Increasing steadily. Pulsing, pumping, ouchy, painful, PAIN. In my tooth, you see.
I'd been able to ignore it for a few weeks, after all, the pain was in a tooth I'd just had filled three months ago. Wouldn't you ignore it too?
Well. Monday night was the last straw as I sat up in my bed, nearly in tears at 1am, unable to go back to sleep for the pain. I lay there for hours, swishing water over the tooth to relieve it. Tuesday morning I had an appointment with my regular dentist, so I drove out (I drive 45 minutes to see my fave Dentist), swishing water the entire time and sat in the dentist's chair, only to be told:
"Root Canal. But it's a tough one. You need to see and Endodontist for that one."
So two hours later I sat down in a second long, ergonomic, tan chair at the endodontist's office. The doctor came in and I was immediately worried. His hands shook noticeably from Parkinson's tremors and I wondered if I should go through with this... I mean, what's another night tossing and turning in agony?
Right.
I stayed put a few minutes longer to check this shaky doctor out. He was around 70 years old. Semi-retired. Wily eyebrows.
And... he really knew his stuff. He examined my x-rays and explained everything thoroughly to my over-inquisitive self.
And he was FUNNY, that one.
Step 1: NUMB.
Three shots. He got those spot on. One to numb topically. Two to knock out the entire area. (I once had six shots [the doc kept missing the nerve!] and a bout of heart palpitations administered by a very much less capable dentist!)
When he got into his work the tremors stopped. I was satisfied.
The rest of the steps: DRILLING. SAWING. X-RAYS. FILLING.
So after much drilling and hacking and sawing and funny commenting from this quirky old gent, I emerged. Plus one root canal. Minus $1200. (!!!!#*$&%&^) Minus half of one molar, which, if you think about it, is kind of a blow to one's ego, don't you think?
I mean, I spent a good portion of my youth growing that sucker. I've brushed, flossed, rinsed and cared for that thing for around 29 years and yesterday, in the short span of 1.5 hours (yes, it only took 1.5 hours for the root canal!) I have only 1/2 of a tooth left!
In three weeks I have to go and get the other half replaced artificially. A crown. Yet another new-to-me dental procedure. And another (#$*&#%^&*) $1100. I really need dental insurance. (Too bad I can't freaking afford it because my medical insurance went up from $120/month to $210/month in the last year! Blasted Obamacare.)
The crazy-haired doctor told me my easy years of dental work were over. "29 is the last good year."
Ummm... no wonder old people always claim to be 29. It's the dental!
Just in case you were wondering, here is a fun little diagram of what I had done to my tooth yesterday. It's rather happy and friendly. The actual procedure: Not so much.
Image from: http://www.smilesbydrstyger.com/rootcanal.html
Well aren't we just two peas in a pod. I have the same procedure scheduled for Nov. 5th. I'm not looking foward to it. And guess what? My roots are "curvey" (not just my body!) so it will cost me extra to have it done. Joy! And I'm still 29 for 5 more months. I think 28 is the last good year. Or Aliyah just sucked out all my calcium. One or the other. Ugh!
ReplyDeleteWow! Sorry to hear that Des! The procedure really wasn't as bad as I've heard everyone say it is - but I think that depends largely on your dentist/Endodontist. Good luck! What's with getting old?
ReplyDeletePS - Aliyah is so stinking cute.
PPS - What's the deal with your job? (curious!!)
Ya, tooth issues stink! Not looking forward to Friday. I hope I don't get sick after, and I hope you feel better soon! And ya, Aliyah is cute and she totally knows it. So vain. lol. As for the job. My boss as been a jerk since I came back from leave. He's really making things hard for me, hoping I will quit or go part time. He keeps mentioning part time. He's an old school, white, 60 year old Mormon guy. So his thoughts on mothers working are not progressive. And even though he has not come right out and said it, I know what he is trying to tell me. And yes, we practice employment law. You know...cases with pregnancy discrimination, gender discrimination, hostile work environment, retaliation...all that. Yes, we do that. But apparantly, we (as in he) are above the law. Ugh. Anywho...thanks for thinking of me with the job thoughts. I wish I could talk Lars into moving. As a realtor, its always hard for him to re-build his client base. But keep your ears peeled for anything you might hear of down our way!
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