Get That Overgrown Toad Out of my Ear Please!

My teeth suck! At every opportunity they do something that causes me pain, stress, grief and anxiety. Stupid teeth! I guess I should be thankful that I have them and that I have dental insurance, but man, sometimes . . .

You remember the whole implant thing right? With Marlon Brando and the swelling and the complaints and all. Well, that saga is finally coming to a close. In another two weeks I should have the permanent crown to cover the little metal stub that's been sticking up out of my gums for the last 8 months. Very attractive, yes, but now let's cover it up please. Thank god it wasn't a more visible tooth!! That took entirely too long due in part to the complete lack of any organization by my two dentists and in part I suppose by my own lack of following up with said dentists to move things along.

In any case, now that it's wrapping up I have another tooth that is in the process of betraying me. It's not slowly commiting suicide like the last one (at least not yet as far as I know) but it sure is causing me some issues. I had a filling replaced in mid-December - it was cracked and old. But it was a big filling. And apparently it was deep and went close to the root. Apparently too close. It started out being very sensitive to cold and heat. Dentist said if it doesn't get better I'll need a root canal. Super. Well now, a month later it is excruciatingly sensitive to cold and heat. Drinking hot coffee gives me a raging headache and my sinuses in my cheek and forehead throb, my throat and nose hurts and my ear aches like there's an overgrown toad stuffed inside trying to get out. But at least it's a steady, expected pain that comes on slowly (with each swallow of hot coffee or any hot food).

And then there's the cold sensitivity. Forget breathing through my mouth. Holy crap! A sharp intake of room temperature air, let alone of frigid CNY winter air and a blinding, sharp pain shoots up through my tooth and sets my cheek aching. It's one of those, holy-sh!t-grab-futiley-at-my-cheek-wince-and-hope-it's-over-soon pains. Wow! And don't get me started on the time I accidentally touched it with an ice cube! Wow! Now that was something. Something very very very bad! It was bad enough to get the hubby out of his chair to see if I was OK. So, cold cereal, any cold drink, ice cream, air, or anything below about 98.6 degrees is a challenge.

The good news is that other than when I'm eating, or breathing heavily it's not too bad. Most of the time. As long as I don't touch it with my tongue. Or think too hard about it. But then there are those days where it aches constantly - all night long. Try to sleep through that!

And my uber-available, uber-caring dentist? Yeah, he can fix it in a couple weeks. A couple weeks?!?!? I have to wait that long?!?!? I've never wanted a root canal this badly! Stupid teeth! Stupid dentist!


Quack!