Could be Worse

[kevin_standlee]

Everyone who hears of my root canal asks, "Does it hurt?" Nope, not in the tooth at least. There's a little bit of trauma around the gum, sort of like you get if you burn the gums or eat too-crunchy food, but that's minor, and I don't feel the need to take any of the pain-killer the doctor gave me. I am, of course, taking the antibiotics. The whole reason for the root canal was that there was a low-grade infection/abscess at the root of that tooth. It wasn't much; otherwise, it would have become acute after waiting about nine months since the diagnosis. But it was there, and the doctor prescribed a course of antibiotics for it after she did the first stage of the root canal. The antibiotics, naturally, I will take as directed for the full course. The main annoyance here is having a gap in my teeth and not being able to chew with the right side of my mouth, and that's going to go on for several weeks until I get a new crown in place. After that, I'm expecting things to settle down, at least until the next crown, which will be sometime later this year, and then another one after that.

There was almost no pain during the actual operation, other than the pain caused by having to keep your mouth wide open that long. Even with a bite-holder, it hurt. And breathing was a little challenging when I started getting some congestion in my chest. I really do have to hand it to the oral surgeon; she worked pretty quickly and efficiently to get the work done as fast as she could.

Comments

[daveon.livejournal.com]

I've had 3 root canals (2 were related), the two related ones were emergencies and frankly, it was wonderful to have them.

The 3rd was based on an x-ray pointing out I had a hole under a tooth probably damaged in a rugby accident 20+ years before... that was also painless but the recovery was just horrific.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'll be very happy when the work is done. I've been having to favor the right side of my mouth for about a year because if I bite too hard on that side (where the existing crown was), I could feel the twinge. If all goes as planned, once I have a new crown on that tooth after the specialist finishes the actual root-canal work, I'll be just about good as new. And I have no problem with getting a new gold crown on that back tooth. Gold is best for these things in my opinion, especially on back teeth where you can't see it.

I was mostly raised by my grandparents, who were from rural Arkansas and didn't get decent dental care. My grandmother had lost all of her teeth and my grandfather most of his when relatively young. I vowed that I did not to have that happen to me. I want to keep all of my teeth (except the wisdom teeth that were removed when I was 15 when they got impacted).

I've never been allergic to dentistry. Back my college days, there was a period of about seven uninsured years where I didn't see a dentist, and when I was insured again and got my first appointment, the resultant cleaning was ugly. I was lucky to have only three cavities. The dentist apologized for the blood caused when he chipped off all of that plaque. I told him, "It's not your fault; it's mine. Thanks for doing the best that you can." Since then, I've been reasonably good (except during two one-year unemployment stints) about seeing the dentist regularly. It helps that I have an excellent dentist who I would happily recommend to anyone in the Bay Area (Dr. Anthony Ferrer, Redwood Shores)

Yesterday, though, I was in considerable discomfort and trying to figure out how, with a mouth full of dental instruments, I could communicate "It's getting difficult to breathe unless you give me a chance to cough out the congestion that's rattling around my windpipe!" I reckon that if it had gotten any worse, I would have started choking and they would have had to do something. I use a prescription nasal spray before bedtime to combat my sleep apnea by keeping my sinuses clear. I think I'll take a shot of it next Thursday before my next appointment, so I can breath more easily.

[msconduct.livejournal.com]

I've been reasonably good (except during two one-year unemployment stints) about seeing the dentist regularly

Good plan. I'm religious about nine-monthly checkups and six-monthly cleanings, not only because I don't want to lose my gold and porcelain-on-gold crowns through my own fault to root canals but because if I leave the cleanings any longer the tartar-chipping is excruciating.

[madfilkentist]

I think I've had four root canals. The last one was rather painful, perhaps due to inadequate anesthetic, but the ones before it were merely tedious. I've done things like work out solutions to software issues in my head while having them.