I just finished the second phase of getting a dental implant.

When he was done, Dr. Morgan showed off the torque wrench he used to set the post in my jawbone.  He really likes this torque wrench because it doesn’t need to be calibrated for at least a 100,000 cycles.

I like that Dr. Morgan understands his tools and appreciates quality.

Phase 1 is extracting the tooth, and bone grafting to build up the jawbone.  It sounds gruesome, but it was fine.  Trying to keep my mouth open and my tongue out of the way, is a bigger issue than the pain of whatever the dentist is doing. 

Phase 2 is drilling a hole in the jawbone, and threading in a titanium threaded insert.  The dentist showed me the drill bit.  It was a 4.2 mm bit, and a lot bigger than you’d expect.

Phase 3 is fitting a cap on the post.

A few months between phases is needed to let everything heal up.

Phase 2 wasn’t bad.   Six hours later, I’m not feeling much of any pain, and am afraid that I will forget not to eat hard stuff or chew on my left side.

By tomorrow, this will probably hurt like a mother.