I had never especially liked or disliked my teeth. I took them for granted. I did not have them braced and straightened as a child; my dentist and parents deemed it unnecessary. My teeth came in, straight and true, with an overbite that hindered neither eating nor smiling.
I had a spate of cavities – seven at one time! – when I was about 12 or 13, in my new, adult permanent teeth. These were filled with metal. I was told to brush more thoroughly, to take care of my teeth; that they would have to last me. Flossing was not yet being emphasized.
I already was brushing thoroughly, I thought. In any case, that year was an aberration. There were no more cavities. My adult teeth were a little small, perhaps, in my big mouth, in my slightly oversized head – the latter of which was the butt of a few jokes. A special, extra-large football helmet had to be ordered for me to play on the freshman team in high school. In 1970, in western Pennsylvania, I was far more concerned about the mandatory crew cut than I was about a slightly crooked grin. Braces were not a birthright then, as they seem to be now.
My teeth were in bad shape, worse than my three-year-old, dark X-rays had indicated. This was no longer a simple matter of crowning, capping or covering – if it ever had been. Telma and Josef recommended extensive root canal work to save the worst of my existing teeth so that they could be fashioned into sturdy “posts” that would support new man-made teeth – crowns of porcelain, some with wire in them for additional support, some filled with gold.
I would need six root canals. I would need 14 crowns covering all of my upper teeth except the two furthest back on each side. The preliminary total cost for the work was more than $7,000, several thousands more than I had prepared myself to accept. Telma had a handwritten list, with the procedures and costs.
My lower teeth were not so bad, she said. There was some work to do but they did not need root canals and crowns. They might be shaped, slightly, and bleached white to match the new uppers,which would be perfect.
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