Well, I went to the dentist today. Guess it was about time, since it’s been over 5 1/2 years since I’ve been…December 2000 was my last visit. I figured I’d go and get my teeth cleaned, have my teeth examined, and figured he’d find some cavities, and I’d have to come back for those to be fixed. Well, it ain’t that easy these days, apparently. I went, had lots of Xrays, which, of course, made me gag the entire time. I’ve always been a gagger in the dentist chair. Then, the dentist came and looked at every tooth in my mouth, and told the dental assistant things about every tooth, all of which she was inputting into a computer. Such technology these days. Using words like buccal abrasion and the like. Sounds bad, huh?
Well, I learned a few things about my teeth today. First, I have NO CAVITIES! That was my biggest fear. And, the reason for no cavities is probably due to the fact that I apparently brush my teeth too hard! WHO KNEW?! I have buccal abrasion in several places, which is where your gums, or maybe it was the lower part of your teeth, are apparently being rubbed away. He said this is caused by either brushing your teeth too hard (and not with a soft enough bristle) or by grinding your teeth, which I don’t do. He saw no evidence of tooth grinding. Anyway, they fix those areas by putting a tooth colored filling around those areas. Apparently, I have this in 5 places, and this is also the reason I have sensitive teeth sometimes. I can actually see this in my mouth, and had wondered if that was areas of cavities. But, apparently not.
Finally, the most freakish thing about my teeth is that I apparently have a set of Fourth Molars. Most people only have 3 sets! I thought I had my first wisdom tooth come in earlier this year (it wasn’t fun), but apparently, I have all of my wisdom teeth in and they are straight and not causing any problems. What came in was one of my fourth molars! These teeth are behind the wisdom teeth. The other 3 of that set are still below the surface and have not "erupted" yet. He showed them to me on the xrays. He said it looks like I have room for them (keep your comments about big mouths to yourself), except for one of them. It may cause some problems if it tries to erupt because there may be bone that it would run into and then it might try to angle toward my wisdom tooth there and hit it. Anyway, interesting facts about Jennifer’s teeth. When I googled Fourth Molar and variants of that, all I can find is case reports about people being found with them….sounds like I am a freak! Yea, yea, I know some of you are nodding your heads and saying you always knew that!
Anyway, had all of that delightful information shared with me, and then found out I wasn’t getting my teeth cleaned with my visit today! WHAT?! The assistant gave me some blurb about some new law about not cleaning teeth the same time as an exam because if they cleaned them before and then messed something up….I don’t know. So, I asked her that since I’d already had the dental exam, why couldn’t I get my teeth cleaned the same day? She said that could only happen if there was an available slot with a dental hygienist that coordinated with an exam. I’m looking around the office and wondering how that couldn’t be arranged since I was THE ONLY ONE THERE!……. Anyway, I tried to be nice and not openly express my distaste in the setup. So, I had to figure out another time to come back for the cleaning and fillings, and I was oh so lucky to get those on the same day! Thank goodness! It’s not like I have tons of days off during the week. Don’t they know that people work!? Anyway, by the end of September, I should be all set to go with my teeth.
I’m sure you all wanted to know so much about my teeth. Let the jokes and comments roll! 
PS I just found more information if I search for supernumerary molars. Appears as if the prevalence of extra molars is 0.1% to 3.4%. So, there ya go. I am weird!