Thursday, April 16, 2009

Dental Awareness Dayie on Transplants!

OK, so those of you who did not grow up with me don't know the extent to which I have had instruments in my mouth...dental that is, you cheeky monkey :) Over the years I have encountered: over four years of braces, rubber bands that popped my jaw out of the socket, a retainer with attached fake tooth (called a flipper), an implant (hence the title of this blog) that required bone grafting, and four wisdom teeth that turned into two infected sockets. Finally, when I reached grad school, for the first time since childhood, I had no more dentist, oral surgeon, or orthodontist appointments. I didn't even have bi-yearly cleanings at that point since I couldn't afford dental insurance.

Now, at the youthful age of 26, I have returned to health and dental insurance (hooray!) and have begun the process of finding a dentist who I like. This is something that is very important to me. I went through two dentists out here in San Diego already. One was sufficient. A little bit too suave for my toofer needs, but successful in reattaching my fake tooth, nonetheless. (Yes this bugger does in fact fall off every few years; ask Kyle Lennon who accidentally punched me in college during a wrestle match and sent my tooth flying!)

The second lady was no good. I'm not sure if it was her Eastern European bedside manner (think Zoolander daiye spa without the feather duster) or her old yellow couch, but things just didn't jive. And after she diagnosed me with two cavities (my first EVER), it was downhill from there. Unfortunately, one of said cavities shoots pain up my face every time I eat on the right side of my face, but my new dentist assures me that we will slowly work on that.

So, that brings us to Dr. Gray. I only give this whole back story to emphasis how truly meaningful it has been to me to find such a glorious dentist. He's kind, thorough, talks like the father in "Bye Bye Birdie." He's quite amazing. And he has the same name as my childhood doctor who I loved! (Dr. Bonnie Gray, you were my hero.)

I thought I'd just take the time here to mention a few new things going on in the dentist world that I was completely unaware of until this Monday when I saw Dr. Gray for my first cleaning with his staff. First of all, apparently they have soothing fillings that you can get if you first get one that hurts your nerve endings (like mine). Second, they started doing this thing to measure the gingivitis in your gums where they measure the thickness of your gums at each tooth with a rubber-like tool. Third, plaque can start to deteriorate your gums/teeth/bones within 24 hours! So, floss like you've never flossed before :) My dad used to say that was the one lesson he wanted to make sure we got, but did I get that? No! It was quite a wake up call for me.

So, the moral of the story is: if you haven't been to the dentist in a while, they have some really cool things going on there now! It's like a carnival! OK, maybe not, but still.

This photo's reasons for being here are twofold: 1. You can see the hard work that went into getting teeth like those! haha 2. That's my work photo. Gotta love it! Safety first!

Monday, April 13, 2009

SD vs. B'More

Interesting. VERY interesting.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Updates

At sundown this evening, Passover starts. Justin and I are having a few friends and family members over to celebrate. Nothing fancy. No Seder plate or open chair, but definitely some home-cooked noodle kugle (don't be jealous!) and brisket. I've never made brisket before. I've watched my mom make that kind of stuff, but never joined in the fun. And boy is it fun! This morning I had to get up early to "trim" the fat. Oh, Amelia Bedelia how I loved your books. Unfortunately, when I tried to shove the meat into the fridge to chill before lunchtime when I'd return to stuff it in the crock pot I knocked over the shrimp juice I was saving for the cat. That's right, I said shrimp juice. So, of course the juice went directly into the meat container. Since I didn't want shrimp-flavored brisket, I took it out, rinsed it, and put it in a new pot. Luckily, that's been the only hiccup so far today.

On another note, the White House will be holding the first Seder with a president. If it's good enough for Obama, then it's good enough for me :) Happy Passover!

Also, thought this one was interesting. Apparently there are KILLER bees in La Mesa, CA (about ten minutes from where I used to live). These are not BUMBLE bees, people. They can KILL you. As if getting stung by a dragonfly wasn't enough (yes, it can and HAS happened), now I get to be afraid of killer bees? Is that really necessary?

Friday, April 3, 2009

Springtime Snowboarding

I'm headed to the cabin this weekend. Justin's mom and husband invited us up to their new cabin in Big Bear for the weekend. We haven't made it all season and now that it's April, Springtime, we're finally going snowboarding. Just another reason why SoCal is so great :) We're not exactly sure how much snow there will be up there, but it will be a nice mini vaca at the very least. Maybe a little fire, some reading, a little exercise. Besides, I'm used to the skiing on the East Coast. What's a little ice? And when we return...it's back to fixing up the house. Does this make me sound old? Oh, well. I'm having fun!