Sometimes bitches need stitches

OMG. Where to even start. I had my big dental appointment on Friday. It went fine, better then fine, really well actually. I was just super emotional about it all. Scared. Sad. Freaked the eff out.

Um, why do I look like I'm going in for surgery?!

I mean, I lost a freaking tooth and now have cadaver bone fragments in my jaw for a bone graph. Kind of creepy, right? The science behind it all is amazing, but come on, I've got dead person bone in my mouth!

I decided to save a few hundred dollars and make the trip up to Richmond to the VCU dental college. Amazing. So glad I did. And, they take insurance!

I'm seeing a resident, Dr. Glazier so he's already technically a dentist and is just getting the last of his hours in so he can go start his own practice.

Did you know they are in school FOREVER. Like SEVEN+ years. Granted part of that is because he's a specialist, smart guy, that's where the money is. Sorry ladies, he's married.

I kind of felt like I was on Gray's Anatomy a la dental hospital edition. It's obviously a teaching environment so I had observers and he talked through everything for their benefit and quizzed them on stuff.

AND, while I was sitting there getting numbed up, I overheard them talking about some school drama. Apparently someone needed some time off and one the professors was being a d-bag about it. Granted, not too professional, but I loved it.

The facility itself was also quite impressive. They have state of the art equipment, all the new stuff for them to learn on. When I go back to get my stitches out, I get a 3-D x-ray of my mouth. How cool is that?

I also really like that they were all young in their careers and still think this stuff is fun and cool. They aren't all bogged down with running a practice and sick and tired of doing their job. My doctor even called me on Saturday to see how I was doing. Say what!?

The other benefit is that the dental instructor comes by and double checks all the work along the way. It gave me great peace of mind that everything was done correctly and looked good.

Half a smile and a swollen face. I was numb for HOURS. 

The end result from Friday's appointment.

Something is missing. And ek, my neck. Double gross on this pic. 

So it's not that bad, you can barely tell when I smile. Thank the good lord! 

I go back in two weeks to get stitches out and he checks on the bone graph. If all is good I heal for another 1.5 months and then, then the implant goes in. Ek. 

So the moral to this story: floss your teeth! And, if you do ever need a root canal, you might want to just skip ahead to this. Apparently, MOST root canals eventually fail and you end up in this situation.