Much better today. My backache/neckache. I am really really looking forward to seeing the
musculoskeletal specialist tomorrow. I am hoping
he will tell me that
I have a problem (which I do) and
give it a name (yay!) and tell me the cause (work-related). The next step is that he will tell me that it is
curable and not just manageable. PLEASE.
Somehow I managed to do mandibular first permanent molar extractions today for 3 patients. It's one of those times when you look for reasons why coincidences occur. I guess it adds a sense of awe to the sprinkling of indeterminancy in our lives.
An update on Mr. Inflammatory Internal Resorption - another dentist took a look at the x-ray of his tooth, which I have described as a bomb-having-exploded-in-it (Day Log March 21, 2001). Yes, Rx = prolonged root canal treatment with about a 10% chance of survival for the tooth.
The alternative Rx for an upper
central incisor?
1. A
partial denture. No one relishes the thought of having removable teeth for the night time...
2. A 3 Unit immediate bridge. "Immediate" means that the bridge is put in at the same time the tooth is extracted. Actually this is a temporary bridge that he wears for at least 6 weeks before the final
impression for the 3 Unit bridge. Gotta wait until the gums have finished shrinking sufficiently.
3. An implant. Yes, a screw in place of the missing tooth. A crown is then placed on the screw to replace the coronal tooth. Treatment period is at least 5 months, while we wait for
osseointegration of the
titanium screw to the bone before loading it with a functional crown.
He chose the 3 unit bridge, which means the teeth on either side of the space gets crowned. It's OK because they aren't virgin teeth. They have existing fillings.