Tomorrow I go in to Tufts Dental School to have a dental implant installed.

[randomness]

For over a year now, I've been running around with a removable false upper incisor. Tomorrow is the first step in the process of having a permanent restoration installed. Should be interesting.

At some point I'll blog about the pros and cons of going to Tufts Dental School over going to a regular dentist. For now I'll just say it's been an education for me, as well as for the students who have been working with me.

(krlisue and I have been bonding over this; she's ahead of me in the process and it's been helpful being able to talk with her about her experiences. Thanks!)

Comments

[krlisue.livejournal.com]

Ha ha! Anything I can do, dear! I still love that photo of the 2 of us with our front teeth missing. Oh, how classy we are!

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Ha! I'd love a copy of that photo!

Oh, how classy we are!

Class and elegance, that's us! :)

[krlisue.livejournal.com]

If ever I find it again (probably need to find it from boy's computer), then I'll send it to you.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Yay! Thanks!

[emilymorgan.livejournal.com]

Good luck! I'm curious to hear how it goes. I went to the UNH dental hygiene school free clinic for cleaning in college, due to not having dental insurance. It was interesting- not something I'd recommend to someone who doesn't have a lot of time on their hands, because they had me come back several times to finish it, but it was SO educational (and they even gave me free x-rays of my extra wisdom tooth!)

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'll definitely let you know how it goes.

[mmancuso.livejournal.com]

I've been recently to the dental school for a cleaning and to have a filling replaced. I agree with the time committment comments.

The only complaint is that my student --who was very nice in every way-- had the touch of a gorilla. As part of the diagnostics of a new patient, he had to do the probing thing. Let's just say there was a big difference between his touch and the instructor's touch, who came in afterward to corroborate numbers. Being a clay artist, I could tell the instances in which he just wasn't getting the tactile data and was pushing harder to get at some kind of resistance. It was interesting from a teacher's point of view that he didn't have a very sensitive feedback loop, but, arghhh.

I'm not saying anything more.

I think the dental school is a great option if you have patience for certain kinds of things.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

I think I was very lucky; my original case was sufficiently interesting that I was seen on pretty short notice by the chief resident in periodontology, who took me as a patient. I'm sorry he's leaving at the end of the month, but he's really been great. And given that he's less than three weeks away from working in practice (in Brookline--I'll post here when I know where), he's about as close to being a dentist in practice as is possible.

But yes, you definitely need patience.

[sarakate.livejournal.com]

I'll be interested to hear your thoughts about going through the dental school on this. I'm having implants also, along with some other work (both functional and cosmetic), but through a regular dentist and oral surgeon, so I'll probably comment a lot with contrast/compare as I go through my experience.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Sure! I'll be glad to compare notes, here or wherever.