Poking, Prodding, Drilling, Pushing, Poking, Picking, Pushing, Drilling, Filing, Poking and Prodding

 Oh my god! I thought the root canal saga was almost over. You know, finally, after a month of extreme sensitivity to heat and cold, I thought I would get this darn thing fixed and move on with my life. Yeah, right. OK. So, I went in last Tuesday for the root canal. Novicaine first - in my cheek and in the roof of my mouth. Ouch! Then after almost two hours of poking, prodding, drilling, pushing, poking, picking, pushing, drilling, filing, poking and prodding the dentist has to stop. He can't find the last canal. Great. OK, come back tomorrow.

So Wednesday, I went back. Another round of novicaine - needles in my cheek and in the roof of the mouth. Then another hour and a half of poking, prodding, drilling, pushing, poking, picking, pushing, drilling, filing, poking, prodding - ouch! Enough already. The novicaine numbs the tooth but all that pushing and prodding and poking gave me wicked jaw, tooth, sinus and head pain. This sucks! And to top it off, he thinks he found the canal, but he can't get into it to clean it out. Guess what. You have to see someone else. Wheee!

So, Thursday, off to the Endoscopic specialist. What does he do? You got it, Another round of novicaine - needles in my cheek and in the roof of the mouth. Then, after an hour of poking, prodding, drilling, pushing, poking, picking, pushing, drilling, filing, poking and prodding, he states that yes, the canal has some calcification. You'll have to come back again. WTF?!?!? My options are to 'just fill it already and hope it works'. (hmmm, not too sure on the 'cross your fingers and hope it works' thing). Have surgery to get to the canals another way. Or have the tooth yanked. Super. Just great. After three days of poking, prodding, drilling, pushing, poking, picking, pushing, drilling, filing, poking, prodding, I'm inclined to say yank it. Just get the darn thing out of there. It hurts! But as soon as my Tylenol kicks in I may be able to think more clearly.

From all my research it's worth saving the tooth if I can. But I don't know how many more hours of poking, prodding, drilling, pushing, poking, picking, pushing, drilling, filing, poking, prodding I can take. Not to mention the pain between appointments. And of course I've maxed out my dental insurance for the year (and it's only February!) so whatever I do, it comes out of my quickly emptying pocket. That may alter my decision too.

This sucks!

Quack!