When did you last go to the dentist?

By Bec

Following on from Becky's blog post When did you last get a skin check I'm going to ask, when did you last go to the dentist?

I think us Mums tend to put lots of things off for ourselves, as we are busy looking after our kids.  We take our kids places for check-ups, dentist, immunisations, 2 year old health check, 4 year old health check and so on.  But what about us Mums? 

I had a regular annual visit to the dentist before my son was born.  Each year I would get my letter, make my time and go.  Easy, wouldn't think anything of it.  I went when my son was 3 months old, and hadn't been back since.  He is now 4.5 years old.  Well that was a mistake!!

I went to the dentist just recently as I thought I had a hole at the front of one of my bottom teeth.  The hygenist suggested I have x-rays done as I hadn't been for a while (read 4 years).  Well, the tooth I thought had a hole, turned out to be a build up of plaque - easily fixed with the hygenist's clean.  The x-rays however showed some frightening results.  I had a tooth, pretty much eaten away.  It was under an old filling (which had come a bit loose), so not noticed by just looking.  And wasn't causing me much pain as the nerve has slowly been killed.  They sent me off to have full x-rays, which confirmed what they thought. 

The tooth has to go.  The hole is so deep it's gone down to my bone...and the longer we leave it the more the tooth will decay, which means it may start breaking and be very hard to remove.  So I now have an appoitment with a oral surgeon (at $100 just for the inital consult).  So the dentist gave me some options to fill up the gap from removing a tooth - the one she recommended is a tooth implant - $4,500 she tells me.  Yes you read right - $4,500 for 1 tooth....my jaw dropped.  So I stressed, I don't want a hole in my mouth, but I can't afford $4,500 for a new tooth.  I've given up stressing about it until my first appoitnment where I can talk options - but that's not until the end of May (these surgeons are so busy!!).

So my advice to all Mums, look after yourselves, and remember to brush twice a day and floss daily!!   I wasn't a big flosser - so have just started doing it regularly.  I'm a bit un-coordiated at it at the moment, but the dentist assures me it gets better with practice.  So I'm practicing. 

When was your last dentist appoitment?  Don't put it off any longer?  Make one now (and this goes for all things such as pap smears, eye check, any medical issue that may be niggling you)..