Eric's Beijing Diary

Disgusting. My new crown broke off yesterday. I pulled a biscuit or something out of the fridge that turned out to be hard as rock when I bit into it. So this morning I took the bus to the McDonald's near the Hills here (yes, same song--over and over and over) and called my dentist, whose office is nearby. Used to be kinda inconvenient to go there, because his office is way out at the Air Force hospital. But now I live way out on the other side of the Air Force hospital, so it's just a ten or fifteen minute bus ride. He spent about an hour or so cementing it back in again, and didn't charge me a thing. Nice guy.

I don't know how that tooth is going to go, though. It is one of my two front teeth, so it's hard not to use it. The good news is that there is really no reason for it to come loose if I can remember not to bite into solid rock.

The older I get, the more crowns I seem to have. So far, though I have been lucky. Most of them are glued to solid roots. If the root goes, then you have to make a bridge, and that can be tough if every other tooth is a crown. My other front tooth is an old root canal that has never been crowned. And the tooth on the other side is also a crown. It can't be used to support a bridge. I guess I'll just have to be really careful. All it takes is once. Fortunately, my dentist is quite a craftsman, but this one is turning out to be quite a challenge for him.

I do have an old bridge on the right side in front that I have had since I was in high school. Fortunately, the tooth it is glued to is solid as the rock of Gibraltar. I have never had any trouble with it. If something should happen with that, I'd be in trouble. So far I have never had to have dentures. My teeth function like normal teeth. Keeping my fingers crossed.