Dentist

Two years ago I was sitting at work and realized something felt off. My tooth didn’t hurt, but I hadn’t remembered ever being conscious of that tooth before. I thought maybe I simply bit down on it too hard, and it was warning me not to do that.

I forgot about it until the next day when it still was weird. I called my dentist office to get their opinion.

“Are you in pain?”

“No.”

“Is there any swelling?”

“No. It just feels … strange.”

The nice lady told me to keep her informed. She called me two days later to see how I was feeling.

“It still feels off.”

“Why don’t you come in tomorrow? I have a 2 pm appointment.”

“I’m not sure. I’d hate to waste the dentist’s time.”

“I’d hate for it to start to hurt over the weekend.”

So in I went.

The assistant took xrays. A few minutes later, the dentist came in.

“I have a feeling I know what it is. Let me test it out.”

He tapped his instrument on my farthest back molar. Then the next one. Then the one in question.

After he peeled me off the ceiling, he told me I’d need a root canal. There was a little bit of infection, so I walked out with a prescription for antibiotics and an appointment card for the following Monday.

Everyone had shared with me horror stories about root canals. I was seriously freaked out. Fortunately, my tooth had straight roots, and that part of the procedure was a piece of cake. Then was the crown build up, which I’d done before. Then I was off – temporary in place. Two weeks later I was the proud wearer of a new crown.

And why, might you ask, am I sharing this? A couple months ago I started have a strange taste in my mouth that reminded me of being at the dentist. Then last week, as I was eating a tater tot, I felt my crown pull up some. Tater tots, while delicious, are not sticky. This was bad.

Last Friday I called in and was able to get an appointment for this past Monday. When I went in, I pointed to the offending tooth to the assistant. With no pressure, she wiggled it twice and out it came. Fortunately, they were able to clean out the old cement and reuse it. My frugal side definitely likes that $800 savings!

I never thought I’d say this, but there is a positive side to having had a root canal: they drilled into the tooth and inserted a metal post and cemented the crown back on, all without having to numb me up. The shots are the worst part for me.

Hopefully now I’m all set for years to come. I’m so glad my teeth give me warning signs when trouble is on the way.

Has anyone else ever been seriously freaked out about going in to the doctor/dentist only to find out it wasn’t so bad? or Does anyone else’s teeth give them advanced warning of difficulties?