Salads are one of my favorite meals. Always have been. I don’t mind paying $10-20 for them. But $2000? Yes, I did it and I am here to warn you not to do the same. Let me explain…
About two months ago I was eating a delicious Greek Salad. You know, just your typical Greek Salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, feta cheese… and kalamata olives. I was enjoying this salad so much, when all of a sudden – *crunch, crack, pop!* – I bit down on an olive with the pit in it. Holy ouch! I broke about a third of one of my back teeth… up past the gum line!
(blurry picture of my broken tooth)
Here’s what I’ve endured since:
- Removal of that one-third of the tooth, which then exposed a nerve
- A root canal to fix the nerve exposure problem
- Gum surgery to remove 4 millimeters of my gum – because the tooth broke up so high, there was not enough tooth surface left below for a crown to properly adhere
- Bi-weekly exams to make sure the gum is healing properly
- A porcelain crown
Needless to say, this has all been very painful physically and financially. After insurance, my out-of-pocket cost was a little bit more than $2000!!! Holy ouch again! But, I am trying to look at the bright side. So… here are some good things that came from this.
I learned that:
- Chocolate malts make everything better (as an occasional treat, of course)
- A soft food diet is not boring, as long as you have a blender and a slow cooker
- Almost any vegetable can be made into a delicious and healthy soup
- You really do feel full with less food when you chew slowly
As for salads – I have just started eating them again over the past week or so. I wasn’t able to chew raw vegetables or any harder foods until recently. But until I get over my new pit phobia, I have one request. Please hold the olives…
Anyone else out there ever broken a tooth eating something?
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[Salad Photo Credit: stock.xchng]
