It’s been a difficult several weeks. Last Wednesday, a week ago, one of my many crowns came off. But I guess before I finish the story, I should provide some background…
I get the award for more dental problems than anyone I know. As a child, we had a kindly old gentleman, Dr. Stordock, who was our family dentist and I can say, in all honesty, that we loved him. He was gentle, talkative, interested in us and always in a great mood. He died when I was eighteen years old – he was 98 and still practicing in the Pittsfield Building in downtown Chicago. In fact, I vividly remember sitting in his chair and looking out the window at the sailboats out on Lake Michigan as he cleaned my teeth.
I never considered how old Dr. Stordock was – but it turned out that he was the only dentist our mother had ever gone to – and so, naturally, we started seeing him as soon as dental visits were warranted after we were born. His assistant, Grace, had been with him for as long as I can remember and I credit them with the great experiences I had as a child “in the chair.” Mom cried, almost uncontrollably, when he passed away and after I learned their history together, I could understand. The world lost a great medical professional.
Perhaps I had these great experiences because God knew what I would be in for later in life. While I know most people fear heading to the dentist, I would much rather do that than go to a doctor, any day! I actually have a fear of doctors but dentists were never an issue with me.
When I was younger, I ground my teeth down and by the time I was in my early forties, I faced the grim prospect of having to have crowns put on my teeth. Well, most of them were crowns and the balance were veneers. I had my wisdom teeth pulled, went through grueling visits to our local dentist here in Indianapolis and finally had a new set of teeth that worked great for years. In fact, our dentist, getting ready to retire at the time, provided the labor for free and only charged me for the lab fees associated with making the crowns. It was still enormously expensive.
However, as with everything in this world, the crowns finally started to reach the end of their life expectancy and ten years ago, in 2014, I went through another set of appointments to replace all the crowns in my mouth. I had also experienced three root canals, in the same tooth, a cracked tooth that had to be extracted, an implant, numerous infections and all kinds of other related issues. I have so much hardware in my mouth that I have to get my teeth cleaned every four months instead of the usual six month visits most people put on their calendars.
I could go into even greater detail, but I’m sure that you get the idea. And every time another procedure comes up, I silently thank God for Dr. Stordock, who clearly made it possible for me to endure the things I have had to go through.
So late last week, I had that familiar feeling that a crown had come off. I called the dental office, carefully wrapped the crown in a Kleenex, and arrived for my “emergency” appointment. While I thought this would be a quick ten minute painless visit, I quickly learned that my tooth had broken off with the crown and there was no way to re-attach it! This meant another root canal, post and crown – or another extraction and implant, a pretty complicated process.
Due to the number of problems I have had, it was recommended that putting in an implant was the way to go. But, surprise, surprise, yesterday was my planned short appointment to remove the bad tooth and start the healing process. However, and this shouldn’t have surprised me, the tooth was fused into my jawbone and, ultimately, it was two hours in the chair to chisel, drill and remove small parts of the tooth until the socket was finally properly prepared. I even needed a bone graft to repair damage to my jaw, promote bone growth in the damaged area and strengthen my bone structure to be able to accept an implant sometime later this year – at least four months from now – at the earliest. I received sutures to close the open wound and headed home with antibiotics and pain meds.
Thank God, I feel better today and think that I am now on the mend. One of the things that I continue to be amazed by is the complexity of the human body. Anybody who believes this is just random isn’t thinking this through… only God could have designed us… and we are created in His image.
Tonight’s verse is from one of my favorite psalms. We are told in Psalm 139:13-15, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.”
My encouragement this evening is that God created each of us, in His image, and we will face physical trials and tribulations throughout our lives. Even the apostle Paul refers to his “thorn in the flesh.” But God will be with us each step of the way. My prayer is that we can persevere during those difficult times and rely on God to get us through, providing us with a divine peace that we can only experience by having a relationship with Him. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…