My friend Becky said that our life expectancies are longer than they used to be – but this is not so of our teeth. Say, for example, that teeth have at most a 30 year life span. And here we are, living into our 70s, 80s, and 90s. My goodness, no wonder so many (like me) are having dental issues at a later age. And the technology does not seem to be keeping pace with the baby boomers’ need for more exacting dental work.

The example, dental implants. Becky got implants, three I think – and she had trouble with one or two of the crowns. My neighbor Karen, who was a dental hygienist, had implant surgery

Tyra getting dental work

and the bone graft didn’t take. And there is me. I have two implant posts in place on the left side of my upper jaw and no post (as of yet) on the right side of my upper jaw. The other day I returned to the dentist thinking that two crowns would be put in on the left side. The assistant took x-rays. Oh oh. I saw what the dentist saw when he pointed it out to me, this was that the area around one of the two posts lacked sufficient bone. “Oh oh,” I said. So I didn’t get the crowns.

The dentist (when I reminded him, he’s a very busy man these days) had an x-ray taken of the left side portion of my jaw, where I still need an implant post and crown. He said that the bone graft took, and he was very pleased about this. He pointed to the x-ray on the big screen, and I saw what he saw – dense tissue.

The full realization of what this all means didn’t dawn upon me until I left the dentist’s office. I was just glad to get out of there. I should have been dismayed because the work didn’t get done, meaning that it still will have to get done meaning that I will have to return to the dentist again in the near future.

The full realization is that most likely, after again visiting the dentist, I will have to go to (visit) an oral surgeon and have another bone graft. He said that we should give the area where the bone growth is lacking another six weeks. I can’t imagine after all this time that the bone is going to suddenly go on a growth spurt. All this, to which I now say, shit, shit, shit.

And I have to go back on February 28, and have a post put in the vacant space on the left side upper jaw, which was expected.

I know the drill, no pun intended. I will start to grow fearful about the upcoming appointment sometime next week. It gets so bad that I can’t even think straight. I don’t think I’m phobic. I think I’m being realistic.

It seems odd to me that teeth would go bad at a later age. I am thinking indeed, I’ll bet that there are a lot of us out there, all dealing with dental implant issues.

Next: 47. 2/16/23: Raise High the Roofbeams Carpenters