Night at the dentist

[fbhjr]

I’ve been scheduled for a big dental procedure for a while now. I had to push it back several times due to work.
His saying "no, we need several hours for this" didn’t encourage me to get to it quickly.

It ended up taking 2 1/2 hours. I knew it was going to take a while, but when he got out the hammer and chisel, I really started to worry about if I was going to lose some teeth.
"Don’t worry about the construction workers, keep you eyes closed," he said and went back to hammering my lower jaw.
Afterwards he reached in with some vice grips. There was a crunching sound and he pulled something out.
"uuuuh," I said, meaning "what’s going on?"
"Don’t worry, it is supposed to sound like that," he said.

It ended up taking three shots of pain blockers as I have a tendency to burn through them very quickly.
He could tell as I winched each time he went by the nerve that I could feel it and would give me another shot.
Sadly I not only burn through it quickly but seem to be mildly allergic to it, so I have trouble breathing when injected.
Not really the best thing when you’re upside down in the chair with a mouth full of dental equipment.

Apparently the two teeth are right on the boarder of needing a root canal.
"It’s 50/50," he said. "So, I’m not going to do it tonight. You seem to be a bit sensitive to my drilling on your nerves, so I think drilling in them would be worse."
I think he was right about this, but only said "uuuuh", meaning "I’d rather not have two root canals tonight".

When he was finally done with drilling there was another problem.
"I’ve drilled out the area for the bases in the teeth," he said. "Now I’ve got to place them. But, there is so much blood welling up that I’m not sure I’ll be able to do it."
"uuuuh," I said, meaning "that sounds really bad, what can you do?"
"I’m going to give you a shot of something that should stop the bleeding. Meanwhile, pray that it does."
I looked over at the big picture of Jesus on his wall and did as instructed.
"Hey, it worked!" he said a short time later. "Maybe we should go out in the parking lot and see if I can walk on water."
"uuuuh," I said, meaning "all water in Massachusetts is frozen this winter, walking on it isn’t difficult".

"I’m going to file down this other tooth that seems sharp," he said at one point.
"uuuuh," I said, meaning "several are sharp, which do you mean?"
"The front right bottom one," he said, and went at it with the drill.
"uuuuh," I said, meaning "that does feel better!"
"You can feel it with your tongue? Time for another shot!"

Finally he was done. Impressions have been taken. A pair of temp crowns are in. In a couple of weeks the final ones will come in now.
"That will be $1400 now and another $1000 when they come in," he said.
"uuuuh," I said. Nothing was blocking me from talking at that point.
"No, that is after insurance," he said.

Well, between the car repairs and the teeth, that’s our tax refund for this year. Actually, I think it is a bit more than that.
uuuuh.

Comments

[eglantine-br.livejournal.com]

It always amazes me how they know just what you are saying. Must be something they learn in dentist school.

I have had several root canals this year. They are better than the alternative I suppose.

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

I have had them before myself. And, it really wasn't that bad. No worse than a normal filling no mater how they are portrayed on sitcoms.

But, that doesn't mean I wanted two of them tonight on top of the rest...

[cissa.livejournal.com]

Most of my root canals were not worse than fillings, but those dentists were liberal with the anesthetics.

The most recent one i had, the guy who did it was NOT generous with the painkillers, so it was excruciating. My nerves are convoluted, and i burn through the novocaine quickly. He didn't care. He gave me like 1 shot- the good ones gave my 5-7, carefully placed and renewed- and kept lying to me about how he was done with the painful stuff.

Since he was someone my regular dentist brought in, I've been leery of my dentist since. I am way overdue for a check-up, yet cannot bring myself to do it,

[brickhousewench.livejournal.com]

"That will be $1400 now and another $1000 when they come in," he said.

OUCH.

[canyoncat.livejournal.com]

Well, that does not sound like fun. I was supposed to go in to start work for a crown a couple of weeks ago but it got cancelled because of one of the snow storms. I'm not real excited about rescheduling but I know it needs to be done. He's been telling me this one needs to be done for a couple of years now.

[postingwhore.livejournal.com]

I got a root canal more than ten years ago...never bothered to get a crown, though. S: But yeah, they aren't fun at all. :\

[morgan-lafaye.livejournal.com]

Ow, to it all.

[hindustar.livejournal.com]

Wow. Ha. They know exactly how much to charge you don't they. I am very glad you had the money when you needed it.

With my anxiety, if a dentist says "Root Canal" I say, "Pull It". I am going to end up with dentures anyway. Anemia is hard on the teeth and I have resigned myself to that fact.

No need to be anxious, ask for good drugs

[brickhousewench.livejournal.com]

I demanded good drugs for my root canal. Between the Valium and the Novocaine, it wasn't bad at all. And I have some severe dentist anxiety after everything I went through as a child (teeth pulled and braces to rearrange the contents of my mouth).

Re: No need to be anxious, ask for good drugs

[hindustar.livejournal.com]

Ouch.

[merilune.livejournal.com]

Ick - what hurt more, the procedure or the cost?! I hope that your teeth give you no more troubles for a while at least. I think you're pretty brave to have not gone mad - I hate dentists fiddling about in my mouth.

[manue7a.livejournal.com]

ugh. Well, at least you're through with that one..

[meathiel]

Teeth can be expensive stuff ... but somehow you need them ... damn!

[resonant.livejournal.com]

Eeeeeeeeeeeeee!

[chaquir.livejournal.com]

it's amazing they always seem to know what the "uuuuuuuuh" means.


Teeth and having them fixed sucks and always costs small fortunes really! Blergh!!

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I can't read your text (dentists give me nightmare), but based on the cut text and your tag, I wish you a fast recovery and that you'll be pain-free soon!

[palusbuteo.livejournal.com]

Yikes.

1400 and 1000 was about the same amount I had for car insurance and car repairs recently. :P

Sorry about your teeth. But hope all of the work provides some kind of relief

[tjoel2]

My major phobia right there: the dentist. Oh. My. God. I have actually had two root canals, on the same tooth. Ended up being one insanely expensive tooth. I definitely don't envy you at all.

[anwyn-elfmaiden.livejournal.com]

Ouchies and good recovery. :)

[endlessblush.livejournal.com]

$2400? And that's after insurance have paid their part?

HOLY MOLY ... *shakes head is disbelief*