Regarding yesterday's post, my brother has reminded me that my memory is faulty (as usual): "The hole," in my father's house, is not the storage space under the stairs, but rather the closet upstairs under the eaves.
It still makes sense to call our closet here "the hole," though, so in the end the story is the same, unaffected by that small detail. So never mind that, and let's move on to the big news of the day...
...my ROOT CANAL!
I know -- you really, really want to hear about this. I would not dream of disappointing you.
Seriously, it went mostly fine. It was just a matter of holding my mouth open for 45 minutes or so, and dealing with a rubber dental dam meant to keep things from falling down my throat. I never had to wear one of those before, and in fact in the '80s and '90s I remember hearing recommendations that they be used for safer sex. (I am not making this up.) Having now worn one for dentistry, I can't imagine using one for sex. But anyway.
I wouldn't say the root canal was painless, exactly -- there were a few times when the dentist hit the nerve and I felt it, and he had to numb me up a bit more. There was also a brief moment of equipment failure, when he couldn't get one of his drill thingies to work, and I was lying there thinking, "Uh-oh." But finally the hygienist got it going again, and the procedure overall wasn't too bad. It's a heck of a lot better than living with a painful tooth.
When the dentist first removed the gold inlay I've had in that tooth for almost ten years, he saw evidence of both decay and infection beneath it. So the inlay was leaking or somehow allowing the tooth to deteriorate. I've never liked that thing and I'm glad to have it gone. (I saved it to take to a scrap gold dealer -- another bizarre errand to run one of these days.)
Now, I have no pain -- just a gritty temporary filling. A chunk of it came out last night; the dentist warned me that might happen and not to worry. It also tastes terrible, like sucking on a quinine lozenge, but I've read online that that's normal, so I'm not concerned. I think the taste will go away, and I go back in two weeks for a permanent crown. I think the dentist wants me to wait that long to make sure problems don't develop with the root canal itself -- to make sure it's "successful," as he put it.
So now I can say I've had a root canal. Chalk that off my bucket list!
(Photo: A pizza place in Shoreditch.)
Glad you're done...I can't believe a root canal was on your bucket list.
ReplyDeleteGood for you for getting it done! Now you can relax. :)
ReplyDeleteIn the Outlander series I'm listening to, the woman who goes back in time is talking to her husband. She mentions a dentist and he asks, "What's a dentist?"
ReplyDeleteShe tells him that it's a doctor for teeth.
"What can you do with a tooth except pull it?" he asks. This is the 18th century they're in.
"You'd be surprised," she says.
Good for you! I’ve just done my dental updates as well, and it’s always a bit more than you think it’s going to be, both cost and procedures. I too had a decaying tooth under a filling that ended up with me getting a crown on that tooth. More than you ever wanted to know! And my brother is always correcting my memory too.
ReplyDeleteDentistry here is superb, I must say. state of the art. It is like the dentists have a competition to see who can out dentist the other. Plus the use of floride has been great for teeth, no evidence of small amounts harming anyone ever, in spite of the paranoia. That said, Nobody likes going to the dentist, there they are drilling and prodding so very close to your brain!!! Where you live! Glad you got that checked off of the list, hope you do not have another, hope your discomfort is minimal. Well done, YOU!
ReplyDeleteDentists started out as barbers, same one stop shopping...back in the day of pulling teeth.
I'm glad the root canal went well. Yes 45 minutes with your mouth propped open would be a pain.
ReplyDeleteOh good, I'm glad it's over and you survived. I'm sure the bucket list comment was a joke. No one has a root canal on their bucket list. I do hate those temporary fillings. I'm sure you will be glad when the crown is in place.
ReplyDeleteThat is not a very appealing image on the Pizza Slice place. Hopefully it's not visible when the place is open.
Wow! Your bucket list looks way different than mine.
ReplyDeleteSo glad to know that you had that root canal and that it wasn't terribly painful. Sometimes I wonder about George Washington's wooden teeth and think how crazy that must have been. So, I just googled it and found that he never had wooden dentures. They were actually made of ivory, gold, and lead. Imagine that!
ReplyDeleteI hate those dental dams. the only time/s I had that used on me was by my brother in law when he was working on my mouth for his finals. they were required to use them in dental school but you can't close your mouth with one on to relax between times when the dentist is actually working in your mouth. made my TMJ so much worse!
ReplyDeleteI've had several root canals in my life and I never understood why people dreaded them. Mine were never painful. Maybe I just had good dentists.
ReplyDeleteIs is SUCH a righteous feeling to have a big dental appointment over with!!! Yeah, I'd also say the worst part of a long procedure for me is having to keep my mouth open. I have TMJ and my jaw suffers. The crown will be a breeze in comparison, just so you know, and I hope nothing happens to make me a liar!
ReplyDeleteYou gave me a chuckle with your comments on your brother's correction, and your intro to the root canal, and your bizarre errand, and your quinine lozenge and your bucket list . . . sounds like you were still high on that "righteous" feeling when you wrote your post :)
I can't think of anything droll to say today so I'll just say bla-bla-bla-bla-bla-bla-bla-bla-bla-bla-bla. Inevitable response?
ReplyDeleteBet you're glad that's over,not too bad is it?
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I was not keen on 'The Post' either, must be in a bad mood for the cinema at the moment. lol
Briony
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