It's My Blog, and I'll Whine if I Want To! And...a Root Canal Feast!

95% of root canals are routine, with little or no pain. Most root canals go smoothly in one visit to your general dentist (and a second visit for the filling/crown. Not for me, however. Nope. I went to the dentist last Thursday, who pretty much hollowed out my tooth to discover that the reason I needed a root canal in the first place was because there was decay underneath a filling that my previous dentist had done. ("I was wondering where all that infection was coming from.") But wait, the inside of my tooth was calcified, making it impossible to get into the canal with the tools available at a general dentist's office. So off they went to call the endodontist to see if they could just send me over right away to finish the procedure. Nope, the endodontist was on vacation and wouldn't be back until Monday. I couldn't get an appointment until Tuesday because I had class and work on Monday. Fine, I wasn't in any pain. Until Monday, that is. Monday I was hurting a little bit. Tuesday, I was hurting a lot. So Tuesday I went to the endodontist, who, by the way, doesn't accept the dental discount plan included in my insurance. And it was more expensive because they're specialists. They did give me a discount for being a student, but still. Ouch, that was a sucky bill to pay. Anyway....I was saying that Tuesday I went to the endodontist. Who couldn't get into the canal. Then the anesthetic wore off mid-procedure. That was fun. He put a de-calcifying agent where the entrance to the canal was and closed my tooth back up with a temporary filling. Hollow tooth, live nerve. Needless to say, the past 4 days have been agony. I go back on Monday for a third try. Hopefully it will work, or they'll have to pull the tooth (which at this point almost seems preferable to this kind of pain--if I didn't know that then I'd have to get and pay for an implant).

But...(pity party is over)

In honor of my first day of non-excruciating-pain (thanks to the antibiotics, steroids, ibuprofen, and Vicodin) post-2nd attempt at my root canal, Mark and I cooked what I have deemed a Root Canal Feast! I have been surviving the last 4 days on instant mashed potatoes, milkshakes, and Ritz crackers. Today, though--today!--I haven't cried in pain yet. And today, for the first time in almost a week, I was hungry and functional enough to eat real food!

I know what you might be thinking--"She better be careful or she'll induce some more mega-pain what with all the eating of normal food!" Was I careful, you ask? Why yes. Extraordinarily. I cut up my garlic bread with a fork and knife and didn't even touch any food to the left side of my mouth--I slid it all right back to my right molars. I was in no mood to instigate another evening of "MY MOUTH IS GOING TO EXPLODE" hysterical crying. (Poor Mark.)

I was stuffed by the end of the meal, but man, was it worth it! Notice the fresh home-grown herbs on my shrimp!