to pay out of pocket for the thrill of having his teeth scaled.
Hopefully, he’ll see the INCURABLE part and get to work!
My sister once did some research on cats that look like Chloe (and like Mister Boogers) and they tend to be “bird” cats….they hunt birds more than mice-y creatures, so it stands to reason that maybe that’s why his legs are so long (Chloe has the same thing, except she is a complete and utter KLUTZ…she can jump really high, but she can’t LAND correctly-can’t tell you how many times we’ve seen her clinging to the window ledge before giving up and letting go)
And can I just say, OUCH to the teeth? I am one of those people who fears dentists, so that really scares me.
EEEYEW! (But good for you.)
Ahh the scaling of the teeth. Since I am diabetic, it is harder to keep your teeth healthy. Do everything you can now, because it really hurts to have gum surgery. They open a flap in your gums and remove the diseased area, then stitch it back down.
Ouchie!
Love the kitty pics!
I know what’s wrong with your t.v.! I do!
My periodontist sold me a Rotadent about three years ago…LOVE that thing. I subsequently changed perio’s and the new one switched me to a Sonicare because he’s never heard of the Rotadent but believe you me, the Rotadent blows the Sonicare away in terms of gentle, thorough cleaning. And it works! That said, get brushing!
Oh Robyn, sorry about the whole periodontal disease thing. When will all these appointments end! My DD had FIVE, yes FIVE appointments last week–3 for her plantar’s warts (they do a liquid nitrogen treatment), one for a tooth extraction, and finally, an orthodontic evaluation. All that and she only missed a few hours of school.
HA! Welcome to “The Middle Ages”, Robyn! I have warmed many a chair (or should I say sweated many a chair?) in the Periodontist office. I’m intriged by the Rota-dent thingie though. My office is apparently still in the scrapy-pointy dark ages–can’t wait to tell them about The Rodent, which is the only name I will be able to come up with when I’m squirming in The Chair. Your hygienist was measuring your “pockets”–how deeply your gums have receeded from your teeth. Those gums of yours will tighten back up soon with all that Rodenting, fer sure! SQUEEKY-clean!
I always request the deep cleaning every 6 months because I love my teeth feeling so clean and slippery! I’m weird, I know. Our hygentist recommends us using a waterpik, which I do about 2X a week. The Rota-dent sounds cool and will have to try it sometime.
Oh, that flouride stuff tastes NASTY, but it works really well. Also, the Rota-dent? Coolest thing EVER. I really like mine (yup, I’ve had periodontal disease for a couple years now, but it’s much improved now!).
How weird Robyn, I was at the dentist yesterday too.
I had put it off for years. Two years ago I went, and they told me I needed the deep cleaning, so I went in to have it done (1/4 of my mouth) and the lady was brutal! She kept slipping and poking my lip with the metal pick thingy, didn’t even apologize. They didn’t have the high tech stuff you’re discribing. She hurt me and pissed me off so much, I never went back to have the rest of my teeth done.
I finally made an appointment at a different place last week because I have a tooth that is causing me a lot of pain. Went in yesterday… I have stage 2 periodontal disease, the tooth that is hurting me needs a root canel and then a crown. I need 2 wisdom teeth extracted, a bridge for a tooth I lost many years ago, and some cosmetic work that involves 4 crowns in the front (which my insurance won’t pay for). After I figured up how much money all this will cost me after insurance pays their portion, I start to remember why I put off going to the dentist for so long. I just don’t have $5,000 sitting around so I can have a beautiful smile.
Anyway, glad they caught yours early. Oh, and your nephew is a cute little guy. Congrats
Gah! I had to brush my teeth after reading that… ow, ow, ow…