Toothaches and Other Pains in the...

[aearwen2]

No, scratch that, I'm terrifited of dentists. Ever since I went in to have a filling replace, told the dentist that I'd developed a high tolerance to Novacain and needed two shots, had him pull a hissy fit after he didn't believe me and started drilling on a tooth that was in no way numbed, give me a VERY painful second shot, throw a magazine at my face and stomped off to wait for the second shot to kick in, I've not gone willingly to any dentist. I don't care how kind, compassionate or gentle they are. Once I get in that chair, I'm dreading the shots, the magazine in the face, and the drilling on a tooth and feeling every rotation of the bit.

So...

Saturday night, Sunday morning, my right lower jaw was on fire. A tooth that was broken and had a hole in it the size of the Grand Canyon had finally decided to start HURTING. Hubby got me to start taking some of his high-end, broad-spectrum antibiotics (that the infectious disease specialist has him keep on hand in case he does something stupid in the grape arbor again and gets his leg infected) and I cancelled everything. I couldn't think, I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep, I was just plain miserable.

Yesterday, I got a referral to "a really nice fellow with good hands and good heart" from one of my friends, and called in. Got a call back too late to see him yesterday, and this morning made the appointment for 11:30. Walked into the office fully expecting to come back out of it with a mouth stuffed with cotton, bleeding from the hole where the tooth used to be.

Instead, I walked out with a referral to an endodontist for a root canal to perhaps save the tooth (and my ability to actually chew food,) thinking that maybe, perhaps, I might have finally found a dentist who doesn't scare me to death. The tooth is slightly abcessed, but the antibiotic is cutting the pain down considerably. AND I discovered that I'd really like to continue to eat real food rather than softie mush.

So, here I sit, putting off calling the endodontist's office and making an appointment for the next few days. No, I promise I'll do it in a little bit; I just wanted to bitch about it to someone.

Life sux sometimes, don't it?

Comments

[engarian.livejournal.com]

Honey, remember me? The rabbit of dental fears? The one who practically had to be dragged there for my root canal and put it off for another week because it wasn't too bad yet? Call. Call now. Call and tell them that you need gas and novacaine, and that you will need at least two shots. Make sure that they understand your needs. If they are at all as good as the girl I had, you'll be fine and you'll wonder afterwards what the fuss was all about. Of course, the bill will suck. Thank goodness for my HSA. But living without the pain??? SO, SO worth it.

- Erulisse (one L)