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tl;dr I will need two more teeth pulled, then implants where those were, and then they can build the bridge.
I went to the dentist this morning; I'd had an afternoon appointment, but they called yesterday asking to change it. Given the current heat wave, I said yes. (It was 22 C/72 F when I left the house, and 32 C/89 F when I was done, and I got to sit in the shade reading while waiting for a bus.)
I expected to be discussing how to replace the teeth the dentist pulled a few weeks ago. But it turned out that the teeth next to the ones he already pulled will also need to come out, for similar reasons. I suspect that if I'd asked for just a removable "partial" we could have postponed some of that, but he said it wouldn't make sense to do implants given that the adjoining teeth will have to come out in a year or two.
The only advantage of waiting for the next steps would have been to get insurance to pay for part of it, but there's no medical/dental reason to wait, and the older you get, the more slowly you heal.
In the meantime, I will be getting a partial, which I'll need for a few months even if all goes well. They did various uncomfortable things to take panoramic X-rays, and make molds of my teeth for the partial; I don't go to the dentist expecting my neck and shoulder to hurt from what they're doing.
Sometime after July 4th, when the partial is ready, they will call me, and I will make an appointment with the dental surgeon, and also come in to get the partial. The surgeon will do the extractions and implants during the same visit.
I went to the dentist this morning; I'd had an afternoon appointment, but they called yesterday asking to change it. Given the current heat wave, I said yes. (It was 22 C/72 F when I left the house, and 32 C/89 F when I was done, and I got to sit in the shade reading while waiting for a bus.)
I expected to be discussing how to replace the teeth the dentist pulled a few weeks ago. But it turned out that the teeth next to the ones he already pulled will also need to come out, for similar reasons. I suspect that if I'd asked for just a removable "partial" we could have postponed some of that, but he said it wouldn't make sense to do implants given that the adjoining teeth will have to come out in a year or two.
The only advantage of waiting for the next steps would have been to get insurance to pay for part of it, but there's no medical/dental reason to wait, and the older you get, the more slowly you heal.
In the meantime, I will be getting a partial, which I'll need for a few months even if all goes well. They did various uncomfortable things to take panoramic X-rays, and make molds of my teeth for the partial; I don't go to the dentist expecting my neck and shoulder to hurt from what they're doing.
Sometime after July 4th, when the partial is ready, they will call me, and I will make an appointment with the dental surgeon, and also come in to get the partial. The surgeon will do the extractions and implants during the same visit.
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