hummingwolf (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hummingwolf) wrote2006-02-05 12:47 pm
hummingwolf) wrote2006-02-05 12:47 pm
s'more panicking
Gah. The need to find way to get dental care feels even more urgent now, and I'm not at all sure how to explain what kind of care I need since it's been so long since I've been to a dentist. Because I've inherited a tendency to get major mineral buildup on my teeth no matter how well I clean them, and because I have a dry mouth (partly from medication, and possibly partly from something similar to Sjogren's syndrome) which means there's little saliva to wash away buildup anyway, my teeth are in desperate need of cleaning, my gums are chronically irritated, and my gums have receded rather a lot in recent years. Today my gums do seriously hurt--not just around one tooth, but pretty much all of them. Part of that is because my entire body is oversensitive right now--everything hurts more than usual, from the skin on in--but that's not all of it. My mouth is even dryer than usual thanks to a med. I took for pain last night & this morning, and right now something in there is bleeding. Very gently rinsing my mouth with warm water or tea helps, but I still have this feeling that all of my teeth are going to fall out and I'm not entirely sure that that feeling isn't rational. This weekend I'm feeling panicky any time I eat something more substantial than yogurt. I worry that a few of those teeth aren't all that solidly attached anymore.
I didn't get much done in the search for dentists last week, mostly because I wasn't up to doing much of anything useful last week. I don't know how likely I am to get free care from anyone if something more than simple cleaning or replacement of a filling needs to be done. Aside from the need for cleaning and replacement of an old filling, there probably isn't a thing wrong with my teeth themselves--I've gotten two cavities in my entire life before now, and I've been good about the brushing & flossing. It's the gums I'm panicky about.
My flavor of Medicaid used to offer dental care when I first signed up, but stopped offering it to non-pregnant adults before I ever took advantage of it. Their recent brochures I've seen mention dental benefits for adults, though. And a call to their dental-related voice mail system gives me the name of a dentist near me as if I were eligible for benefits, so I do plan to call tomorrow during business hours & find out whether I can actually visit their dentist or if their automated system is just confused. (On the plus side: In spite of what I was told back in December, I got prescriptions filled in late January and still do seem to have Medicaid, so yay! for that.)
But anyway. Because it's likely that I still don't have dental benefits, I still do plan to look for some alternative way of getting help with my poor abused mouth. I know there's the dental school up in Baltimore--does anyone local know of any other dental schools around here? If you know of any kindhearted dentists, information about them would be helpful too. I didn't get much of anywhere the last time I tried finding dental care for the very poor, so I need some clues. And if Baltimore really is my best or only option, any suggestions/help with transportation would be appreciated as well.
I didn't get much done in the search for dentists last week, mostly because I wasn't up to doing much of anything useful last week. I don't know how likely I am to get free care from anyone if something more than simple cleaning or replacement of a filling needs to be done. Aside from the need for cleaning and replacement of an old filling, there probably isn't a thing wrong with my teeth themselves--I've gotten two cavities in my entire life before now, and I've been good about the brushing & flossing. It's the gums I'm panicky about.
My flavor of Medicaid used to offer dental care when I first signed up, but stopped offering it to non-pregnant adults before I ever took advantage of it. Their recent brochures I've seen mention dental benefits for adults, though. And a call to their dental-related voice mail system gives me the name of a dentist near me as if I were eligible for benefits, so I do plan to call tomorrow during business hours & find out whether I can actually visit their dentist or if their automated system is just confused. (On the plus side: In spite of what I was told back in December, I got prescriptions filled in late January and still do seem to have Medicaid, so yay! for that.)
But anyway. Because it's likely that I still don't have dental benefits, I still do plan to look for some alternative way of getting help with my poor abused mouth. I know there's the dental school up in Baltimore--does anyone local know of any other dental schools around here? If you know of any kindhearted dentists, information about them would be helpful too. I didn't get much of anywhere the last time I tried finding dental care for the very poor, so I need some clues. And if Baltimore really is my best or only option, any suggestions/help with transportation would be appreciated as well.
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