Wednesday....

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood today - literally.  I took Hans for an extra long walk this morning and I think I am going to do another one after this.  Yesterday afternoon I was going to force myself to do a workout DVD from Netflix, but then I suddenly realized that I could go for a bike ride instead.  (One of those realizations that come after the kids have been in school for 3 weeks.)  Don't worry, Hans got his morning walk too - and training class last night.

Work has been really unpredictable this week.  I don't have a lot going on right now - I have projects that I have been chipping away at, but nothing pressing - so I've had some more free time.  I figure I will take it while I can get it.  I cleaned the kitchen counters yesterday as well as sorted out the fridge.  Today the windows could use a washing....

I also had a dentist check-up today.  I had a loose crown that had been loose for a bit, but I was just trying to ignore it.  She popped it off and reapplied some better adhesive to see if that works.  She was pretty confident that it would, but the alternative would be to put in a "post" and build the crown around that.  This was quick and easy and hopefully is fine for another 10 years.  I also have 2 areas where the "pockets" of my gum are pretty deep.  I have been aggressively trying to take care of these areas each day, but the pockets aren't getting better - (the other areas sure are - my hygienist barely had to clean ANY plaque off and commented that she was amazed at how little I had.)  So they figured that there is bacteria in the pocket that we can't get to.  They inserted 2 doses of antibiotics into the pocket area and over the next 28 days, that should clear up what's there.  They were super easy going in, but now it feels like I bit into something and part of it got jammed into my gum.  Ever had that happen?  It's annoying and a bit uncomfortable. 

So that brings me to my thoughts on this whole dentist issue.  I went to my appointment today because it had been scheduled for a while, and I don't want to skip it and put it off while I look for another dentist.  I had a very frank conversation with her and Will's hygienist (who is really quite wonderful) about my concerns about the care that we are receiving with their practice.  They were about as upset as I was to hear that Will had a second abscess, she re-examined the x-rays from his previous visit (and showed me) but we could see no evidence of any type of infection festering in that tooth.  Over the past week as I have been thinking about whether to move us to a new dentist and where and I am really sick of pointing fingers in places that they probably don't belong.  From what the oral surgeon said the filling in this tooth looked well placed and would not comment on anything the previous dentist had done. 

The reason we changed to our current dentist in the first place was because the pediatric dentist we WERE seeing in Eden Prairie had told us that Will had a cavity which she recommended treating under general anesthesia given his age. (He was like 3/4)  It was a tiny little thing and his first one.  John and I didn't want to do that so I went shopping for a new dentist.  We came to this one and she said, no, she wouldn't recommend him to go under general - she would just fill it normally.  Finally!  We got the answer we were looking for - so we went with her.  That was Will's first abscessed tooth. 

Now - what would have happened had we gone the other route?  I hear people say all the time in regards to the medical community - if you don't like what one dr says, keep looking til you find one that says what you want to hear.  Maybe we went the wrong route?  Maybe the exact same outcome would have happened either way.  I feel like blaming what the dr's are saying is just a way of not pointing the finger where it should be pointed - at me. 

And maybe there doesn't need to be any finger pointing - that's a bad expression.  What I mean is that if there weren't cavities in the first place -there'd be nothing to fill.  I had weak enamel as a child and therefore, at the age of 3, had all my baby teeth capped.  It was a process - that's for sure (one that I still remember very clearly) but I had no cavities in my baby teeth.  It could be that Will and Katie have inherited a bit of my weak enamel - or it could be that we are just not brushing as well as we should be.  Either way I think I need to shut up and do the work.

When people need to lose weight, or get in shape they can bellyache about how the fast food industry is out to get them or they just don't have to time to be healthy, or their dr picks on them, etc.  But either way the only way things get better is to take responsibility for it and do what needs to get done.  So that's where I'm at.  I feel like we don't do much candy or pop - but it IS there at times.  With Will's dairy allergy it has become a lot easier to avoid - that's for sure.  I'm flossing Will about 4-5 times a week and have been for the last 6 months.  I need to make sure I'm doing that for Katie as well.  The brushing is automatic and always has been, but we just need more adult interference there too. 

Ok - this post got way too involved and I didn't mean it to.  I need a walk.... and some ibuprofen.