Yet another day at the dentist

Five hours in the dental chair and $1800 later (out of my pocket), my left side top and bottom, rearmost molars are saved. $1800 was just for the work that day, crowns still need made and more time in that chair yet ahead. Which will also need to be paid for (somewhere around $3800 in total).

These were the last two teeth I didn't do anything about in my last great dental adventure. You think I would have learned something out of that but no, I decided to ignore them for a little while which turned into a long while. Which turned into a large problem.

Believe me I could have lived with out the two matching set (top and bottom) absolutely back teeth on my left side. No one could see them and I could still eat perfectly fine.

Cost to remove them: 1 hour and $240.

This would be the only time I would say, this is a good idea to lose salvageable teeth. Which I debated for the last few weeks and all the way up to the moment I stepped into the dental office I hadn't fully decided.

The final thing to put me over: my wife reminded me of a little thing called dry socket. I had it when I had my wisdom teeth removed. As soon as she said it I shuddered and decided I can't have dry socket if I don't have teeth removed. Costs and numbers flew right out of my head - must avoid dry socket!

The real hero here: anti-anxiety drugs. I'd never have even gotten into that chair with out a magic pill. Ask your dentist to prescribe you something you if feel "tense" about dental work - its a life saver.

If I was ever granted 3 wishes I am certain one of my wishes would be: "Reverse time to a point where I decided not to take care of my teeth correctly." The extra level of cost, pain, and time I have endured was pretty damn stupid when all I had to do was show up at a dentist from time to time. May you learn from my mistakes.