[photo of Sunday morning's sunrise]
In the beginning of it all, this was supposed to be a simple matter of removing the crown in question, extracting the remaining root of the tooth, and placing an implant to support a new crown. One fake tooth out, another fake tooth in, easy as pie. Two bone graft surgeries later, and two years have elapsed, and there wasn't enough bone formed to support an implant and I had to face the fact that I would have a bridge to span the gap in my smile. To make the bridge look natural, my gumline needed work ... which is what yesterday's surgery was all about.
I feel pretty good. I spent yesterday evening and overnight on good pain meds ... deciding this morning that I don't need them anymore. (Maybe one more pill tonight at bed time.) I've been icing my face like I was instructed to do, but the swelling is still pretty technicolor. Considering how much time I spent with my upper lip pulled up to my nose, so the doctor had access to do his thing, it's no surprise that it puffed up like it did. The same thing happened with the prior two surgeries, so I was expecting it. Hopefully, I will look more normal within a couple of days. Sorry to disappoint you ... no photos of my puffy face will be posted.
Doctor's orders are for me to take it easy today and do as little as possible. You all know me well enough by now to imagine that I'm going crazy having to be still like this. So far, I have spent most of my time sitting on the sofa watching TV with the dogs. Found a morning marathon of HGTV's 'Sarah Sees Potential' and that helped pass the time. (I love everything about Sarah Richardson!)
My doctor assures me that this latest procedure is going to do the trick, and that I can soon be fitted with a permanent bridge. I sure hope so because I really want to put this prolonged dental nightmare behind me.