Cityretreat

As mentioned, last Monday marked my final appointment following the root canal – applying the permanent crown.

Root canal’s have a terrible reputation, though having had two I’m not exactly sure why.
For one thing, getting a “root canal” isn’t a singular experience. It is a long, drawn out, series of appointments.

And while there was definitely one visit where the endodontist (dentists don’t actually do root canals?) removed the root, you’ll soon see this was the happiest visit of the whole experience.

I have a lovely dentist. She is very nice, attentive, funny. And while she knows of my extreme distaste (no pun intended) for dental appointments (I always have at least one cavity) she doesn’t take offense.

During a recent routine exam (visit #1), she identified a cracked cavity. Was I experiencing sensitivity? Yes, my teeth are always sensitive. She did a lot of work (visit #2 ); I will spare details b/c they make me queasy, surely you too. She put on a temporary crown and I was to wait a week or so to see if the pain subsided. If not, I’d likely need a root canal. This was the week before Memorial Day.

That Saturday we were at Lowes looking for stuff for Winona. I unwrapped a piece of gum (definitely on the ‘do not do’ list but I chew a lot of gum) and before I had taken two chews, my temporary crown was wadded up in my gum.

Interesting.

I was actually relatively calm. I didn’t even mention it to my hubby. I put the crown in my purse. We continued shopping. I noticed that when I breathed in through my mouth there was an odd sensation, not pain, just odd. Hum.

It didn’t take long to realize this was going to be a problem. I ate lunch (God forbid I miss a meal) and it didn’t go very well, even though I was only chewing on one side. Basically my nerve was exposed, so anything that went in my mouth, including air, was going to irritate it. I took some Advil.

Later that day I called her office in the off-chance they were open. They weren’t. I wrote down the emergency number, just in case.

In the end, I didn’t call. I took Advil (a lot of Advil). My first call Tuesday morning was to her office.

She was horrified. She actually took my call herself and was horrified. She couldn’t believe I’d been walking around without my crown on for four days. Didn’t I call the emergency number??

So that is the background. I go to the endodontist (visit #3) who does the root canal. At this point you may see why this would be glorious. First, he asked some questions – maybe this wasn’t really necessary? The root is exposed afterall, it should hurt.

“GET IT OUT,” I said.

He loads what seems like everything north of my shoulders with Novocain. I hate Novocain. I hate dental work but really hate Novocain – makes me feel like total crap. Heart rate goes up, I’m sweating, the whole thing just sucks.

Anyway, he does his thing. The root is extracted. I’ve never been happier. He wants to see me in a week. I go back (visit #4) thinking it is just an ‘open wide,’ everything looks good, on my merry way. Nope, more Novocain and another procedure I’m not going to explain. It was fine.

We part ways, hopefully not to see each other again for awhile.

Back to my lovely dentist (visit #5). She does some more work and makes a mold for my crown. She wants to use Novocain, I ask if we can skip it. She is shocked but obliges. It didn’t hurt.

At this point I’ve been chilling with my ‘nub’ as I call it - what is left of my rejected tooth – for weeks. It makes me feel like a homeless person. Not nice, but I’m horrified something will land me in the hospital and the doc will think I don’t have good oral hygiene (as if that would be my biggest concern if I actually were in the hospital). Ridiculous, but I’d be remiss to leave this part out since I talked about it for six weeks. When I left for my last appointment hubby said “don’t come back if that nub isn’t covered.”

Finally, last Monday I’m ready for my permanent crown to go in (visit #6). Easy as pie.

So back to the original question, what is so bad about the root canal? The procedure itself was actually a delight – painful root removed. Perhaps it is the inconvenience of all the appointments? That certainly was annoying. Or the hefty price tag of this little nub-cover? I’m still not really sure what all the hype is about.

Good news is I’m now six weeks closer to my next ‘routine’ visit :)