a man, a plan, a (root) canal...
don't ask me how, but i broke a tooth on a fresh h&h bagel. way in the back, my last molar. i grind my teeth at night, but i'm too stubborn to get a bite guard (actually, too prudent, since i know i'll probably not wear it anyways). if someone had told me that i would be getting a root canal as a result, i might have acquiesced. anyways, i broke it too close to the nerve for them to repair it, so today is the first of at least three dental surguries which entails 1) gum lengthening to get to the entire tooth 2) the root canal itself 3) filling and capping the tooth. last week, when i went in to get it checked out, the dentist brightly told me that they could save it (yay! i thought.) then, they clicked on a fancy computer and showed me a fun video that was supposed to educate and calm me about the procedure. i'm not usually skittish about dental work, but i could have lived without the video showing drills and nerve endings and the different layers of enamel and dentin. i would have rather not known. afterwards i asked: "can't you just pull it out?" the dentist looked at me like i was nuts and explained to me why it was better to just have the surgery. "again, i ask. can't you just pull it out?"
so i went home and called my mommy, who's had a root canal, and she told me that it was the greatest pain that she had known next to childbirth. but, then again, she had some sort of abcess or something, which i don't have. "call your brother," she said, "i think he had a root canal once." i called mark, who, it turns out, did not have a root canal, but decided to be helpful by looking stuff up on the internet. "wow... this looks really painful. you probably won't eat for a week." which, actually, is probably a false presumption. the day i got my wisdom teeth taken out, i was issued a similar edict: "only ice cream and jello." six hours later, i was at the dinner table bypassing the prescribed food groups and gnawing on a steak. anyone who knows me knows i don't take kindly to medical advice, especially if it involves curtailing food and exercise. but, just in case, i'm purchasing a blender on my way home. i hear the drugs are pretty fun, at least.
so i went home and called my mommy, who's had a root canal, and she told me that it was the greatest pain that she had known next to childbirth. but, then again, she had some sort of abcess or something, which i don't have. "call your brother," she said, "i think he had a root canal once." i called mark, who, it turns out, did not have a root canal, but decided to be helpful by looking stuff up on the internet. "wow... this looks really painful. you probably won't eat for a week." which, actually, is probably a false presumption. the day i got my wisdom teeth taken out, i was issued a similar edict: "only ice cream and jello." six hours later, i was at the dinner table bypassing the prescribed food groups and gnawing on a steak. anyone who knows me knows i don't take kindly to medical advice, especially if it involves curtailing food and exercise. but, just in case, i'm purchasing a blender on my way home. i hear the drugs are pretty fun, at least.
posted by cheeky monkey at 12:19 PM
3 Comments:
Just randomly clicking Next Blog, I stopped to read your tale of dental woe. I've had several root canals (the older you get...) and I can tell you that, because you don't have an abscess, the root canal should be painless, assuming your dentist sends you to a good endodontist.
Here's the thing about endodontists, though. People who have ZERO chairside manner--real anti-people people--and have no prospect of developing an ongoing relationship with a stable patient base gravitate toward endodontics, because it's a field where you generally see a patient once, when she's in pain and just wants to get it over with and get out. I'm not saying all endodontists are jerks. I've met some really fun ones. But just don't be surprised if the one you run into is gruff and unsympathetic.
Anyway, set your mind at ease. The point of a root canal is to take the nerve out. Once it's out, duh, you can't feel anything. The only discomfort is the initial series of Novocaine injections. Once they take hold, you're good to go.
Um, have you seen this: http://middletownexpat.blogspot.com/2006/03/why-you-ask.html? Every time you get nervous about your root canal, think of me.
good lord! how did that happen???
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