So I had to go to the dentist this week. Three more fillings. At least this time I wasn't as scared. Knowing that they were regular cavities instead of possible root canals helped.
I got four shots of novacaine all on the left side of my mouth. I was numb from my eyebrow down to my chin! Even my ear was numb!
Last week after my one big cavity was filled, I tried to eat when my mouth was numb and as a result my jaw was sore for days. So this time, I got smart and ate right BEFORE I went in.
I am so grateful that I did since it took FIVE WHOLE HOURS for all the numbness to wear off.
That night at dinner when I could finally chew, I realized my teeth didn't fit together right. I couldn't chew without pain because where two of the fillings were, my teeth were banging together.
Very discouraged, I had to make another trip to the dentist the next morning. The dentist drilled and polished down the two offending cavity fillings, and so far so good. (except for a sensitivity to both hot and cold, but they say that is normal-bleh!)
I hope that it is a very very very long time before I have to go and sit back in the dentist chair!
Showing posts with label Dentist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dentist. Show all posts
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Scary Dentist Trip
On Monday, Manly and I went to the dentist for the first time in 18 months.
We let crazy work schedules, lots of kids, and a pregnancy get in the way of regular dental visits. Whenever Scott's schedule would get changed, I'd cancel our appointments and then forget about them. I wasn't too worried. We were brushing, right? We'd gone way longer between visits and so I thought this one would be no big deal. I've only had one small cavity in the last 7 years. So what could be the worst, one more cavity?
Well, I should have been more careful! Either I haven't flossed and brush nearly as good as I thought, or that last baby sucked the enamel right off my teeth! After my tooth x-rays came out on film, I noticed the dentist and hygienist bent over the display for a very very long time.
Not good!
It turns out that I had 4 cavities. One noticeably big and yucky, the other two more normal. But the last was one really really big cavity where the tooth was rotting from the inside out, and it had grown so big it was very close the nerve. My dentist wondered how a cavity could grow that big in just 18 months. He told me it was so close to the nerve that they might have to do a root canal.
Now I know some of you out there may think that a root canal is no big deal, but I have two friends who have had negative and painful experiences with it...and so I was VERY freaked out.
I was hoping I might be lucky enough to live my entire life without a single root canal.
The dentist said that they wouldn't be able to tell how bad the tooth was until they opened it up and looked inside. But he wanted to take care of it ASAP.
So this morning, I got to sit in that horrible chair and be drilled into. It's so funny, I brought a book on my mp3 player to listen to so I could relax and be distracted from the shots and drills, etc. But I was so scared and nervous that I couldn't even concentrate on the book. I ended up just turning it off and doing deep-breath relaxation exercises. (I was shaking so bad I was worried that I wouldn't be able to keep my mouth open, or that I would bump the dentist so that he made a big mistake.)
When the dentist looked inside my tooth he said, "This is a very deep cavity. I can see the nerve, but it doesn't look damaged in any way. At least it's not bleeding. So even though you are in the gray area, we're going to be conservative and do a filling today instead of a root canal."
But then he informed me that we wouldn't know if the filling was successful till later, and that in the future the nerve might give me pain. He said I could expect tooth sensitivity to hot and cold and pressure for a few weeks, but that if the pain became severe, I needed to come back in and they would take care of it with a root canal.
So I might have to go through this on the same tooth again? YIKES!
So I've got my fingers crossed, and in the meantime my tooth hurts, and my jaw is very sore. I think this is my new weight loss solution. If you can only eat soft and liquid foods because your mouth hurts, you are bound to lose weight!
One cavity down, three more fillings to go....
We let crazy work schedules, lots of kids, and a pregnancy get in the way of regular dental visits. Whenever Scott's schedule would get changed, I'd cancel our appointments and then forget about them. I wasn't too worried. We were brushing, right? We'd gone way longer between visits and so I thought this one would be no big deal. I've only had one small cavity in the last 7 years. So what could be the worst, one more cavity?
Well, I should have been more careful! Either I haven't flossed and brush nearly as good as I thought, or that last baby sucked the enamel right off my teeth! After my tooth x-rays came out on film, I noticed the dentist and hygienist bent over the display for a very very long time.
Not good!
It turns out that I had 4 cavities. One noticeably big and yucky, the other two more normal. But the last was one really really big cavity where the tooth was rotting from the inside out, and it had grown so big it was very close the nerve. My dentist wondered how a cavity could grow that big in just 18 months. He told me it was so close to the nerve that they might have to do a root canal.
Now I know some of you out there may think that a root canal is no big deal, but I have two friends who have had negative and painful experiences with it...and so I was VERY freaked out.
I was hoping I might be lucky enough to live my entire life without a single root canal.
The dentist said that they wouldn't be able to tell how bad the tooth was until they opened it up and looked inside. But he wanted to take care of it ASAP.
So this morning, I got to sit in that horrible chair and be drilled into. It's so funny, I brought a book on my mp3 player to listen to so I could relax and be distracted from the shots and drills, etc. But I was so scared and nervous that I couldn't even concentrate on the book. I ended up just turning it off and doing deep-breath relaxation exercises. (I was shaking so bad I was worried that I wouldn't be able to keep my mouth open, or that I would bump the dentist so that he made a big mistake.)
When the dentist looked inside my tooth he said, "This is a very deep cavity. I can see the nerve, but it doesn't look damaged in any way. At least it's not bleeding. So even though you are in the gray area, we're going to be conservative and do a filling today instead of a root canal."
*big sigh of relief*
But then he informed me that we wouldn't know if the filling was successful till later, and that in the future the nerve might give me pain. He said I could expect tooth sensitivity to hot and cold and pressure for a few weeks, but that if the pain became severe, I needed to come back in and they would take care of it with a root canal.
So I might have to go through this on the same tooth again? YIKES!
So I've got my fingers crossed, and in the meantime my tooth hurts, and my jaw is very sore. I think this is my new weight loss solution. If you can only eat soft and liquid foods because your mouth hurts, you are bound to lose weight!
One cavity down, three more fillings to go....
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