Could be Worse

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.