Pain killers only...no chupa chups

I've had my share of bad moments in life, been fortunate enough to have had the fortitude, perseverance and persistence to deal with them and the good sense to have learned from those experiences. I'm going through one such episode currently and it's a pain in my ass tooth. Literally.

A couple weeks ago I got some pain in the upper left of my mouth; a tooth problem I deduced. Overnight it became very painful, to the point I couldn't eat, sleep or concentrate very well. Taking a chainsaw and cutting off my head to put an end to the pain became a real option.

Fortunately, I saw a fundamental flaw in the chainsaw plan and called my dentist instead. I went in, she did what dentists do, and the result was a booking in two weeks time for the first stage of a root canal on that rogue tooth. That appointment was yesterday.

I've been on antibiotics and pain killers since the initial appointment which didn't have much effect for about four days, finally found some relief, but haven't been able to eat properly and my sleep, usually not the best anyway, has been sporadic at best. You could say I'm rather grumpy about the whole thing.

I was looking forward to the appointment simply to get some relief and then...my dentist became a close covid 19 contact and wasn't able to go to work on the day of my appointment. I was annoyed, although it's not her fault, but declined the offer by the practice to reappoint my root canal stage one. I just couldn't bear it any longer and wanted it sorted out so accepted treatment by someone else whom I shall, henceforth, refer to as, new guy.

The process went for about ninety minutes yesterday and was decidedly unpleasant.

I had to keep my mouth open the whole time of course, there was a lot of drilling, insertion of files down the four root canals they found, the deepest being 22mm in length, x-rays then more poking and drilling. Despite the anaesthetic injections I was in a fair degree of pain throughout and apparently that's bad too, the pain; it indicates the tooth may have a horizontal crack below the bone-line in my jaw that they have not been able to find previously. Not a good situation.

After new guy finished up he told me the crack issue could be problematic as there is no good prognosis for that assfuckery; the tooth would have to come out. But, of course, they have to complete the root canal first. [More funds out of my pocket to pay for his Jaguar F-Pace.]

I spent the rest of the day in pain and suffering the unpleasantness of only being able to feel one half of my head, then that tingly sensation of the anaesthetic wearing off, and have been on mild pain killers since. The only good thing is that I had the day off work...the rest was all bad.

So, new guy drilled, filed the root canals and filled them with "medicine". I don't know what medicine he used, but it sounds legit and what choice did I have anyway? Best to let the professionals do what they do. He put a temporary filling over it and sent me packing.

In just under two weeks I go back for another drilling to open it up after which they'll "shape the root canals into wedges". On the third visit the root canals get "plugged with wedgy things," or some such nutbaggery, and from there they put a permanent filling over the top. In six months I go back for a crown to "strengthen the tooth" and I'm all done apparently.

Of course, along the way they want to try and find that crack and, if present, will draw the root canal to a halt and talk about the options. It'll mean removal and replacement of course. The crack issue will mean a sinus lift, grafting of bone onto my gum and a new tooth which, and I'm no expert here but, that sounds costly. (I've been given the quote and my eyes watered a little...Ok, it was full-blown crying to be honest. Not really, just joking. But am I?)

I'll not know about that for a little while I guess and will think about it when the time comes, but I'm hoping for the best possible result, the completed root canal and crown, at the best possible price of course, and until then am on strict instructions...Pain killers only...no chupa chups.