A few years ago I had a rather convoluted and drawn out root canal involving specialists and much trauma and through the process discovered my allergy to gold...
Anyway, the tooth has from time to time been a bit achey and my dentist in Ireland said he wasn't happy with some shadowing under it on my x-rays but that it could be fine for many years.
Well, Sod's law says that's never going to be the case and sure enough my tooth started to really ache a couple of months ago - needed painkillers to cope with it as it was keeping me awake at night. I took the painkillers and otherwise ignored it as any good scared-of-the-dentist person would do. But my tooth was not to be ignored, a small lump appeared on the gum so I took the hint and took myself to the dentist.
Anyway, dentist sent me to an orthodontist who took more x-rays and pronounced that my original root canal treatment was perfect - great news! However, that means there's nothing that can be done, the whole lot has to come out...
So today it was back to my normal dentist who took out the tooth. He pumped me so full of anesthetic that I didn't even notice that the tooth had come out at all - I was quite confused as to why he would be putting in stitches before he'd taken the tooth out! The least traumatic tooth extraction I've ever had (except for my wisdom teeth, but then I was knocked out cold for those)
On my way back to work an elderly gentleman at the train station asked me what was wrong. Apparently I had a bit of blood on my lip and chin, so once he'd convinced himself that I really had just been to the dentist he whipped out a perfectly folded handkerchief and wiped my mouth for me.
The drugs are starting to wear off now - I'm sure that it's going to hurt like hell for a while. So now I'm sitting at work with a half-smile and feeling very very sorry for myself!
Root canals absolutely suck. I've had one but luckily I have a very good dentist. He writes me a lovely, lovely prescription to help my anxiety.
Posted by: Arlene | November 15, 2007 at 02:54 AM
Well, at least you have the confidence to smile again. It's a no-pain-no-gain kind of thing. Just be happy that you went through it all smoothly, and that you get to have your smile back.
Posted by: Diana Dickert | September 05, 2011 at 06:30 PM