Over the holidays, I lost a filling while enjoying a bit of candy. There was a two-week delay before I could get an appt. with the dentist, but no biggie, because a) I’m phobic as hell, and b) it wasn’t hurting. During the two weeks, additional bits of filling were coming out, and it was clear the tooth was in pretty bad shape.
The appt. was this morning – yup, need a crown, let’s go ahead and do the root canal. (Oh sure, let’s – it’s not your phobia!) (Actually, I kind of like this dentist – for a pain inducing freak, he’s rather nice. He wanted to know where my squeezy ball was – I have one of those gel-type balls I clutch while in the chair, it gives me something to concentrate on when I’m freaking out. Since this is one of those clinic type places, it’s nice that he either remembers me or at least carefully reads the notes in my file [“phobic freak with a squeezy ball! be nice to her!”] before I come in.)
So he’s poking around a little, gently. And he asks about three times, is it hurting? Are you sure? And, no, I say, no pain – apparently the nerve isn’t exposed.
But now it’s hurting. Sniff. (And don’t say “get pain pills!” – I’m a recovering addict, I can’t take them.)
Plus I have a root canal scheduled for a week from today. Luckily, my insurance will cover all of the root canal and most of the crown and stuff – less than $400 out of pocket. Heh. Like it’s in my pocket.
Remind me to find my squeezy ball – I definitely want it for a root canal.
Many dentists will let you listen to a personal music device (e.g., ipod) with earphones while they’re working on you. I’ve found that this helps. Just don’t choose anything funny. I once tried listening to John Prine during dental work, and I started laughing so hard the dentist had to stop working for awhile. (Okay, the nitrous oxide may have played some part in the situation.)
Cinnamon oil is very effective for toothache. Google “toothache” and “cinnamon oil” for verfication. There’s an OTC toothache product containing cinnamon oil, but I can’t remember the name.
Ooh, the Walkman (I don’t have an iPod yet) is a good idea – thanks for suggesting it, Laina! And I’ll check out a local anesthetic – though the pain might be psychosomatic, it’s not bothering me now.
I got through a root canal on local anasthetic and took tylenol afterwards. (I can’t take vicodin–not only have I had addiction problems but vicodin makes me puke like hell.)
Just remember, take your tylenols BEFORE the anasthesia wears off. And good luck.
I’ve never had a cavity, but I’ve had more than my fair share of orthodontia and oral surgery. The trick is to not pay attention to what they’re doing, and especially don’t listen to what’s going on. I always just focus on the pores in the dude’s nose, or the holes in the ceiling tile or whatever. As soon as I start paying too much attention to what’s going on, though, I get really antsy. Especially if my mouth is filled with impression goo and it’s running down my throat and my nose is stuffy and…yeah. Time to go think about puppies and sunshine.
I hate needles (yeah, yeah, I can give what I don’t get) I’ve had 3 root canals without local anesthesia. One with, but only because he had to cut through the roof of my mouth to get to the twisted root.
The only pain I had was the night after he closed the drain on one that was tooo badly infected to be saved. It was pain from building pressure, and all the oral pain meds in the land couldn’t touch it. Ice was my only salvation.
(Sorry, I bet you didn’t want to hear that, did you?) In most cases the tooth nerve is already dead, so pain isn’t an issue.
BTW, I when to the dentist today too. I go to a Dental Fears research clinic. They use lots of drugless pain therapy. See if your guy uses hypnosis. It really works for a lot of folks. Acupunture too.
Can I join in? I was at the dentist this summer and finally consented to have them do the X-ray things* done. The dentist saw not one but two “very small cavities” between some molars. I protested (because obviously, if I’m not in any pain then there’s no real problem). He said it could wait until my next appointment to take care of.
Therefore, I don’t plan on going back to the dentist ever again. Never had any major work done** before, and I plan on being in pain before willingly subjecting myself to more.
*I don’t like them because the little filmy things hurt (I have a very small mouth), and get twitchy about radiation in close proximity to my brain. Leave my baseless paranoia alone, please.
**Partially true. I had a few baby teeth pulled, and all the typical trauma of teenage orthodontia.
Putting off dental work isn’t a good idea, and I am fairly high up there on the coward scale where dentistry is concerned. But I had a molar that I neglected for several years (it was verrrry slowly falling apart, essentially, but it never hurt, so I Didn’t Think About It) and instead of going in and getting it fixed early on, I ended up getting a crown. Lesson learned. I’ll go in faster in the future. I’d rather not get another crown if I can help it.
Now, the dentist who did it is my favorite ever, and I was remarkably non-traumatized by the whole thing. The only part that hurt at all was when he put the crown on, since I wasn’t numbed up. But it still wasn’t fun, and I’m still paying the damn thing off. Plus, I moved away from him. Damn.
I’ve got a whopping great gum graft coming up in about 6 weeks. I’ll definitely have the ol’ MP3 player with me. It’s scheduled to be a 2.5 hour procedure!
I’ve got 4 wisdom teeth coming out next wednesday morning - you think they’ll let me take the MP3 player? If so, that’ll be sweet. I can zone out under the anaesthetic and then be happy with music.
Also, commiserations for all of you heading up to your own dental surgery soon.
I just wanted to second this. If I had taken care of a wisdom tooth that was at an angle years before when a dentist had talked about it, I would have avoided the necessity of having a root canal (I didn’t feel a thing during or after.), getting my jaw ground down (Painless during, afterwards, not at all fun ) and getting the crown put in ($$$$).
NinjaChick, waiting until you are in pain means, first, you will be in pain until you can get in to see your dentist. And that may take longer if you are not a regular visitor there. Second, the damage will be much more extensive, thus requiring much more work, which means, Third, you will be spending much more money.
) and getting the crown put in ($$$$).