It's finally over....

The dentist appointment yesterday went well, as expected, but not as hoped for.

The top crown #14 was worked on first. Dr. C said that it did have amalgam, and it was decaying around the edges. It also had a fairly large filling that he had to clean out, so he's hoping that it will settle down nicely and will be okay for me. The other two crowns had some interesting (and gross!) things going on. The bigger one, #19, did not have amalgam that Dr. C could tell, but it was so corroded and full of black sediment he had no idea what was used for the binder. At one point he even needed to change his gloves because the sediment got on them and wouldn't come off and he didn't want to contaminate anything else. The third crown, #20, was a porcelain over gold crown (the others were porcelain over precious metal). He did not see any amalgam there, but there was a fair amount of decayed matter in there as well. I got to see the crowns, and they were NASTY, and smelled something horrific. To think, I've had them in my mouth for probably 10-15 years or more! EWWWWWWW!!!!

Today I am feeling pretty terrible, and not what I had hoped for at all. With what we found underneath the crowns, though, I am not surprised, just very bummed that I immediately went into detox mode. I took a 2 1/2 hour nap this morning because my head hurt so bad and I was more dizzy and off-balance than normal, and I just feel weak. The nap didn't seem to help a whole lot because I still feel pretty bad. I'm guessing it will take a little while for my system to get out the extra stuff that was introduced yesterday when the crowns were opened up. Dr. C used a dental dam and all of the precautions with lots of water and a positive air flow for me, but it still doesn't have a 100% guarantee of what goes into the bloodstream from the tooth itself, plus Dr. C had to give 4 novacaine shots on the bottom to try to get me numb. It never really happened and he had to drill with me feeling it because I refused to take anymore. The epinephrine in the novacaine was causing issues...I would start shaking uncontrollably and my heart would start pounding heavily with each shot.

So, it's done...I am amalgam free finally, and very relieved. I'm disappointed that I feel so lousy, but it was to be expected. Now the detoxing begins...I'll keep you posted.