Cheer Up! 17 Reasons It’s a Great Time to Be Alive | Reader’s Digest

Do you ever get depressed reading or watching the news or discussing current events with a neighbor or friend? I do sometimes. Maybe the problem is with the source of our information. Optimism doesn’t sell newspapers, get viewers, or win elections.

We’ve been lied to, folks. Things are better than they were 50 years ago. The gold old days weren’t as good as the good now days.

Check out Matt Ridley’s article in the April Reader’s Digest:

Cheer Up! 17 Reasons It’s a Great Time to Be Alive | Reader’s Digest.

The Hard Part’s Over

ToothBack
Whew! Look at the Temps

Well, the hard part is over with. Today, the dentist pulled #8, chopped off a bunch of bone and stuffed it into the hole #8 left, ground #7 down to fit a crown, and knocked off the crown on #9. His assistant made the temporary bridge pictured here.

I feel pretty well all considered. My gums are a little roughed up and of course the socket where the tooth was extracted is throbbing a little. The naproxin sodium seems to be working, though. I’m also on six days worth of antibiotics.

Probably the most uncomfortable part will be the prohibition on rinsing my mouth for two weeks. Apparently, they stuffed some compound into the socket over the bone graft to hold  everything together. That along with the temporary bridge is keeping everything packed tight. They’re afraid if I rinse my mouth, especially with mouthwash, it will dissolve the compound and everything will come tumbling out. Just don’t get downwind of my breath.

If everything goes well, in two weeks I’ll return so they can make impressions for the permanent bridge.

Let’s hope all goes well.

I’m tired. I think I’ll take a nap.

#8

Turns out there was enough of the #8 tooth (right front upper incisor) to save after it had broken off. So the dentist did a root canal, added a post and the assistant created a temp…much too white, but they said the permanent crown would match #9. The finished crown gets installed on July 13.

What Next?

I’m about back to 100% from my ulcer incident. But…

Yesterday, I cracked my right front incisor (tooth also called #8). It’s one of the two that I had crowned in December ’09 because #9 was off colored as a result of a collision with my brother, Dan, when we were but children. My dentist and Mrs. Major had been after me for years to take care of the unsightly tooth, so I finally did. Now #8 is broken…not only just the crown but also the tooth. I’m scheduled for a root canal and a re-crown on Monday to the tune of about $1100 (my share after insurance). Sigh.

If I’m lucky, that’s what will happen. If the tooth is cracked into the root, the tooth is not restorable and I’ll probably have to have a bridge or a gap. I’m sure the gap will be the cheapest…the bridge costing an arm, torso, and first born child.

Some say bad things happen in threes. Hopefully, the third thing will happen to someone else…someone on a different planet.