Crown

Today I went through the first part of getting a dental crown. I've been oblivious to this aspect of dentistry until now, so here I am blogging excitedly about it.

Once upon a time, I had a molar. When I was a kid, I got a filling in it. The filling fell out and was replaced. That one fell out and was replaced again. Each new filling involved a bit of drilling. Eventually the tooth was, much like Darth Vader, more machine than man.

A few months ago I was eating something and must have cracked the tooth. This happened because the tooth was just a weak shell around the big filling, so it couldn't handle half-popped popcorn kernels or Egg McBone Deluxe parts as well as it used to. So my dentist said it was time to get a crown. I'll wait a few minutes while you read that, because I don't feel like explaining what a crown is.

Today's appointment was to get the tooth ready for the crown. The dentist pulled out the old filling and then drilled for what seemed like two hours. The reason for the drilling is to make the tooth smaller to give the crown room to fit in the mouth, and also to make it a convex shape that can accommodate the rigid crown, which needs to slip onto the tooth and fit snugly. After the drilling I asked for a mirror to see how much of the tooth had been sanded down. My giant molar -- which has helped me eat every chewable bite I've ever eaten since around age 8 -- was just a tiny, sad cylinder! All the enamel was gone, leaving only the yellow dentin, trembling, terrified in the corner of my mouth. If it's possible for a human male to have a maternal instinct, mine appeared today. I did not expect to feel such strong emotions for a tooth.

A few minutes later a temporary metal crown covered things up again, and I made an appointment for a few weeks from now to get the permanent, custom-made porcelain-covered tooth installed. No options (different colors or materials, or... get ready, here it comes... Bluetooth) were discussed.

I'm now trying intently to avoid chewing my inner mouth to shreds before the anesthetic wears off. Stay tuned for part two of this exciting story.