“Crown Him with many crowns.....”
The Novocaine numbing has finally disappeared.
Yesterday (Friday, November 12, 2010) was my most extensive dental-work in over 30 years.
It was preparing two large molars for crowns, and inserting a permanent crown to replace a temporary crown installed earlier.
30 years ago it was pull four impacted wisdom-teeth.
It was a struggle.
Blood and gore and pliers drenched in saliva.
My poor dentist was embarrassed a tooth broke while he tried to pull it.
We did one side at a time, separated by two weeks.
“So break the other one,” I told him. “It makes it easier.”
We used that dentist for eons.
He was okay, but he wouldn’t modernize.
“What’s that I hear?” Ticka-ticka-ticka-DING!
“Sounds like a typewriter.”
The dentist’s receptionist was embarrassed.
One day “BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-WHAM-BANG-BANG-BANG” from out back in his office.
He walked in to look at my teeth after a cleaning.
“What were you doing back there? No wonder little kids hate going to the dentist.”
“Working on someone’s false teeth,” he said.
“Well, I hope they weren’t in anybody,” I said.
My Transit retiree club, “The Alumni,” negotiated reduced pricing with Q-Dental.
The so-called “Alumni” are the union retirees (Local 282, the Rochester local of the nationwide Amalgamated Transit Union) of Regional Transit Service in Rochester, NY.
For 16&1/2 years (1977-1993) I drove transit bus for Regional Transit Service (RTS), the transit-bus operator in Rochester and environs.
The Alumni was a reaction to the fact Transit management retirees ran roughshod over union retirees — a continuation of the bad vibes at Transit, management versus union.
Transit had a club for long-time employees, and I was in it. It was called the “15/25-year Club;” I guess at first the “25-year Club.” But they lowered the employment requirement, and renamed it “15/25-year Club.” The employment requirement was lowered even more; I joined at 10 years.
My employ there ended with my stroke; and the “Alumni” didn’t exist then. The Alumni is a special club — you have to join.
It isn’t just a social club.
It has bylaws, officers, and an Executive Board.
In many ways it’s just like our union-local, except it entertains issues of interest to retirees; like Medicare, healthcare, and diabetes and Alzheimer’s.
What happens is I have dental insurance as a retiree from Transit.
But it’s peanuts — it doesn’t pay much.
It’s Blue Cross. They pay their part, and then I’d pay the rest.
With my old dentist that cost me $50-$60 for a cleaning.
But with Q-Dental, as an Alumni, it might cost me $40 or less.
Q-Dental was also closer — in Henrietta.
My old dentist was a 45-minute trip into Rochester.
So I said goodbye to my old dentist and his antediluvian technology, and tried Q-Dental.
What tipped the balance were three things:
—1) My previous dentist did a difficult filling on the outside surface of a molar right at the gum-line.
What he did was sloppy; it fell out in about three years.
Q-Dental refilled it, and did a much better job; smooth and professional.
It was Dr. Yeager.
—2) Q-Dental did a full-mouth digital X-ray before they did anything else. My old dentist was still X-ray film. Q-Dental displays the X-ray on a laptop. My old dentist still used a light-table. Dark ages versus new technology.
—3) Recently I noticed something sharp poking through my gum where my wisdom-teeth had been pulled out long ago.
My old dentist just harumphed and said he could do nothing about it.
He claimed it was jaw-bone.
“Fiddlesticks,” Q-Dental said (Yeager); “that’s just a root-fragment. We should extract that.”
We pulled it; it was tiny.
The jagged edge was gone.
I felt like my old dentist was covering up.
So yesterday we began setting up.
Gallons of Novacaine; the whole right side of my mouth was numb.
Begin hours of grinding. We’re grinding down two big molars, including the 89 bazilyun fillings therein.
“Close your eyes, Mr. Hughes. Pieces of filling fly,” the dentist said.
“You’re making faces. Does it hurt?”
“No, I’m just drowning.” (A girl manned a sucker-straw.)
“Now, please rinse out your mouth.....”
“Um, sure Doc,” slobber-drool. “Sorry about the floor.”
It was a struggle to stay in position; my neck hurt.
Drill-drill-drill!
Finally it was over. Temporary crowns were cemented in place, and the earlier temporary crown replaced by a permanent crown.
$844! No wonder he drives a Mercedes.
$422 last time; that’s one crown. We paid that before.
With my old dentist it probably would have been over $1,000 just for two crowns.
I’m trying to avoid false-teeth. —Success so far.
Back outside, errands to run; despite talking like wadded cotton was in my mouth.
I was unable to eat for a long time; too sloppy.
Supper was a struggle.
I looked in the mirror.
“Where’s your new crown?” my wife asked.
“Oh, that’s it. No fillings.”
• “Crown Him with many crowns” is a religious hymn.
• I had a stroke October 26, 1993.
• “Mr. Hughes” is of course me, Bob Hughes, BobbaLew.
• “My wife” of almost 43 years is Linda.
