A Good Patient

My gums have been receding from my front teeth for years. Every new dentist I see has warned me that I should get it looked at by a specialist, that if I didn't have sugery one day the bone loss would be so extensive my teeth would fall out. After despairing that I would ever have dental insurance that would cover such a procedure, I decided to stop waiting and made the appointment to see the endodontist a couple weeks ago. What a shocker--he recommended surgery and periodontal scaling. Has anyone ever been referred to a specialist who said, "Nah, you don't have any problems, there's nothing for me to do here." No! They always find something to do. Something expensive, and often painful.

So anyway, yesterday I had gum surgery. A gingival graft. My mouth was numb all evening, but actually I haven't been as sore today as I had expected to be. Somewhat amusing is that both the assistant and the endodontist himself separately called me a good patient.

I didn't notice this phenomenon in Pasadena or San Francisco, but in both Sacramento and here in the Triangle area of North Carolina, dentists must be making a killing. They all have Fridays off. (Except mine, who is off Mondays.) Wouldn't you think supply and demand would lead to more dentists moving into such an area, driving prices down to the point where they actually have to work 40 hours a week? I wonder if they're colluding in some way.