Auckland, (take 2) and Beyond
Bursting forth from the confines of the concrete jungle, namingly Auckland, we drove north to open road headed for the coastal town of Snells Beach. It had been a couple of intensive weeks of focused work for Hamish. And for me, a couple of intensive weeks of attempts to find appropriate activities to do with the kids to keep them suitably out of the office/bus despite the rain!
Swimming Pools, Museums and Childhood Relics
Joining the Auckland library gave us a good number of options to keep ourselves engaged and we joined in the awesome free swimming at the public swimming pools (thanks Auckland Council). We visited the Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT) which was a great place to take 4 young boys! There was so much to see and we couldn’t get through it all in one day, thus purchased the family year pass knowing we would be back for another visit. From a plane museum to printing presses, to old communication devices we will definitely have to return to see it all. It did slightly perturb me though, to see a large number of items very familiar to my childhood displayed proudly amongst relics of old…..wasn’t quite sure what to make of that! Am I really so old at 35 years of age that my childhood is confined to a museum already? Of course it brought much amusement to the boys as I relayed how the items they were looking at were called Rotary Dial Telephones and were the ones I used as a child. How do they work they asked, eyes wide at such a relic. Oh, I really must be that old!
Dentistry and Amalgam Removal
Whilst In Auckland I took the opportunity to sort out some pain issues with my teeth. I searched and found a Holistic Health dentist (someone who understands and practises some non-traditional approaches to dentistry i.e no amalgam, etc). Having first assessed my teeth the dentist was unable to identify the source of pain. He summised it was perhaps just due to jaw clenching.
Because this dentist specialised in removing amaglan, and having wanted to remove my mercury filled fillings for some time, I decided to proceed with doing so. This costly exercise would remove my 6 amalgan fillings and replace them with composite. Part of the removal procedure (which was quite a performance) was to have intravenous Vitaman C during the procedure. This was great, I mean I sure could’ve used some Vit C after years of depletion! The only issue was every time he found a vein and got it running the vein would collapse – this was super painful! So after about 6 pin holes we finally had a vein that stood up to the job. Needless to say post procedure I had impressive black and blue arms.
Upon removing the fillings it soon became apparent where the pain was sourced from. 5 out of the 6 fillings had decay under them, yes under. We had found the source of pain. So what use were they in my mouth? Mmmm it seems a free dose of mercury was about all!! So had I not chosen to remove and replace them I would have likely continued to suffer pain for quite some time!
Having kept my mouth open for 2 ½ hours in an overstretched form, with a face as numb as a icicle, to the point of being unable to speak and looking as if I had suffered some form of facial stroke, I was glad to have it over with.
Thinking that on the way home I should pick up our bus heater that had been serviced, I didn’t think through that I would need to speak. Somewhat embarrassing trying to articulate to the receptionist what you are there for when you can’t feel your mouth, or speak without dribbling. Not a good look.
As the local anaesthetic wore off it revealed the true level of pain. All I can say is, it hurt, a lot – grimace, (actually I couldn’t grimace, that hurt too!) However, after a couple of days it started to come right, and the previous pain was no more. I’m convinced by my research into the topic, the long term benefits are defiantly worth the short term pain…even if the bank balance doesn’t think so!
Have you ever had this procedure done? How was your experience?