Another round of maintenance procedures

[DianaCox]

I am seeing the corneal surgeon today, for what I hope will be a relatively minor procedure to zap an ulcer of unknown origin from my cornea - it's not in my visual field, but over my iris, which has interfered with my ability to use a hard contact lens that might give me better vision. I put it off previously, as it seemed like such an unpleasant procedure for little immediate gain - but now the ulcer is getting bigger so I'd better deal with it before it spreads. I envision a weekend with an eyepatch and pain meds.

Then next week, prep for six crowns on my lower front teeth. Codeine and soup time! But I will finally be finishing up a 4+ year project to have strong and pretty teeth that will overall require less maintenance.

It's a never-ending process, caring for this aging body! But at least I am living long enough to have to do so, thanks to my DS!

 

[southernlady]

Good luck with both procedures.

Getting old is not for wimps!

 

[aaa]

Teeth, the bane of my existence.

Hope the eye procedure goes well.

 

[DianaCox]

I'm hoping that having everything crowned will prevent the sensitivity I've always had from thin, crumbling enamel that is cracked and never fused on the biting surfaces (congenital). Crowns will not only be prettier, they will be stronger and a barrier from the sweet/sour/hot/cold sensitivity. Plus, since the prosthedontist wanted to make my teeth taller to make up for the crumbling and erosion on all biting surfaces, since my lower molars were done, my upper front teeth have not been able to meet the lowers to bite through food - I'll get my biting ability back.

 

[Cello]

^^^Oooh I understand that one. Hope you get maxxximum enjoyment from having your biting ability back! In the meantime, happy eye patch. Hope it's not too uncomfortable and very successful quickly.

 

[DuodenalSwitchaRoo]

yikes! good luck! Hope you get good results and can wear contacts again

 

[aaa]

What type of crowns are you getting? Metal, Metal with porcelain, Zirconium?

 

[hilary1617]

Jeepers! Hope it all goes smoothly and quickly!

 

[JackieOnLine]

also hoping everything goes OK!

 

[DianaCox]

Eye is done - it is pretty scratchy and uncomfortable but not painful. It makes me feel anxious with an eye patch so I took a tiny dose of Ativan. But the doc said it peeled off easily which meant it was growing so it's good I bit the bullet and took care of it before it got bigger.

Crowns will be, I think, total composites without metal, like the others.

 

[southernlady]

So glad the eye is done and mending now. Take it easy.

 

[aaa]

Glad the eyes went well. Hoping the same w/the teeth.

 

[DianaCox]

By the way, if you are interested, what I had was a Salzman'ss nodule (Salzmann's nodular degeneration), which can be caused by dry eyes. I thought he would be zapping it off with a laser, but it was actually peeled off like a scab, leaving a small raw corneal abrasion that should heal shortly (and is very annoying, but not painful). It is rare, but is most common in middle aged women. Hmmm. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21349758

If you - like me - spend a lot of time starting at a computer screen, you need to do some extra eye maintenance. USE LUBRICATING EYEDROPS! We tend to keep our eyes open without blinking when we use a computer screen. And the contacts - that I USED to wear.

 

[DianaCox]

Six crowns prepped, and temp crowns installed. Three weeks until the permanent crowns are ready. I was hoping since these teeth didn't have crowns that needed to be removed first, like most of the others, and aren't used as much as molars, they would be less painful. The prep WAS faster, but the prosthodontist said because the teeth are so small, they would probably hurt worse. Great. T3 already on board.

It was interesting - after discussing the color (of course matching the other crowns, which I did NOT make overly white, which would look weird in anyone's mouth, much less a 60 year old's mouth), and shape of the crowns (they will be bigger than the crumbled flattened teeth they are covering), the prosthodontist explained that he wanted to make them a little rotated, so they didn't look too "perfect" - in other words, make them more natural looking. Seems weird to be deliberately making them imperfect, but I get it. He made the uppers incisors more or less perfect though.

The rest of my body may look like a war zone, but my teeth are going to be nice. And I hope less costly for the next few years - there will be nothing left to do but keep them cleaned!

 

[Munchkin]

Glad you got that abrasion fixed! When will the teeth be completely done?