Today I stayed home so I could go to the Dentist to get a "suspicious" area looked at by my Dentist. The area had turned up in an x-ray my Periodontist had taken a few weeks back. I only see my dentist when such problems turn up and rely on regular visits and cleanings by the Periodontist to keep my teeth and gums on the straight and narrow. The visit didn't get off on the right foot as I missed a turn and showed up 15 minutes late for my appointment. Then the Dentist decided the x-rays the Periodontist had forwarded to him weren't clear enough and wanted to retake them. That accomplished his assistant came in a few minutes later to discuss them with me. As they popped up on the flat screen monitor, she pointed to a shadowy area on my back upper right molar. She explained that was all decay and, oh by the way, it had broken through to the root area and guess what? It's your lucky day - you need a root canal and crown. Lovely. Also just my luck - they had a cancellation later in the day and wouldn't it be wonderful if I could come back for the procedure. Dealing with Dentists is like dealing with an auto mechanic. You just aren't qualified to know if something is really truly wrong or its just a way to dip into your wallet. I guess there is a measure of trust involved. So I rolled over and agreed to come back. Next up was their office financial assistant to make sure I could afford it. She showed me the bill and after picking my jaw up off the floor, I guess I satisfied her to the point that yes I could afford the procedure. They sent me on my way with a cheery "See you in a bit".
I went and had lunch before returning. I was truly dreading it because I had heard that it was quite an uncomfortable/painful procedure. They numbed me up pretty well, but god the sound of the drill. It freaks me out whether I can feel it or not. The fact that I know he was slowly destroying most of the tooth didn't help my visualization of what was going on. Overall I guess it wasn't too bad and didn't hurt at all, including post recovery. Even now, several hours later, I'm not feeling any discomfort. Knock on wood. I now have a temporary crown with the permanent one due to be ready in a few weeks. It sucks getting old
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1 comment:
I didnt know you got a root canal. You must have a good dentist. papa Y. got one last year and he was in a lot of pain. did your dentist prescribe something for the pain?
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