Kermit loses a tooth

Kermit has been having a tough time with teeth over the last five years. He has crowns and implants. Now he has a hole.

It was a simple piece of broccoli at a Chinese restaurant. Nothing hard or strenuous like a bagel. Just a piece of broccoli. But Kermit’s tooth cracked badly. The molar, second from the back on the top. He was not comfortable but it didn’t hurt. He thought maybe they could glue it together with super glue or something.

Dick Shephard and Evan Evans recommended some dentists in the area. We visited one. After a 40 minute exploration the dentist suggested it would take $5200 to fix that tooth as well as another tooth he thought was a problem. Kermit figured he saw us coming. We needed a second opinion.

A little computer research revealed a guy in Vero Beach and Fort Pierce with a bunch of great reviews and a great pedigree including some teaching experience. Kermit called even though it was Sunday. Fifteen minutes later the office called back! Kermit had an appointment for the next day.

It was raining Jacks and Rustys (cats and dogs!) that morning. I went with in case Kermit needed someone to drive him home. They were in the office for a long time before the verdict came back. The tooth could not be saved. No amount off super glue would fix this tooth. Kermit had two choices: implant or bridge. Both choices required that the tooth be pulled. A crown wouldn’t work.

So Kermit had a tooth pulled right there. It took forever – at least an hour. The dentist said it was the worst extraction in a long time. Naturally Kermit didn’t ask to be put asleep. I am not sure what he was thinking. He sat in that chair for over an hour while the guy pulled and poked and chipped away until it came out. Poor baby. He was shaken.

I poured the little guy into the car and got 4 prescriptions filled. Kermit laid around for days, uncomfortable and in pain while the tooth healed. A week later we returned for a checkup. 

Everything is healing fine.

Kermit needs to get a bridge when we return to Ohio. Maybe with Sara in Columbus? Who know!!

It is difficult to have any kind of emergency when you are away from home. Now that we live on the boat our “home” is not near our usual support team. We figure it out as we go along.

Same thing with Kermit’s regular prescription. He only takes one pill but he can only get one month supply at a time. His Canton based doctor gave him three months last time so Kermit is cobbling together prescription renewals with visits back to Ohio.

This week (March 25, 2016) we visited Marsh Harbor the second largest city in the Bahamas. We visited here before in 2013 when the Vellucci’s and Lipka’s joined us for a week. This time when we visited we anchored in the harbor and walked into town. Kermit found a pharmacist so we went back to the boat and got his bottle. This pharmacist agreed to fill the prescription for 60 days based on the bottle. Isn’t that nice?

We rely on the kindness of strangers including medical professionals as we float around!