Wednesday, June 30, 2010

We like, "Do nothing!"

Continuing from my previous post...

I had seen a new dentist, who had suggested braces, since my regular dentist was out of town and my teeth hurt quite a bit. The new dentist did help relieve some of the pain but had also suggested braces.

Not being too thrilled about the prospect of more procedures and braces, even with the option of finding bands to color coordinate with my outfits, I returned to my regular dentist to get another opinion. He noted that my teeth hurt because the roots were traumatized by the nasal surgery and suggested we do nothing for awhile.

Nothing?! I like "do nothing!" In fact, I love "do nothing!"

So...I'm going to do nothing. At the end of August, my regular dentist will check my teeth again (and refit me for a mouth guard to wear at night, since I'm a teeth grinder and my old guard bears no resemblance to where my teeth are currently situated). He's taking a very conservative approach and that seems very reasonable to me.

Otherwise, I'm making slow but positive strides. The scar tissue in my nose must be healing, because I can breathe a little more easily. My surgeon said that would take a month or two to resolve, and I have a follow-up appointment with him in mid-July. My bite is still very off but less so since the new dentist filed several teeth.

Things are looking up!

The one thing I hadn't mentioned in awhile is that I am now terrified to ride my bike on the road. I could work on this...but I'd rather not. Riding in my neighborhood is reasonably uninteresting, since there is only an isolated half-mile road; otherwise, I'd have to ride on streets that are too busy for my comfort level. But I can live with riding locally or driving my bike to a bike path.

I'll work on becoming an expert at archery instead. I'm already pretty good and that feels much safer!

--K--