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Much pain
9 years ago
I'm not much one for doctors, or dentists. Until I absolutely have to.
Like today.
I've had a molar bothering me off and on for a couple of weeks. It got pretty intolerable the beginning of this week. It's also on the side of my mouth that I chew on. (Why is that I chew on one side?)
It got to the point that I had to break down. The dentist gave me 3 choices: yank the tooth, root canal, or put in an insert for a permanent tooth (also very expensive).
Yanking the tooth and leaving a hole was kind of not an option - remember, I chew food on that side of my mouth.
So I opt for the root canal.
Yeah, jabs of Novocain ."You'll only feel a pinch" they say as a 6" needle is aimed at my mouth, and then wiggled around after insertion in the gum line. As the skin slides off my face, and uncontrolled drooling occurs, the dentist produces a drill bit of a size that would make any oil baron proud. Ohh, the wondrous sounds and vibrations this tool of destruction makes for an interminable amount of time, followed by silence.
"Houston, we have a problem"
Uh oh.. I am duly informed that the tooth has decayed to the point that the root canal is no longer an option.
The decision is down to two choices, both involving extraction, but one also including more drilling and a LOT of monies. I've also been in this chair for an hour, I can't keep my tongue in my mouth, and my lips don't exist anymore.
I'm about to opt for the extraction, when the dentist makes an offer I can't refuse. He'll do the implant for almost the same price as the root canal.
YAY!
More Novocain. More drilling, more holding my mouth open wider than it's meant to. And some really scary crunching noises. And then he's done.
No smoking, alcohol, carbonated drinks or chewing food for 48 hours... :-O
And now the Novocain is wearing off...........
Like today.
I've had a molar bothering me off and on for a couple of weeks. It got pretty intolerable the beginning of this week. It's also on the side of my mouth that I chew on. (Why is that I chew on one side?)
It got to the point that I had to break down. The dentist gave me 3 choices: yank the tooth, root canal, or put in an insert for a permanent tooth (also very expensive).
Yanking the tooth and leaving a hole was kind of not an option - remember, I chew food on that side of my mouth.
So I opt for the root canal.
Yeah, jabs of Novocain ."You'll only feel a pinch" they say as a 6" needle is aimed at my mouth, and then wiggled around after insertion in the gum line. As the skin slides off my face, and uncontrolled drooling occurs, the dentist produces a drill bit of a size that would make any oil baron proud. Ohh, the wondrous sounds and vibrations this tool of destruction makes for an interminable amount of time, followed by silence.
"Houston, we have a problem"
Uh oh.. I am duly informed that the tooth has decayed to the point that the root canal is no longer an option.
The decision is down to two choices, both involving extraction, but one also including more drilling and a LOT of monies. I've also been in this chair for an hour, I can't keep my tongue in my mouth, and my lips don't exist anymore.
I'm about to opt for the extraction, when the dentist makes an offer I can't refuse. He'll do the implant for almost the same price as the root canal.
YAY!
More Novocain. More drilling, more holding my mouth open wider than it's meant to. And some really scary crunching noises. And then he's done.
No smoking, alcohol, carbonated drinks or chewing food for 48 hours... :-O
And now the Novocain is wearing off...........
And not being able to feel my lower lip for 6 hours!
So help yourself to a nice glass! Or ten!
The same tooth on the other side of my mouth has a cavity in the same place this one did, but not as deep or down to the nerve yet, so he can do a filling for that one.. *Whew*
Yeah, so now I have a hole in my head.
Joking of course.
But in all seriousness get well soon. Don't need you going to FWA drugged and still drooling. Though with the theme you could dress as a zombie and scare all the campers.
If it had been the back molar behind it, that's exactly what I would have done.
I guess this is the punishment I get for not going to the dentist for 6 years.
I intend to scare all the campers. Fu Manchu says they're crunchy and taste good with ketchup!
Seriously, if I hadn't skipped going to a dentist for 6 years, they would have caught this sooner and I wouldn't have gone through all this. As it is, there's a cavity, in the same place, on the same tooth on the other side of my mouth. Fortunately, it's not as bad as this one was, and he thinks a filling will fix it.
And hopefully there won't be another "Houston, we have a problem"
BTW, my dad was quite the wordsmith and it rubbed off on me a little. I just skimmed the surface.
Get better, my friend. We'll give you a call tomorrow to see how you are doing.
I'm feeling better this morning.
Best line ever.
At least mouths usually heal pretty quickly most of the time
It usually takes a week or so for me to recover from an extraction. In this case, the dentist also installed a titanium insert in my jaw for the replacement tooth I get in 2-3 months.
I hope you heal quickly.
I used to go to one regularly until they screwed up an appointment and really didn't seem to care. That was 6 years ago. If I had still kept going, this would have been caught much sooner and fixed with just a simple filling.
you can alternate ibuprofen and acetaminophen and get better pain relief than with starting to low doses of opiates.
two of one now, two of the other in 4 to 6 hours.
One of these drugs is every four hours and the other is every six, so if you take the one that is every four hours now, in four hours take the other one, that is six, then six hours after that, take the first one again.
There are studies (Brother is anesthetist and reminds me of this all the time) showing that the above combination is better than 10 mg percocet and even better for mouth/teeth pain than that.
I am also probably going to have this same issue soon. I skipped dentists for 8 years, went back and there were no problems, then six months later he found one cavity to fill, but I think he screwed up the filing or scratched the tooth next to it, because it's hurt pretty bad for a while. I am going to go back in the next month or go to a new dentist.
I had to go back three times with the filling because it wasn't smooth first, and then the tooth started moving because the filling was too deep, so the tooth was hitting the tooth under it at a different spot... then a week later I had to go back again because it was still not right. That last time mostly fixed it, but it almost seems like the filling didn't totally cover the hole drilled, or there's a crack that I'm feeling now.
From what I understand, teeth with a root canal and crown eventually fail after several years. Mine had less than a 50-50 chance of working.
To some degree, I'm glad I've gone the replacement route. If he had come down on his price sooner, it would have saved me an hour in the chair while he tried to do the root canal.
As it turns out, I had the same, with a chip out of the tooth right in front of the one he's working on.
I keep forgetting to chew food on the left side of my mouth. I've caused myself a few moments of pain by forgetting.
I wish you a comfortable and speedy recovery.