Kick it root down!

In case anyone is reading this that has recently lost a tooth filling -- don't wait around like I did. Sometime last fall I noticed a very obvious hole on one of my molars where a filling used to be. I kept saying I would make a dentist appointment ... next week ... and then the next week and low and behold, it didn't freaking happen. Flash forward to last week. I was minding my own business enjoying some dinner and BAM! -- pain like an electric shock starting in my jaw and working its way down my neck.

The next two days were pure hell of ice packs and whatever pain killers I could scrounge. I knew I had waited too long and was in trouble and the fact that hole in my molar had turned gray, didn't make me feel much better. K got out the yellow pages and I was surprised to see so many walk-in emergency dentists. I chose the one with the biggest display ad that was closest to home and wound up in Southside next to Rocky's Pizza (how I much rather have gone to Rocky's!). I didn't take it as a good sign to have to share a small waiting room with so many desperate looking people. I recognized their look of despair and that scared me. The very friendly woman sitting next to me explained that her husband, in his forties, was there to get his last three teeth pulled. It's always nice when Alabama stereotypes are perpetuated.

When I told the receptionist that I had made an appointment and I had insurance, she asked me if I just wanted to get the tooth extracted -- like that was the most obvious and simple solution. Because I don't see dentures in my near future, I said I was not here for an extraction despite the obvious peer pressure. I just needed to get the tooth looked at and I would go from there. I had a gut feeling that a root canal was in my future and I was right.

I will give in Southside Dental Care that they are a fast and furious business. The chairs are close together, equipment looks very clean, but slightly old and the frantic pace of the dentists and assistants reminded me of the dudes who change the tires during the NASCAR races. They were clearly there to move 'em in, move 'em out and get the money. I'm not complaining though. I was treated promptly and well by a guy that looked way too young to be a dentist. He was respectful, very generous with the novacaine and explained every strange thing that was going on in my mouth.

The procedure was not as bad as I imagined because I couldn't feel anything. What they do is remove the pulp of the tooth (that contains the nerve), fill it with some sort of hard epoxy and then put a temporary filling on it. In two weeks I go back for part two and then eventually a crown. Dr. Matt gave me antibiodics and some Lortabs (oh thank you!) and sent me on my way. Had I not had insurance, that 90 minutes of work would have cost almost $700. The top of my tooth is practically gone now because of all the drilling and filling and it still sore from the mouth manhandling that went down, but the intense pain of an exposed nerve is gone and I am grateful. I had always heard that a tootchache was the worst kind of pain and that is definitely correct. It's the kind of pain that could make you go crazy it if went on for too long and the run-of-the-mill Ibuprofen, Tylenol and aspirin tablets don't even start to make a dent in it.

Bottom line: don't wait around for the cavity creeps like I did. The words dental emergency don't belong in the same sentence and should be avoided at all costs.