Implants

During those two hours, I sat in the dentist's chair with my mouth open and listened to them talking to each other as they discussed the implant installation process. It wasn't easy for me because my mouth gradually became tired, especially my lower jaw. Thankfully, I had plenty of opportunities to close my mouth and rest a little from time to time. Even so, I still felt a bit uncomfortable. However, everything was tolerable and completely painless.

Today, after my trip to Kazan, I went for a ride on my bike along my usual route. But this ride wasn't very successful, as I got caught in the rain twice while riding through the meadow and forest. Luckily, I didn't get completely soaked, but my sneakers and legs got wet, especially in places where the grass was very tall. Still, I couldn't skip my ride today because I had already missed it yesterday. So I decided to give it a try, even though the sky was cloudy and the weather forecast said there could be rain within the next two hours. Of course, they were right, but I still didn't give up and reached my goal of keeping my consistency.

Yesterday I took several blood tests: a complete blood count, a coagulogram, glucose, and infection tests for HIV, hepatitis B and C, and syphilis. They emailed me all the results except for the infection tests, since they're considered sensitive information. So I'll need to visit the clinic one more time to pick those results up in person before the surgery and bring them to the dentist's office. After that, they should decide whether I can go ahead with the dental implant surgery.

Last days I started to receive messages during my mornings, and today I had another message from my dentist’s office. They texted me about an appointment time for today after lunch for a consultation about a treatment plan. So after my morning routine, I immediately packed my backpack and went to Kazan. There we discussed the prices from my previous clinic, because I was really curious why there is such a big difference in prices between the clinics.

I still haven't finished dealing with my teeth issues, so today I visited another dentist's office to get their opinion about the next four dental implants and receive a treatment plan. Naturally, everything was good. The office was clean and bright, and the staff was very kind. They explained every detail of what I needed during my visit. 

The weather wasn’t very good today. It was rainy and a bit cold. The temperature was lower than in previous days, around 20–22 degrees during the day. In the evening, the average temperature was approximately 18 degrees, and the forecast predicted around 16 degrees at night. So today I decided to skip my biking and drive to the village to celebrate Eid al-Adha. I’m sure it’s much more fun than riding my bike in low temperatures and getting cold.

Finally, after about five months, my crowns were installed — I started this whole process back in December last year. I want to share how it feels to have artificial teeth in my jaw now. Luckily, during normal talking and speaking, I don’t feel any discomfort at all. The crowns even look like my real teeth — maybe even better (okay, that’s just a joke, but still, they really look great). However, at the same time, I do feel a bit of discomfort with the lower crowns when I eat. It feels like I can’t chew completely normally, like something is slightly in the way when I grind food. These sensations mostly appear during meals, and it’s not something terrible, just a bit unpleasant.

I had a dentist appointment in Kazan at 5 PM, so I didn’t rush out early—I left sometime after lunch, around 3 PM. The day itself was pretty standard, nothing particularly memorable. I wrapped up a few personal tasks and spent some time watching podcasts, easing into my first weekend after the first full week at work. I didn’t plan much for Kazan either—just a quick stop at a hardware store and the visit to the dental clinic. Still, even with such a simple agenda, I didn’t make it back home until around 10, maybe even closer to 11 PM. Overall, though, the trip felt worth it. There’s something oddly satisfying about driving through streets you used to know so well—I used to be there almost every day four years ago—and that familiarity made the whole experience unexpectedly enjoyable.

Today I drove to Kazan for a dental check-up. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a rather unproductive trip. I spent nearly three hours on the road, while the appointment itself lasted no more than ten minutes. The dentist simply checked my implants, asked how I was feeling, and confirmed that everything was fine.

To be honest, I already knew that. I haven’t experienced any discomfort, and the surgery area has fully healed. So I couldn’t help but feel slightly confused — was it really worth spending so much time on the road for such a brief visit?

The day was very busy and a bit difficult. I spent almost the entire day in Kazan—from 12 PM until 9 PM. However, I left home around 10 AM. I woke up at about 9 AM, which was quite late for me, so I had only one hour for my morning routine, and that wasn’t enough. I had many routine tasks that morning and couldn’t finish them without rushing. I started by brushing my teeth, which is always the first thing I do after waking up. Then I shaved my face because my beard had grown quite a lot, and I hadn’t shaved recently. After that, I took a shower and had breakfast. Since I had to visit the dentist after breakfast, I brushed my teeth again. All of this took more than an hour, so I ended up being late. I had planned to hit the road as early as possible, but everything turned out the opposite way. I finally left home at about 10:15.

My morning started at 10 a.m. because I woke up a bit late. However, the first time I woke up was around 7 a.m., and then I fell asleep again. In the early morning, my relatives wanted to visit the local market, so it was a bit loud and bright because my door was open. After I woke up, while I was walking to the bathroom, I looked through the window and checked the weather outside. In the bathroom, as usual, I did my morning routine. But today it took around one hour. During that time, I carefully brushed my teeth, shaved my face, and washed my hair. When I finished my routine, the time was already 11 a.m., and there was one hour left before lunch. But I didn’t wait for lunch because yesterday I bought some muesli and wanted to try it. The muesli had a new apple flavor, and I really wanted to try it. I also didn’t skip lunch — I had it on time.

I tried to use chlorhexidine again, as my dentist recommended, and I started to feel uncomfortable in my mouth again. Today, however, I used it only twice: after lunch and after dinner. Right now, I have slight discomfort and some itching. All the time, I want to touch the operated area with my tongue and scratch it. However, I don’t feel any swelling, but I have started to notice something strange around my implants. When I touch it with my tongue, I feel something sharp. It feels like a bone, and it seems to be growing. I have no idea what it is, but it doesn’t cause pain or anything else. I’m also 100 percent sure it’s not food or anything stuck there, because I ate only soft food and was extremely careful. So I think I’ll just wait until December 27, or maybe I’ll send a message to my dentist and ask about it.