Back at the beginning of January I went to the dentist because a piece of one of my old fillings had fallen out. I thought I would go in, they would refill it, and that would be that.
Sadly, my story is not that short. As they drilled away at the hole where the filling had been, I heard the dentist say, "Hmmmmm, Beth, it looks like we're actually going to have to do a root canal on this one."
Yikes. I had never had a RC so I was pretty freaked out since I'm terrified of even going for a cleaning. So they drilled and picked and drilled and picked some more, and after about an hour and 45 minutes he stopped and said. "I'm not going to be able to finish it today, let's have you come back."
Due to travel, houseguests and just plain old fear, I didn't go back until around the beginning of February. This time I was in the chair for two hours. Two hours of him digging, picking and stabbing at my root, trying to get out every little piece of rotten yuck.
And that's when I heard him say, "Well, I still can't finish it. Your canals are very curved and thin. We're going to need to send you to a specialist."
FUUUUUUUUCK!
Okay, so I put it off and put it off. Not wanting to go back AGAIN for the third root canal on the same tooth. If you've never had a root canal, feel blessed. It's a bitch, and it's even more of a bitch when it happens five times on the same tooth.
Yeah, five. So I go to the specialist. He takes two and a half hours digging and scraping. Then I hear the same thing, "I'm not going to be able to finish this. I need you to come back." This time though he promised me it'd get finished.
Nope. My FOURTH appointment, my FOURTH root canal on the same tooth, was last Tuesday and it was another two and a half hour appointment. And guess what? HE DIDN'T FINISH IT!
So I have to go back yet again. I'm in some of the most god awful pain I've ever been in. I'm tired of going to the dentist. I've sat in a chair and had someone scraping in the depths of the same tooth for over eight hours now and it's still not done.
There's no moral or ending to this. Just me complaining about how awful an experience this has been :(
- Bethany James Leigh Shady
- Novelist, children's book author, freelance writer, and lover of the Shire.
14 comments:
I totally feel your pain. I would gladly give birth over and over again if it meant I never had to go to the dentist. Hopefully they gave ya some good stuff at least. I'm almost embarassed to admit that I've had a temporary crown on my back tooth for almost 3 years because I'm too chicken to go back and have the real one put on. Now I'm scared that they'll have to do the root canal again...*shudders*
Oh, Im so sorry. You are better than I am though. I have a filling out and won't go to the detist until I'm in pain. the last time I lost a filling they wanted me to have a Rc and crown, since I was having my wisdom teeth pulled-I told them to just take that tooth too (thankfully it was far enough back). The Dentist sucks and not it the water out of your mouth way.
Good Luck with #6.
Like I worte recently on some other blog: Whenever I am at the dentist and they take X-rays, all I can think is: are these ever going to be used to identify my body...I know its morbid, but I can't help myself...they always use dental records in CSI and stuff...
Is that weird
_ Tooth Math _
Pliers + Jorge = No more trouble with that tooth + 2(interesting blog entries with graphic mouth photos)
;)
Oh you poor thing... I feel for you. I hate going to the dentist, and now after reading your blog, I do even more, LOL. I think the fear is from not being able to actually SEE what is going on, at least thats my theory... Good luck with your next appointment.
Oh! Poor thing!! I've had more than a couple emergency root canals, so I feel your pain!! Hoping that the situation gets resolved quickly!!
You got more than a root canal, buddy. You also got BENT OVER for a colonoscopy.
That sounds just awful! I hope they end this soon and just finish the job!
Which reminds me I need to find a new dentist, ours no longer accepts our health benefits.
Good grief! Did they give you any meds??
Oh that sucks so, so, so bad. I've had one RC and it was an awful experience, BUT not nearly as bad as what you are dealing with.
My apologies and I hope he gets it finished the next time you go.
I know how you feel. My tooth cracked at work and my boss sent me to her dentist. Who sent me here.
http://www.savemytooth.com/
As far as root canals go - it wasn't as bad as I expected. They used a laser to clean out the root canal.
You had to go five times because you have excellent dental insurance! If you had bad insurance it would have taken only one visit!
I'd rather have a root canal in every tooth than to ever have gum surgery again. Now THAT sucks!!!
Right there with you sister!
My grandmother had "elk teeth" (family joke...long roots on the teeth, which I lovingly inherited) so every facking RC takes 10x as long....and it takes 7 shots (minimum) to get me numb. Did I mention I have a small mouth, so if they use adult sized bite blocks, I gag? PLEASANT and FUN!
That crap sucks. They are deviant people, these dentist types. We wont ever discuss the wisdom teeth removal, the ruined pink shirt and the reaction to the sedative.
Yours in pain,
Kat
Oh my gosh, I've ever met anyone else with such a fear for the dentist. I felt an instant bond over this post.
I had my first root canal last month. And I freaked out at the point when they were putting whats called 'a rubber dam' in my mouth to catch all the stuff they'd be scraping out. I was so panicked that they had to give me some drugs that made me loose all memory of the event and made me even sleep through most of the procedure. My husband had to come pick me up because I was unable to go drive myself home.
But that many appointments for a root canal on the same tooth...insane! I hope he gets it all done at your next visit.
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