DIY Dentistry

Yesterday I chipped a tooth. A tooth that was fake to begin with. One of the incisors in my bridge, which I have because about 12 years ago, back when I was still teaching preschool, I had a seizure on a playground, and landed face first on the blacktop, putting a hairline fracture in my nose, and breaking six of my top front teeth off right at the gumline. All of the teeth were pulled, and I lost that job. I wore a flipper (partial dentures that can be removed--the least expensive choice to replace my lost teeth) for a few years, and eventually had a bridge made at the OHSU Dental School. A bridge that was supposed to last forever, and cost a bundle! Well, I've had two of the teeth chip now-- one right in front when it was hit violently with a coffee cup-- and the second, an incisor, yesterday, when I bit into an apple.

This annoys me, since I know these cannot be repaired-- I've had this discussion with two different dentists, and unless I can afford to replace the entire bridge, I'm outta luck. But then, this afternoon, as I was mending a chip on an oversized coffee cup that I use to hold writing utensils and other junk on my table, a thought occurred to me. "I wonder if this glue would work on my tooth?" I had the little chip, and figured, can't hurt to try, so after a bit of research to make sure Gorilla Glue is not toxic, I began.  I placed a tiny dab on a q-tip, smeared it  on the broken tooth, then held the chip firmly in place for a few minutes. So far, my tooth feels whole, no wiggling or roughness. Success!! Of course, I've not yet eaten anything, or brushed, so who knows? However, my previous experience with Gorilla Glue leads me to believe this will last. I only wish I'd had some around when that front tooth broke.