My Cracked Tooth

I've had 2 cracked crowns replaced today.

I broke my 2 front teeth way back in 1992 while my bike ploughed head first into an open storm drain, launching me head first into the concrete pavement. (when your a kid, speed and safety is not a factor in your mind until you first feel real pain) I pulled myself up from the pavement and opened my mouth to see bits of broken teeth falling like white Chiclets from my mouth along with a fountain of blood. Not a pretty sight.

I had them crowned a couple of years back and the dentist did a fantastic job manufacturing the teeth out of ceramic and got the shading just perfect. However, with wear and tear all things eventually break down.

What started as a hairline fracture eventually spread and became a crack the size of the grand canyon across one tooth!

Think I'm exaggerating? Have a look at this: This shot was taken before I ran off to work this morning. (I just discovered the cool macro function in my digital camera and am loving these close ups)

You can see that apart from the grand canyon on the right, a faint but visible San Andrea's fault has started to zig-zag across the bottom half of the tooth on the left.

The damage to the wallet? A whopping $3300! Of which I claimed $800 back from my private health insurance plan. Fuck. $2500 is going to make my credit card and wallet feel the pain long after the problem is gone. Double Fuck!

Well, the fun part at the dentist today was getting a massive injection into each tooth (yes, i'm a sick bastard sometimes).
Loved that feeling when my nose and the front of my face went numb and I was on the brink of la la land before he started filling the broken crown down and taking a mould for a replacement.

I've got a temporary crown in place until the dental labs manufacture the crowns in 3 weeks time. It hurts like hell now and I look hideous with this bugs bunny like crap stuck on my front teeth!


Grrrr...... Andy isn't very happy!