I had a dentist appointment on Thursday. My dentist, Dr. Lofstrom, said that there wasn't much he could do right now. He'd see me back in about 6 weeks. He explained that the teeth would be fusing to the bone right now. They'd never re-connect with the roots, as I'd thought. Since they wouldn't connect to the roots, they also would never be re-connected with the ligament which joins the teeth to the jaw. They would not be amenable to orthodontic treatment in this condition. Right now, one tooth was crooked, and they were both too long, since the people at the E.R. had not shoved them far enough up into the gum. So I am literally "long in the tooth".

In the best case, the teeth would be fine as is (aside from needing root canals). He could file down the teeth so they wouldn't be so long. In the worst case, at any time in my life, the gum could begin to reabsorb the teeth (meaning they'd literally begin to break down and need to be replaced). At that point, I'd need implants, which are extremely expensive (about $2,500 apiece). Fortunately, I'd have plenty of warning (up to two years), so at least I'd have time to do some financial planning.

I'd talked to Dr. Lofstrom earlier in the week to express my concern about the plastic surgeon I'd been assigned being available only once per week, and that I'd been assigned a resident for my first appointment. I was concerned about the time span that would be needed for the lip reconstruction given the doctor's limited availability, and my reservations about being treated by a resident. He agreed that these were valid concerns, and said he'd ask around about my doctor, and about whether there might be other doctors who were more available. Today, he told me that my doctor was one of the best around, so I decided to stick with the current plan.

I told Dr. Lofstrom about the fact that a dentist had been one of the first people on the scene. It turned out that Dr. Lofstrom lived very close to the accident site, and could think of several people who this dentist could have been (the accident-site dentist had been cycling, and also lived near the site). Dr. Lofstrom has also been a cyclist in the past, and still cycles occasionally. I thought it would have been quite the coincidence if he had found me instead of this other dentist.

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