Teeth

Everyone knows that teeth are important - how else would we chew yummy things like marshmallows, ice cream, or cheeseburgers? Nevertheless I've had mixed results with my teeth. First, the good part. Until I was 18 I never had a cavity! That's pretty much all I have.

Tooth Numbers and illustrations
In case you were wondering what their numbers were.

My problems began when I was 8 years old. Despite never having played baseball I decided I wanted to play. One of the neighborhood kids, a year older than me, named David Miller was also on my team. He came to our house and asked if I wanted to practice. You see, he wanted to be a pitcher so he asked me to play catcher. I squatted down as I'd seen catchers do; Dave wound up and threw a fastball - right above my glove hitting me squarely in the mouth. Being 8 years old I ran into the house with blood streaming everywhere where my parents informed me that I'd broken one of my teeth, #8 or #9 to be exact. Off to the dentist I went.
Nitchkey Field where I played several seasons of baseball from 8 until I was 13 or 14

It seemed that Dr Mahoney took 10 appointments, each one seemingly lasting for hours before I had a root canal and permanent cap on my broken tooth. That's all I remember for 10 years when my next incident happened. I was attending Mount Saint Mary's College (now a university) in Emmitsburg, MD on a small athletic scholarship to compete on their track team. I went into the weight room one Saturday and jumped up to grab the chin-up bar. I liked to hang from the bar for 30 seconds or so because it gave me a good stretch. This time, however, things went sideways.
Mount St. Mary’s and the future of Catholic higher education – CRUX
Rather than stretching, I immediately passed out and remained unconscious for about a minute or two according to others in the room. During the time I was unconscious I was pounding my face into the concrete weight room floor so that when I came to, once again I was bleeding everywhere, only this time I'd manage to break off the cap and break 3 other teeth. At the end of this delightful episode I had now broken teeth 7-10. At this point I still hadn't had a cavity.

The next episode was about 18 months later, just before leaving on my mission when one morning I woke up in agony. One (or more I can't remember) of the teeth damaged in the weight room had abscessed. If you've ever had an abscessed tooth you know how much agony I was in. Eventually I got connected with a dentist although my recollection is that it took a couple of days. Agony is the only word I have for it!
Root Canal Average Cost - $1,500 (Molars), $1,200 (Biscupids)
When you receive a root canal a dentist starts by drilling into the back of a tooth until they pierce the hard outer part and the infection all flows out. One of the great moments of my life was when he did that, releasing the pressure, and the pain was gone in an instant. I didn't even care that the abscess fluid both stinks and is bitter. That was a small price to pay for the relief!

There were other, later episodes which can be summarized as: many cavities, other root canals, removal of 2 wisdom teeth, replacement of teeth 7-10 with a bridge, and 2 broken teeth this weekend caused by chewing. It's been fun.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Raumas

Image
Arthur Victor Rauma was born in December of 1902 in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, the son of Reverend John Victor and Suzzie Oikemus Rauma, pastor of the local Lutheran church. Arthur Victor was a gifted athlete with considerable musculature. The sixth of seven children, Arthur Victor was the third child born in the United States as well as the third boy. A younger brother died soon after being born resulting in Arthur growing up as the youngest child in the family. As an adult Arthur Victor developed a drinking problem which is the probable cause of the violence he committed against his wife and only child, John Arthur. One time my father, John Arthur was driving through Boston with the three of us in the back when he saw his father on the street. Stopping the car, he crossed the street to speak with him. He informed his father that his grandchildren were across the street in the car and asked if he wanted to meet them. Declining the opportunity he instead asked for money so my fath...
Read more

Aunt Quackie

Image
Cape Cod Aunt Quackie was an original. Born in 1913 in Fitchburg Massachusetts, the same town where my father would be born 16 years later. She was my grandmother's younger sister, the 5th girl and 8th child in a family of 11. The daughter of Andrew and Johanna Wahtola, she was the 2nd child born in the United States. She was a lot of fun with a great senae of humor. Quackie's father - Andrew I don't recall how she got the name Quackie since she was born Sylvia Maria. She had one child, Nadine, whose birth has been a bit of a mystery. When I knew Aunt Quackie, her name was Sylvia Hamaleinen, although she was a single woman and Nadine's name was White. I found 2 marriages for Aunt Quackie during the same year in different towns on Cape Cod while doing a records search but the man was not listed. My guess is her first husband was a White. We were told was Nadine's father was killed in World War II before she was born so he probably died soon after her concep...
Read more

Things About My Father

Image
My dad lied about his age in order to enlist. It appears his initial enlistment was in the Navy although after 4 years he transferred to the Army where he served another 4 years.  The Defense Department considers him a veteran of WWII and Korea although he never saw combat. Instead he served as a Military Policeman (MP). Although he never saw combat he did say that in the performance of his duties as an MP on Okinawa he had to kill someone. It bothered him probably until his death.   It's hard to read, but it says US Navy, US Army, WWII, Korea The Defense Department provides these to the families of veterans when they die He spent 4 years in the Navy He also spent 4 years in the Army My father was a diesel mechanic and truck driver who converted to Catholicism from the Lutheran heritage of his youth; both grandfathers having been Lutheran ministers. This conversion was independent of my mother’s influence although she would never have agreed to marry...
Read more