You would think that a person who naturally has cavity-prone teeth would see a dentist more often. Sadly, this was not the case for me and I paid dearly for it, in more ways than one. In my defense, I did make an attempt to see a dentist about a year ago that was on my insurance list. However, unbeknownst to me, they had stopped taking our dental insurance and decided to tell me that just after I had gotten my x-rays taken and pretty much kicked me out. How nice of them. Gabe was there with me for his first dental appointment too. At least they scraped the calcium build-up on Gabe's bottom teeth and gave him a toy, so I guess we got something out of that fiasco visit.
Anyway, fast forward MONTHS after this (in between there I did try calling several dental offices on the insurance list to see if our insurance was accepted, it was not for many places, and some wouldn't even pick up the phone!), my top left canine tooth started to bother me. This canine tooth had such odd pains that I knew something was wrong--I would wake up in the morning and it would randomly hurt. That is not normal for a tooth to do, and neither is a hole in the bottom left
molar, which was un-symptomatic and so I had foolishly had been ignoring. For years.
I FINALLY made an appointment at Modern Dentistry of League City, I don't even remember how I found out about it, maybe Erik found it for me. This was back at the beginning of October 2013. I figured I probably had more than a few cavities and I would endure the torture and then that would be that. As the horrifying news unfolded, that I would need two, yes TWO root canals, I couldn't help thinking, huh, we could have bought Elisa that nice bedroom set I was longing to get for her, with how much we will have to pay for these root canals!! As much as I hated going to the dentist and smelling the stenches and hearing those awful drills, and however terrified I may have been about the horrors of the root canal procedure itself, it was a mere annoyance compared to the shame I felt of robbing our bank account of our hard-earned and scant savings for something that could very well have been prevented by me.
After some very long and torturous preliminary work (i.e. drilling out the ginormous cavities and putting in some cement-flavored temporary "teeth"), I found a very nice friend to watch the kids while I attended my consult with an endodontist, whom my dentist referred me to. To make a long story short, this dude and his staff were jerks. Over charged on everything and I left feeling just awful and anxious. But with Erik's help, I found another endodonist who could do my molar for half the price and in one appointment, not two! As for my canine, my dentist said she was comfortable doing it, and for half the price.
I wanted this all to be finished before but that was not possible. I did get manage to get my canine root canal complete before the trip. I was able to drop the kids off at another very nice friend's house. Finding people to watch the kids only added to the stress of all of this, ugh. Root canals...what an experience, I'll tell ya. I opted for the gas, since someone who had had multiple root canals recommended it, but mostly because I wanted something to lessen the awfulness of the procedure. And awful it was. Well, it wasn't actually that bad, thanks to the nitrous oxide (which is an experience within itself, whoa, talk about weirdness!), but what was bad was smelling my own burning flesh. The rot was so bad and so deep that it was above my gums, so the dentist had to burn away some of my gums to get to it. Bleech. Then I was fitted with a temporary tooth that didn't fit at all. That thing bothered me the entire Disney trip! After the trip I went back to the dentist to get that horrid temporary off and my new tooth put on. It
was such a relief to have it off and have a smooth shiny, new tooth in its
place!
After about a week I had my final root canal done on my molar. I had been told that the molars are harder to do so I was prepared for an even worse experience than the first RC. It wasn't. In fact, it was easier and faster than any cavity I'd ever had filled. Go figure. I got the gas again for this one, and I really didn't need it. But, on the other hand, I do shake like a leaf from all the Novocaine flowing through my blood stream, so the gas helped me not to shake. As a side note, I have come to find out that I do not numb up very well. I think my nerve is in a weird place or something. The endodonist said it may be because of my Irish decent that I don't numb up well. *shrug* Either way, I need about as much Novocaine as an elephant when it comes to getting numb...hence the shaking.
And, back again to the dentist again. I found yet another very nice friend to watch my kids. I was there to get a mold taken for my molar. I was pleasantly surprised when the dentist said she'd give me the nice crown that they make right there in their office instead of the less-nice crown that takes 2-3 weeks to make and ship in. It was not a pleasant surprise however, when I was told I had yet another tooth with pretty bad decay. At first I thought she was telling me I needed another root canal, and I just about had a heart attack. But I ended up needing just an inlay, which is something between a cavity and a crown. And it is also something fairly expensive. So much for dental insurance! Anyway, that appointment was pretty long and fairly awful. The dentist tried to numb me up with only 3 shots, hahaha...! Yep, I pretty much felt everything on that side. But you know, the sensation of cording being jammed between your gum and tooth really isn't that bad, at least compared to a migraine. But the best part of the day? Being done. Nothing like the feeling of freedom!
I highly recommend not getting a root canal. Just go to your checkups, its a lot easier and cheaper. On the plus side, I never have to worry about cavities or pain in those teeth again!
Look! Its me, with all of my original teeth!
Root canal #1. I have no idea what those sticks are doing in my teeth. And I really don't even want to know.
Hurrr-durrrr.....under the effects of the Nitrous Oxide. Whheeeeee.....
Root canal #1 almost finished!
Root Canal #2
