Sep 14 2018
Ouch
I’m coming to you from Dental Hell. I’ve been here since Sunday, and I really don’t recommend it. Stay away if you can!
On Sunday, the right, lower side of my mouth was bothering me. This was the site of the last filling, which took an hour and a half to complete, and which I thought was bad until I arrived in Dental Hell. The filling was a mere preview. I was up all night with the incredible pain on Sunday night. On Monday, I went to the dentist. They did x-rays and various tests. Although they could see that a different filling had popped off, they could also see that it wasn’t infected and was innocent of decay. They opined that I was grinding my teeth in my sleep and that’s what caused the filling to pop off.
They made an appointment for me to get impressions done for the indignity of a mouth guard, an unwelcome return to the retainer of my youth, and another for the filling. I began to wonder if they were going to charge me rent on top of my ever-escalating dental bills. They also gave me a prescription for painkillers, even though one of my recent life lessons was that despite their name, they do not in fact kill pain.
By the time the first appointment rolled around on Wednesday, it was clear that something was really wrong. Not only did the pain laugh merrily at the application of its would-be assassins, it had escalated to the point of being totally unbearable. If I ever wondered about my ability to stand up to torture, I no longer do. The right side of my face is swollen up like a seasonable Halloween pumpkin. Trick or treat!
I kept the appointment for the impressions. It is proof of how dreadful the pain was that the gagging and grossosity of the impressions process just seemed like nothing compared to the agony of what I now know is an infected tooth. The dentist prescribed a strong antibiotic and is going to refer me to an endodontist, who is of course located in the County Seat, which is a three hour round trip drive. So I get to look forward to doing that at least twice, once for a consultation and once for – gulp! – a root canal. If I weren’t in so much pain, I’d be horrified.
A YEAR AGO: Being a cat servant can be challenging.
FIVE YEARS AGO: Giving away dear Schatzi’s things. I still miss her.
TEN YEARS AGO: Ah, the strange dreams swirling through my head!
3 Responses to “Ouch”
Wow, I’m so sorry to hear this Suzy, seems that it never ends these problems with teeth. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. We all know hoe sensible this area is and I truly hope this pain of yours eases up soon. Stay strong my friend, I will be thinking of you in my meditations.
Of course I meant to write sensitive not sensible, sorry.
Oh no, tooth pain sucks!! I had a root canal a few years ago – I felt nothing and it was done in about twenty minutes… I actually asked my dentist if he did it, thinking he had given up or something. I thought root canals were long, painful affairs and mine was basically like a filling. Hope yours is equally easy!