Dad Goes to the Dentist

Most of this post was written while at the dentist with Dad; he went to see Dr. Azuma to have a loose tooth extracted. We were the last appointment of the day so that Dr. Azuma would have more time to work with him. Ron the transport driver is also a CNA so he helped with transferring Dad in to the fancy x-ray machine as well as the dental exam chair. Because Dad was here and his teeth were very dirty they tried to do a cleaning on the few teeth that he had. It was very difficult for both Michelle the hygienist and Dad; fortunately Dr. Azuma has had a lot of experience so he was able to direct Michelle on how to handle things to make it easier on Dad.

Michelle explains the x-ray to Dad while he sits in the machine.

Dr. Azuma working on extracting Dad's tooth.

Dr. Azuma pulled Dad's loose tooth; the top broke off & he had to pull the root separately. After he cleaned Dad up we discussed recommendations based on the condition of Dad's teeth. Dad has 1 tooth in his upper jaw and 6 or 8 in the lower jaw; nearly all of them have decay just below the crown. Dr. Azuma says they will be breaking off but should not cause him pain because of changes in the dentine that have sealed the root off from the crown. After each tooth breaks off Dr. Azuma will remove the root. But in the meantime the most important thing is for the CNAs to brush Dad's teeth thoroughly each day and for additional plaque removal to occur. They are checking to see when the dental insurance will allow the next cleaning to occur. Dr. Azuma said as Dad's teeth become cleaner food will taste better to him and he will eat more.


I was charging my phone while I was sitting in Dr. Azuma's office. Once again I was using the Anker battery pack. I think this is the 7th charge I have gotten off of it and I still have not recharged it!

It's down to only 1 light.

Since Dad was going to my dentist and the appointment was in the afternoon, Curtis and I traded shifts; he did the morning and I came in at 2 pm. I was able to do my morning walk at the usual time. I saw Ona walking with her daughter's dog Rio. The hāpuʻu was moist, I think more from the early morning drizzle than the irrigation which ended 4 hours earlier. When I was doing my cool down stretches I saw LaVie do 2 laps in the drizzle.

Eleven minutes before sunrise on Maunalani.

Fourteen minutes after sunrise on Sierra; its 'foggy' because I have the phone in a plastic bag.

Drizzle.

After I was done I intended to go to the bank but I was so early they were still closed so I just went home to deal with the laundry I washed last night. There was a light drizzle, but it looked like it would clear so I crossed my fingers and hung it out. I checked on Mom's orchids, they were still in bloom.


After the laundry was hung out I went to Home Depot to get the 2 other palapalai for Kelly's place. The plants there were smaller than the 1st one I planted; but in a couple years they should be as large as the other palapalai which was a little rootbound since it stayed in the pot 3 months longer than anticipated.

The phone was in the plastic bag again for this photo.

When I did my mid-morning walk I checked the hāpuʻu again; it was very moist since the watering had finished about an hour earlier. Before I went back to Maunalani to get ready to take Dad to the dentist I checked the hāpuʻu once again, this time it was about 5 hours after the last watering. Although it was somewhat moist, it was much drier than I would like it to be. When I plant the last 2 palapalai I will adjust the watering so that it comes on every 4 hours.  

I was going to do an evening walk but it started to drizzle; I don't walk at night if there is any precipitation. I did not stop to check on the hāpuʻu; it was drizzling so it would be moist.

After dealing with trying to get rid of all the spaghetti particles without brushing last night I decided to switch to a liquid diet until I can brush the surgery location again in a week. (I can brush the rest of my teeth now but that doesn't help to remove things from the surgery location.) We still had a bunch of the Boost Plus supplement we bought for Dad at home; I am now drinking that. We also have some Boost Breeze but it is too sweet for me.

L to R: Boost Plus, Boost Breeze.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau to Jeff & Andrew!