Your dentist lets you play with his Christmas trees, doesn't he?

This is the week most of us visit the dentist.  While Elizabeth was being seen, Sophia made a tall Eiffel-type tower out of Mega Blox and put a fir tree atop to indicate it was at its highest point.  Well, that might not have been the original purpose, but AFTER I explained that tradition to her, she agreed the tree could represent that.  LOL

The smart office ladies just nodded and ignored her use of the counter decorations.

Sophia took a friend to the dental office today

Usually I take all three girls to the dentist the same day, but for some reason Sophia's routine exam was scheduled separately.  That let me have one-on-one time with her which is always a pleasure.  Interesting, too.

She looks like she's in great pain here, but really she was just opening up wide for her teeth cleaning with blue goo.

She wasn't worried about it all though, because she brought Cubbie along to keep her company.

And it was a perfect exam.

A morning in Mexico

Dh and I went to northern Mexico this morning for his dental appointment. Getting specialty work done there is about 1/4 to 1/3 the cost for the same thing in our American city. I forgot my camera, didn't bring my iTouch, and can't get pictures off my phone, so all I can offer today is the parking lot ticket. We always park on the US side, then walk across. Conveniently, the dozens and dozens of pharmacies, dentists, and optometrists in Nogales are within an easy walk of the border crossing station.

On the way home we laughed as we watched a tumbleweed roll across the highway. Tell me if this sounds "southwest" to you: we were driving north from Mexico through an Indian reservation in the Sonoran desert, having just crossed a dry river gulch and a hillside of saguaro cacti when the aforementioned tumbleweed crossed our way. Yeah, we live in the southwest.

Root Canal

Not as bad as I expected. I had one when I was pregnant with C & E, twice sort of, because they had to reopen it two weeks later to put some medicine in, and it wasn't horrible.

My dentist sent me to an endodontist for a second opinion, but told me he could do the root canal if it were needed. However, I loved the office and the endodontist so much upon my first consultation that I decided to go back to that office to have the work done.

I waited from December to February because I wasn't absolutely sure I needed the root canal. The affected tooth was in the upper back part of my mouth and I was having sinus problems there and wasn't positive the problem was the tooth vs. the sinus cavity. Continued pain convinced me it was the tooth.

Once the endodontist got in there he found a pulp stone which is a tiny calcification within the pulp cavity.
These are not my teeth, but you can see a shadow on both of these teeth and I believe the one on the right has the pulp stone. Anyway, the endodontist said it can form to protect the nerve from irritation of some duration. So I guess something was going on inside my tooth.

I've been taking 600 mg ibuprofen since I got home, but honestly, I hardly need it. It's already easier to chew my food (no pain!!) and I'm really glad I got it done and most of all--got it DONE WITH!!

Next up: go back to the dentist for the crown that is waiting in a tiny envelope in his drawer and be DONE with this tooth once and for all.

Did I get it?

That April Fool's Day virus, I mean. My computer is acting wacky today. I should make a note here: Mom--you can't get any virus I might have by reading this online.

I took all three girls to the dentist today. He's fast and good. All three girls had clean checkups which makes me very glad. They are awash in new toothbrushes, new dental floss, new toothpaste, and loads of big stickers. No wonder they like to go.