So I'm in the dentist's chair today for a routine cleaning/checkup.He takes xrays, he looks at them, he comes back. He says, "Your #19 tooth has a weird shadow on it. I think I need to send you back to the endodontist." Mind you, this is one of the 5 teeth I had root canaled/crowned this spring. I'm practically out of the chair, "WHAT!?!?! Am I going to lose that tooth?" He assured me I wasn't going to lose my tooth. Okay.

THen he starts cleaning my teeth and I tell him one of my front two veneers is loose. He checks it, and says, "that's not your veneer. That's your TOOTH. " "My tooth." "Yes. I think it's your gum. Bite your teeth together."

Can you guess where this is going? Oh, go ahead, give it a whirl.

"There's too much pressure on your bite. Your top teeth are right on top of your bottom teeth. In fact, blah blah blah ( to nurse) and send her out to see the orthodontist, please. And the periodontist, because that tooth needs to be stabilized."

I about had a coronary. I had been informed by the endo earlier this year that he didn't like my bite either and that over time, I could expect my bottom teeth to crack from the pressure. HE'S the one who originally noted my whole mouth going south from that awful surgery debacle ( with the compazine/muscle seizing, etc that I detailed in some other thread....). NOW the dentist is on about it since it is moving at a rate of speed that no one expected, and I now have appointments with no less than 3 different specialists to try and save the sinking ship.

So naturally, I am pretty upset. I call my dad, because my insurance? Won't cover the ortho. He is seriously cheesed. That's not anything new, but this next part is: he says, "Oh Jesus Christ. We need to just sue that bastard and get it over wth." Pretty serious stuff for a man who won't get up to get his own beer when he's watching tv.

And now it's official. I've been dithering about it, but I dither no more. I cannot fathom the cost out of pocket to fix all of this all because that asshole had to go have turkey with his grandma and leave me in the hospital with a bunch of fucking interns who didn't know the difference between a drug reaction and an anxiety attack. And what am I going to do as an actor if I'm missing my front tooth?!?!? Excuse me? NO. That's it, I'm done, and the shit is about to hit the fan.

I already called the lawyers office. I am not a litigious person; I think the judicial system is tangled up enough without me throwing my hat into the ring. Plus everything costs money to get it up and running, and where's the justice in THAT? But I am still staring down the barrell of a mistake Dr. Turkeylover made when I was 23, and I'm almost 40 now. That's just insane to me.