Yesterday (Friday, November 12, 2010) was my most extensive dental-work in over 30 years.
It was preparing two large molars for crowns, and inserting a permanent crown to replace a temporary crown installed earlier.
30 years ago it was pull four impacted wisdom-teeth.
It was a struggle.
Blood and gore and pliers drenched in saliva.
My poor dentist was embarrassed a tooth broke while he tried to pull it.
We did one side at a time, separated by two weeks.
“So break the other one,” I told him. “It makes it easier.”
We used that dentist for eons.
He was okay, but he wouldn’t modernize.
“What’s that I hear?” Ticka-ticka-ticka-DING!
“Sounds like a typewriter.”
The dentist’s receptionist was embarrassed.
One day “BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-WHAM-BANG-BANG-BANG” from out back in his office.
He walked in to look at my teeth after a cleaning.
“What were you doing back there? No wonder little kids hate going to the dentist.”
“Working on someone’s false teeth,” he said.
“Well, I hope they weren’t in anybody,” I said.
My Transit retiree club, “The Alumni,” negotiated reduced pricing with Q-Dental.
The so-called “Alumni” are the union retirees (Local 282, the Rochester local of the nationwide Amalgamated Transit Union) of Regional Transit Service in Rochester, NY.
For 16&1/2 years (1977-1993) I drove transit bus for Regional Transit Service (RTS), the transit-bus operator in Rochester and environs.
The Alumni was a reaction to the fact Transit management retirees ran roughshod over union retirees — a continuation of the bad vibes at Transit, management versus union.
Transit had a club for long-time employees, and I was in it. It was called the “15/25-year Club;” I guess at first the “25-year Club.” But they lowered the employment requirement, and renamed it “15/25-year Club.” The employment requirement was lowered even more; I joined at 10 years.
My employ there ended with my stroke; and the “Alumni” didn’t exist then. The Alumni is a special club — you have to join.
It isn’t just a social club.
It has bylaws, officers, and an Executive Board.
In many ways it’s just like our union-local, except it entertains issues of interest to retirees; like Medicare, healthcare, and diabetes and Alzheimer’s.
What happens is I have dental insurance as a retiree from Transit.
But it’s peanuts — it doesn’t pay much.
It’s Blue Cross. They pay their part, and then I’d pay the rest.
With my old dentist that cost me $50-$60 for a cleaning.
But with Q-Dental, as an Alumni, it might cost me $40 or less.
Q-Dental was also closer — in Henrietta.
My old dentist was a 45-minute trip into Rochester.
So I said goodbye to my old dentist and his antediluvian technology, and tried Q-Dental.
What tipped the balance were three things:
—1) My previous dentist did a difficult filling on the outside surface of a molar right at the gum-line.
What he did was sloppy; it fell out in about three years.
Q-Dental refilled it, and did a much better job; smooth and professional.
It was Dr. Yeager.
—2) Q-Dental did a full-mouth digital X-ray before they did anything else. My old dentist was still X-ray film. Q-Dental displays the X-ray on a laptop. My old dentist still used a light-table. Dark ages versus new technology.
—3) Recently I noticed something sharp poking through my gum where my wisdom-teeth had been pulled out long ago.
My old dentist just harumphed and said he could do nothing about it.
He claimed it was jaw-bone.
“Fiddlesticks,” Q-Dental said (Yeager); “that’s just a root-fragment. We should extract that.”
We pulled it; it was tiny.
The jagged edge was gone.
I felt like my old dentist was covering up.
So yesterday we began setting up.
Gallons of Novacaine; the whole right side of my mouth was numb.
Begin hours of grinding. We’re grinding down two big molars, including the 89 bazilyun fillings therein.
“Close your eyes, Mr. Hughes. Pieces of filling fly,” the dentist said.
“You’re making faces. Does it hurt?”
“No, I’m just drowning.” (A girl manned a sucker-straw.)
“Now, please rinse out your mouth.....”
“Um, sure Doc,” slobber-drool. “Sorry about the floor.”
It was a struggle to stay in position; my neck hurt.
Drill-drill-drill!
Finally it was over. Temporary crowns were cemented in place, and the earlier temporary crown replaced by a permanent crown.
$844! No wonder he drives a Mercedes.
$422 last time; that’s one crown. We paid that before.
With my old dentist it probably would have been over $1,000 just for two crowns.
I’m trying to avoid false-teeth. —Success so far.
Back outside, errands to run; despite talking like wadded cotton was in my mouth.
I was unable to eat for a long time; too sloppy.
Supper was a struggle.
I looked in the mirror.
“Where’s your new crown?” my wife asked.
“Oh, that’s it. No fillings.”
• “Crown Him with many crowns” is a religious hymn.
• I had a stroke October 26, 1993.
• “Mr. Hughes” is of course me, Bob Hughes, BobbaLew.
• “My wife” of almost 43 years is Linda.
posted by BobbaLew at 11:21 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home