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Words of Wisdom

In life, we have to choose between the jeans and the cookie jar. Liz Hurley chose the jeans and I chose the cookie jar

~ Nigella Lawson....(on women's body image and her own voluptuous body)

Monday, January 12, 2009

The tooth fairy could cost me a new car.....so to speak

There is one regret I have in recent years and that is getting rid of my molar tooth on the right.

The tooth was fine but I had mistaken sensitive tooth with decayed tooth. The dentist told me the tooth was OK but I wasn't patient enough. So, I insisted to have it pulled out just so I could get rid of the stinging pain which strangely came only when I lied down flat.

If only I knew then that the pain can easily be dealt with by using the Sensodyne toothpaste. How I regret it. Firstly, eating is never the same again. Secondly, it changed the symmetry of my face. I have always liked having a round face shape which was the nature's excuse of making me
look younger. After the molar was pulled out, my right cheek caved in a little leaving me rounder on the left. I look weird.

It's been more than a year since I lost the precious tooth. So, on Saturday, I went to the dentist again to get a denture made. Denture?! Eeeekk. I couldn't believe it myself. I had always associated dentures with old people. Now, look at me. I'm old.

The dentist informed me of the options:

1. A denture for one tooth which could give me discomfort because the base would still be extended to the left of my mouth and might cause the see-saw effect when I chew due to there would be no fake tooth on the left.

2. Bridging which is making 1 fake tooth held together by 2 fake teeth crown-styled to the adjacent teeth. The 1 fake tooth will be solid to fill the gap left behind by the pulled out original tooth. Cost? It will cause a major discomfort in my bank account at MYR1500 approx. Yikes!

3. Implant where the gum will be cut open to insert a screw base where the new fake tooth will be screwed into it. Material is titanium on the inside and resin on the outside. Cost? A whopping up to MYR4000 approx. because it's a molar. Now, that's a MAJOR discomfort in my bank account and credit card balance. I could put down a downpayment for a new car with that money or even start a small business. Wow, how precious in value your teeth are. Take good care of them.

I think you can guess my choice in the end. Yeah. The denture of course. Well, I wouldn't be the only person to use it. My brother uses it after losing a front tooth due to chipping away caused by a fall when he was a kid. Another friend who is my age uses it for similar reason. My youngest aunt has a front tooth implant. She lost the original tooth at age 20.

I'm getting rid of another upper right molar sooner or later. It's not painful at all but there is half a tooth left caused by an unkind attack from a wisdom tooth that didn't come out properly. The wisdom tooth was pulled out by the dentist last year but a bit too late to save the molar. It's half-damaged now.

I'll wait for the denture first and see how it goes. This is embarrassing. Me? Denture?

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