I had a follow up appointment with the dentist yesterday and found out I needed a root canal. The filling in my molar was very deep and close to the nerve, and an infection had developed.
They called in an antibiotic for me to begin taking last night, and this morning I was scheduled for the root canal at 8:00.
The procedure went well as far as pain is concerned; I was comfortable throughout. That was the only thing that went right, though. It turned out to be such a complicated root canal that after two hours of trying the dentist decided he had to stop and refer me to an endodontist (with more specialized equipment) to finish. What luck, huh?That appointment isn't until the 20th of this month, but I have a temporary filling and crown on the tooth to protect it. I also have the antibiotic to finish.
I'm in a lot of pain tonight which I hope is temporary. If it continues to hurt like this I'll be going BACK to the dentist and I'll be honest with you, I've had my fill for awhile!
Dental woes are so painful and tiring. Even when we take care, it seems that teeth will do what they want. I hope it goes better.
ReplyDeleteToothaches are truly the worst!
DeleteI am so sorry, Jennifer. I've had my share of root canals but don't recall any lasting too long with the pain afterwards. Keeping my fingers crossed yours lets up very, very soon. 🤕
ReplyDeleteApparently some root canals can be complicated by curved, twisted, or extra long and thin nerves that are hard to get to without special equipment and training. My dentist did the right thing by referring me when he saw he couldn't be sure of getting all the nerves cleaned out properly. This is all stuff I've learned today!
DeleteOh gosh. I 'm so sorry. I hope you can get this taken care of with as little pain as possible and it will soon be a distant bad memory. And I am sorry that you seem to be spending so much money on all this dentist stuff instead of something fun (and pretty much anything would be more fun than this!).
ReplyDeleteThey're actually processing a refund for today's work (I'd prepaid the full amount for a discount) so I won't have to pay for it twice, thank goodness. The refund will cover the cost of the endodontist.
DeleteBut yeah, we're spending a small fortune on not-so-fun stuff.
Root canals in molars can be difficult if the canals are small and hard to clean out. Sounds like your molar is continuing to abscess in the non-cleaned out root canal(s). That's why it's painful. Keep taking the antibiotics!
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly the situation, Debra. He got most of the canals cleaned out, but some were so small and curved he just couldn't get them. I will keep up with the antibiotics! Thank you!
DeleteYou have my DEEPEST SYMPATHY!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds awful, Jennifer! I am so sorry and hope that by the time you read this, the worst of the pain is gone.
ReplyDelete