ANOTHER BRIDGE IS GOING UP

My third, to be exact! The good news is that I don't need a dental implant, but I still require a tooth extraction and bone graft.

The specialist gave me a different diagnosis than the dental clinic. In fact, it was one that gave me chills! He said that due to trauma in that area, my mouth no longer recognized the tooth as part of my body and was eating it!

HORRORS!!! That sounds like a cheesy science fiction movie, something with a stupid title such as The Face From Outer Space That Feeds On Flesh & Bone.

I recall my shock a few years back when I overheard a hygienist telling the dentist that I had a "Torn Eye" in my mouth! -- That's a slang term for an abnormality of the inner lower gum line.

As to any severe trauma in that area, the only one I recall is an injury I experienced as a 3 year old. As a result, my bite doesn't line up properly. This has been the cause of many problems with my teeth. More than one dentist has asked who punched me in the mouth as a child. Actually, what happened was that I fell off a rocking chair!

Of course I was standing backwards on the armrests rocking wildly; yahoooo!  Rid'em cowboy! And the chair tumbled backwards and I landed on my chin unconscious. My parents rushed me to the doctor! Stitches were taken and I still have the scar under my chin to this day.

However the D.M.D. said the trauma had to be more recent. The only recent one was to my foot and I didn't land on my face when I fell. Also my jaw was hurting before that!

Perhaps I was teleported aboard a UFO for one of those notorious medical exams and an alien punched me in the jaw to stop me from screaming! Afterward, my memory was erased. Those space aliens can do that, you know!

Or I could have fallen into a portal to another dimension and had to fight off a scaly, horned beast! The experience was probably so traumatic that my mind blocked it! Gadzooks! Anything is possible!

Hmmn, I do recall something that happened late last spring. I was eating mushrooms I'd sautéed in garlic butter over veggie pasta when suddenly it felt as if I'd bitten into a stone. My entire lower right jaw began to ache! However I had washed and scrubbed those mushrooms with my bare hands and not one felt petrified. Also the pasta was soft! I doubt this was the cause of the problem, just the effect.

Well I am certainly no stranger to dental surgery. I've had work done galore, far more than bridges! Whenever anyone complements my smile, I always say it should be nothing less than gorgeous for what I paid!

I recovered well from the majority of previous work with little distress. The most excruciating pain that I've ever experienced was in 1979 when my wisdom teeth were removed. I was in dire agony for a month afterward. I'm allergic to codeine (learned that the hard way) and aspirin didn't do a damn thing! One tooth was impacted (never broken the surface) and the roots of another were wrapped around my jaw bone.

The maxillofacial surgeon actually told me that my mouth had given him nightmares. Knowing what I do now, I'd say he had good reason. Since his fingers weren't part of my body he's darn lucky my mouth didn't start eating them!