OMG My Tooth!

This morning was INSANE.

I was excited to sleep in late this morning since my mom took Grace overnight and sleeping till 10am is pretty much a thing of the past.

I lazily rolled over just before 10:00 and decided to get a start on my day.  I was gone all day yesterday and, as a result, my house was pretty much a leftover pigsty from the day before.

Before eating breakfast I wanted to take care of the dishes, straighten the living room, make my bed and put a bunch of lingering crap away.

It took all of about 25 minutes and I was feeling like Queen of the World when I looked upon my tidy queendom.

Then I decided I’d toast up a few frozen waffles (classy!) and sit down to respond to emails.

THAT’S WHEN IT HAPPENED….

I bit down on the tip of my fork with a vengeance and CHIPPED MY FREAKING TOOTH!

For the record, I chew like a beast.  Like I’m literally needing to chomp through the bones of my freshly captured prey.  LIKE AN ANIMAL.

I can’t really help it, I’ve always been a ferocious chewer.

When I bite my tongue, I always check to see if I have any tongue left.

When I bite my cheek, I generally chomp off a whole chunk.

It’s disgusting.  And painful.

So yeah, when I bit the end of my fork and heard a terrifying crunch I just knew something bad had happened.

Somehow I swallowed the bite of waffle (and tooth!) and ran to the bathroom.

Yep, I WAS MISSING A CHUNK OF MY BOTTOM TOOTH!

Ensue full-on panic.

I was shaking and jittery from adrenaline.  So much so that I could hardly compose myself to text Andy (aka Student Doctor Gould) for a consult.

Somehow I managed to compose a quick message and hit send.

Although I was still freaking out, and may have Googled “I chipped my tooth now what should I do,” I knew I had to keep moving forward.

Just last week I got our Tricare coverage sorted out but hadn’t even started the dental insurance process so of course I was pissed that I waited till an emergency to think about dental insurance enrollment.

It doesn’t pay to be a procrastinator.

To make a long story short, I called a helpful lady at our local recruiting office, then got in touch with Metlife, found out Andy had to call (of course!), and was ultimately told that if he called today we’d be covered as of August 1st.

AUGUST 1ST PEOPLE!

That’s like 2 weeks away and the day before I leave for BlogHer!  Ugh.

More panic ensued.

I don’t currently have a dentist (long story) so I called one nearby that my hairdresser recommended.  They weren’t very nice and are not in my network.  BOO!

Then I checked the Metlife website and started looking for dentists close to me and I came across the name of one my sister has seen before.

On a wing and a prayer, I called the office to tell my crazy story and see what could be done.  The lady I spoke to was AWESOME and although the Dr. and normal receptionist are on vacation (go figure!) she was really helpful and got me an appointment on 08/01.

Then I texted my wise friend Bonnie (Hi Bonnie!) who just happens to have been a dental assistant.  She called and talked me off the ledge and encouraged me to get seen ASAP so the situation doesn’t get worse.

I had to run out the door to meet my mom 45 minutes away to pick up Grace, but the car became my mobile office and I made phone calls like crazy.  I got on the waitlist to see the Dr. next week and during the drive to meet my mom, I got a call back that I was in for 4:15pm on Monday!

Cue awesome relief.

I’m gonna have to pay out of pocket for the appointment, but I’m hoping for one of three things:

1. I can get checked out and repaired for a decent price (I have money in an HSA that I can use)
2. I’ll be told that it’s really minor and can wait till August 1st without danger.
3. That if #2 is true, they won’t charge me an arm and a leg for just getting checked out.

SOO, here I am.  Sitting at my dining room table, obsessively running my tongue across my jagged chipped tooth and praying that I make it to Monday afternoon without going crazy.

You may wonder what I’m fussing so much about, so I’ve included this kind of gross closeup picture of my snaggletooth…

This is a phone pic so you can’t see how the chip extends down the “face” of my tooth.

This picture really creeps me out.  My lips look gigantic and scary.  Ugh.

Have you ever chipped a tooth?  What was the outcome?  Did you get it bonded or need a crown?

Someone give me some good news….