The patient is numbed and an incision is made around the tooth needing crown lengthening. The gum tissue is gently peeled away from the tooth to show the supporting bone holding the tooth in place. Now the dentist can see that there is not two millimeters of tooth available to stick to. In the procedure the dentist removes several millimeters of bone around the tooth to expose the tooth that was previously underneath the bone. After the dentist is sure there is two millimeters or more of tooth sticking out of the bone, the gums are replaced and stitched carefully back in place. The surgery is now complete. The gums are allowed to heal six weeks and a crown can then be constructed.There wasn't much gentle going on but I was on my way to work less than an hour after the novacaine had kicked in. Now I'm trying to ignore the little bits of drool threatening to escape the left part of my mouth and fighting the urge to tongue the soon-to-swell gums around the four stitches surrounding tooth #20.
Up to this point my dental insurance kicked ass but this 4249 procedure was completely excluded. By paying the full amount, I was able to get a 5% discount, so this mornings check was a mere $986.10. All in all I've actually gotten off pretty light considering that, before this year, I could count the number of dental visits in my life on one hand. Wish I'd gotten past the learned helplessness earlier.
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