Surviving a root canal

 Or Diane's little adventure of trying NOT to get a root canal...

It started simply with chipping a tooth after an Indianapolis Colts football game in October.  Next came two trips to the dentist to get a temporary and then a permanent crown.  And of course this tooth is in the very back of my mouth and required many Novocaine shots each visit.  Lovely.

And a couple of days after the permanent crown I noticed the tooth was still painful.  So as you might expect,  I waited several weeks (with LOTS of ibuprofen) before going back to the dentist.  Of course that was two days before Christmas.  And my worst fears were confirmed.  ROOT CANAL!

On Monday January 6th, I called the Endodontist office about my appointment on Tuesday morning.

Here's how the phone call went...

Me:  My appointment is tomorrow at 10AM, and I'm a bit worried about the weather.  Any openings Tuesday afternoon?

Andrea:  No.  If you don't come in tomorrow at 10 AM, next available appointment is next week.

Me:  This is just a consultation, right?  No dental work tomorrow?

Andrea:  No.  He has the root canal scheduled for tomorrow and has allowed enough time for it.

Me:  Will he take x-rays to verify which tooth?

Andrea: Yes.

Me:  I have not been taking antibiotics. Is that ok?

Andrea: Yes

Me:  I have a head cold.  Is that a problem?

Andrea: No.

Me:  Will I be able to drive myself home?

Andrea:  Yes.

Me:  So basically I've exhausted all my reasons to not come to the appointment tomorrow, right?

Andrea: Yes, you must be there.

Well, all we got was a lousy 5 inches of snow Monday evening, and though traffic was crummy all around the city, nothing was closed down.  Darn.  So I spent almost 2 hours driving to the appointment, which is normally a 45 minute drive.

And the first thing the Endodontist says to me is "you are late".  Ok, I was 10 minutes late.  Next as he's testing the tenderness of my tooth, I didn't understand his instruction of "back and forth" which supposedly meant "chew down on the Q-Tip".  Seriously, who would understand that?  He said "LISTEN TO ME!"

And then he tapped on several teeth with a blunt dental instrument, and I was a little jumpy.  He said "Did that hurt?"  To which I answered, "No.  I'm just nervous".  He said "Don't do that unless it hurts".  Are you getting the idea this wasn't going well?

And then he did the ice cube test, and when he placed it against the back tooth, I almost jumped out of the chair.  He seemed happy then, like I finally responded like a normal patient.

Ok, I will spare you the gory details here.  I closed my eyes and prayed and clenched my back muscles until they hurt.  I listened to the blow by blow description of what he was doing, but I respectfully declined to watch his work on the TV screen.  NO! NO! NO!   I do not want to see any medical or dental work on my body.  After an intense hour of him working on my tooth, it was over.  I left the office exhausted and exhilarated.  

And ever since then I've been exclaiming to Mike "My tooth doesn't hurt.  My tooth doesn't hurt."  Seriously, it's the first time I've been without that dull, throbbing ache for over a month.  Wow!  

Lesson learned once again:  quit worrying about medical and dental procedures as they are never as bad as I imagine. 

 But I still wince when I see a billboard or ad with a tooth on it...

Diane