Root Canal

Remember back in May when I had my first dentist appointment in nearly seven years and I got away with just three small cavities?  And then in August how I narrowly missed a root canal?  Turns out, I'm not that fortunate.

Last week, the tooth that the dentist drilled the most started hurting.  My teeth had been sensitive to temperature changes since my appointment, but that was supposed to be normal and would eventually go away.  The pain that I experienced was different.  It was intense and would come out of nowhere.  I would be sitting at my desk at work and suddenly it felt like I was being stabbed in my mouth.  It would last for as long as twenty minutes and it was all I could do to not try to rip my own tooth out.  I made another appointment to see what we needed to do to stop the pain.

Yesterday, the dentist saw me.  After a quick look, he suggested some treatments we could try, including having me use a special prescription toothpaste, but confessed that a root canal was probably in my future.  After looking at a full x-ray of my head, however, he told me a root canal was necessary and asked me if I had time to do it right away.  I decided to go for it, so he numbed me up and started drilling and digging away the deepest part of my tooth.  (And perhaps my experience was different from the norm, but I didn't think it was all that bad.  My jaw got tired holding it open for so long, but it the actual root canal process was no worse than getting a regular filling.)  I got a temporary filling for the tooth that's soft -- and causes me pain if I accidentally eat on that side of my mouth -- and I'm getting a crown added in two weeks.  If all of that wasn't enough, the dentist admitted to me that the tooth is dying and that it will have to be pulled and replaced with a prosthetic some time next year, so I should start saving my money for what insurance won't cover.

Still, the pain stopped.  The dentist gave me a prescription for oxycodone, but I haven't needed it.  And, while the procedure was not cheap, I could still afford it, so I know it could have been much worse.  In fact, the whole experience was pretty good; I had a procedure done that ended my pain and didn't require me to use a credit card.