In case you’re thinking of having one, here’s what you can expect.
First, a little background on what led up to this…
I went to my bi-annual dentist appointment back in November. She found I had a cavity in my #2. In case you’re not familiar with the numbering, it starts with the very back, right, top. So my wisdom tooth on the upper right would be #1. I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth removed a couple years ago, so the first molar I have left is actually #2. Anyway, she scheduled me to come back in a couple days to have that cavity filled. No biggie, i’ve had cavities in the past, not in many years, but still, I new what to expect, not too bad, just an afternoon of talking like a stroke victim, but all in all, nothing unbearable.
That went as planned, cavity filled, no big deal. A few days later however, I started noticing that area was very sensitive to cold. I’m a big ice water drinker, and I chew the ice, bad habit? Possibly. So, this just didn’t fly. I went back and told her, she said, “hmmm, i’m not sure, the cavity wasn’t that deep, surely, I didn’t hit the nerve.” WTF? Surely? Are you kidding me? She referred me to an Endodontist right off the bat.
I wasn’t happy with that, so I immediately sought a second opinion. I found a new dentist much closer to home, very new, with all the modern technologies. My old dentist was just that, old and antiquated, I felt an update was well overdue. I told my new dentist the story and she was as appalled as I was. She spent a few visits (only charged me for the first) until she had exhausted all of her options. She had tried coating the tooth several times with some of finish in case there was a crack or some other cause for the pain. After a few attempts, she admitted defeat and then referred me to an Endodontist.
Now, you may be thinking, “the first dentist was right after all”. True, but, at least the new one actually tried, just didn’t dismiss it and pass me on to someone else, that actually meant something to me, that she was willing to try and save me the pain of a root canal. Just to add, my opinion is that the first dentist either a) did go too deep and hit the nerve a bit, or b) was a little too over-zealous with her drill and cracked the surface a bit. Either way, the pain started almost immediately after receiving the filling.
So, needless to say, I eventually had enough of the pain, and made an appointment with the Endodontist. I had that appointment yesterday at 8am. Everyone in the office was very nice, very comforting, and very open to explaining all the details of what I would be experiencing. Part of me wished they hadn’t been so descriptive, but now, i’m glad they were.
In case you aren’t aware, a root canal consists of drilling 4 holes (in a molar) 1 into each “branch” of the root. The nerves are scraped out of each canal, then the canals are filled, and eventually a crown is put on. Apparently, removing the nerves eventually kills the tooth and it becomes brittle, and can crack and break.
The drilling and cleaning took about 2 hours. Laying pratically upside down, mouth wrenched as wide as it can go with instruments galore invading my space. After that time, she sat me up and said “ok, we’re done… for today.” WHAT? There’s more? “Yes, 2 of the 4 canals aren’t drying to my liking, you’ll have to come back in a week so I can finish filling those last 2.” UGH! 3 Advil and a see ya later, i’m out the door.
So I go home, with my puny Advil (not even decent drugs after that near torturous experience?), to rest and wait for the real pain to hit.
Now, don’t get me wrong, having my wisdom teeth pulled left me in much greater pain, but, I had plenty of Vicodin to get me through that. By 8pm last night, my jaw was throbbing, the Advil just wasn’t cutting it, the constant throb was giving me a headache, and actually making me naucious. I happen to have a few “other pain killers” just lying around. I took a couple, and crashed.
I awoke this morning, feeling “not too bad”. And decided to have a bowl of cereal to celebrate. That was a mistake. Although the cold sensitivity is completely gone, that’s replaced by an excrutiating twinge every time I bite down. I called the Doc this morning, and said, this Advil just isn’t doing the trick. She was happy to call me in some Vicodin to help relieve the pain and get me to sleep at night. She says this pain should be fully gone in 2 or 3 days. Yay, just in time to get good and healed to go in for more.
So, all in all, I have to say, if this pain dissipates as expected over the next day or so, and I fully recuperate and the cold sensitivity is completely gone, I will declare it a success and recommend it to anyone with similar pain as I’ve had. Just don’t believe the “oh, its not that bad…” BS. feel like i’m relatively tolerant to pain, but, this hurts, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
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