Dental Adventures
Well, some of you may have heard that I had to undergo a root canal recently. I’ve known that I needed it for almost 8 years now, but have opted to not have the procedure done because I’ve had no pain. Why get an expensive procedure done when there’s no pain? Answer….because one day there might be!!! Last week I started having severe pain from my tooth, so I “man up” and go to the Dentists (something I try to avoid!). Dentists says…”Hey, you need a root canal!” I’m like, “I know, how much is this gonna cost me!?” I deem the price suitable (mostly because I’m in severe pain. The Dentists then schedules me in for a couple days later. Cue my emergency visit the very next day!!! After 2 days of no sleep, and my gums/lips swelling to around 3x’s the normal size, I decide something has to be done pronto. The Dentist was nice enough to move some stuff around and have me in that day. He reacts just as I had the first time I looked in the mirror after the swelling have come about, “WOW!” He then proceeds to anesthitize me with several shots about the inside of my mouth. After waiting for the anasthesia to kick in and my blood pressure to go down, he then began the drilling. About 5 seconds later he stopped to my streaks of terror as I could feel every rotation of the drill as it progressed through my tooth!!! Upon my alert the Dentist stopped drilling and too evasive action by double the number of shots he gave me prior to the procedutes initiation. A few minutes later, he begins again only to stop to the same look of terror I gave before (I could still feel it). A few more shots, and the Dentist finally said ok, the bacterial infection beneath your gumline (in liquid form) is metabolizing the anesthetic too fast, you’ll have to go through this 100% lucid, or wait about 2 weeks for the antibiotics to reduce the infection. Being that I was in extreme pain to begin with, I did not want to wait 2 weeks (at this point I can’t eat, drink, sleep, or close my mouth). I Told him to proceed, and braced myself for the most excrutiating pain I had ever experienced, the folly of which I had never experienced any pain to this degree! As he proceeded with the drilling straight down through my tooth to the gumline, I broke into tears, and BP was through the roof. The pain of going through this fully aware was expenentially greater than I expected. I wish this upon no one! Finally…the drilling was finished, the rough part over with! I was so wrong! The next portion of the procedure proved to be the most painful. Some funnel type piece of plastic was then screwed by hand through the newly drilled hole in my tooth as it were a crew in wood. After the Dentists affirmed it was deep enough, he then took another plastic piece with a needle at one end, and began pumping it up and down through the other “funnel” piece of plastic needle stabbing into my gums beneth the root of my tooth over and over again increasing the overall status of pain greatly. When he pulled this piece out the infected fluid began to flow freely out the top of my tooth into my mouth….YUM! That went on for about 20-30 minutes after which the Dentist removed the plastic pieces all together, and told me he wasn’t going to finish the procedure until the following Monday (4 days later). He wanted to leave the whole in my tooth open over the weekend to let it continue to drain. He upgraded my antibiotics and pain meds, and sent me on my way. I vow to never allow that to happen to me again!!! Put me to sleep, or just pull the damn thing out next time! Anyhwo, I returnedMonday morning to “fininsh” the procedure. He was happy to see that the antibiotics had been working, and the swelling was almost fully reduced (the pain too!). He then proceded to fill the whole in my tooth with a view “antibacterial” compounds, and seal the bad boy up! He scheduled me for yet another appointment to actually fininsh the tooth, but I am glad to say that the pain I was experiencing is no more! I have a few “tremors” here and there from everything settling into place, and a little remaining swelling, but none like I had suffered previously.
The End
-Phenix
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