some time last week, i started have pain in my mouth. you know the kind of pain, when you get like, something sort of big stuck between your teeth? like a piece of steak or those stupid things from popcorn kernels? it was mostly just uncomfortable. BUT... there was nothing stuck between my teeth.
so i took a few ibuprofen and ignored it.
it gradually got worse each day, and after 4 days, it got to the point where i was crying in pain, and it was waking me up at night, and keeping me up. and you know what sucks about mouth pain? there is totally nothing you can do about it. nothing really relieves it or makes you comfortable. you just have to sit there and suffer. and starve.
on day 5, i finally called my sister. it was obvious that something was seriously wrong. before kelli started working as a teacher, she was an endodontist's assistant. endodontists are like dentists, but specialize in root canals. kelli's a genius and retains all kinds of knowledge about everything, so we talked on the phone (by the way, i have a total lisp because of this pain and sound absolutely ridiculous). she asked me a bunch of questions.
the pain had gotten worse with time
it was only on the tooth itself, not any other teeth, and not the gums.
it was keeping me up at night.
ibuprofen wasn't helping.
i was more sensitive than normal to hot and cold, especially cold.
it was extremely sensitive to any amount of pressure (like if i accidentally bit down to hard, i would burst into tears from pain)
she called her old work (Russell Endodontics) and set up an appointment for me for the next day (monday). she was sure it would need a root canal, but you can never tell for sure without an x-ray. surprise! emergency root canal! yay!
so the very next day, i left work early and drove all the way to Kaysville. it took me 45 minutes to get there from Lehi but it was so worth it. They were incredible! Normally, I dread going to the dentist. I have weak enamel (so i've been told by many dentists) and tend to get cavities often. and usually, i don't feel any pain from cavities, so the dental work to get fillings or crowns is the pain.
but i could not have been more excited for that root canal. i hate going to the dentist. i hate shots. but i didn't even care. i just wanted the pain to stop.
as the assistant was getting me ready, she said we needed to take an x-ray and pulled out that giant contraption you're supposed to bite down on. uh... i can't bite down! we got one, extremely blurry x-ray of half of the tooth and i cried after. like a total baby. it was ridiculous.
a few minutes later, Jake Gyllenhaal walks in (no joke. they are totally identical - Jake and Dr. Russell, i mean.) - i was pretty taken back because he looked like he was my age (even though he probably wasn't). when i picture dentists, i picture my childhood dentist, Dr. Lorscheider. I could never tell you what his face looked like, but I can still see a clear image in my head of his long nose hairs and bright blue-green eyes. and i still remember being weirded out that he didn't wear gloves (his hands were always cold)
anyway, Dr. Gyllenhaal, I mean, Russell, says, "you've got an abscess!" (it's obvious that he loves what he does, because he said that with genuine enthusiasm) which is exactly what i didn't want to hear. i had heard all of kelli's assisting horror stories and i was about to become one of them! i think that alone got me going because as soon as he laid me back to get me numb, i started crying again as i tried to explain that i have had a hard time in the past getting numb. he finished my sentence (I assume he gets that often), and assured me that wouldn't be a problem and offered me nitrous oxide, which i gladly took. that pig nose relaxed me almost immediately. (on a side note - if being on nitrous oxide is what being high feels like, then i would be horrible at it, because all i wanted to do was fall asleep. i was so relaxed). and as soon as he gave me 2 huge shots of Novocain, i was totally numb which was a huge relief. i couldn't feel the pain in my tooth anymore! i sat there for about 10 minutes, totally numb, breathing in the gas and watching king of queens on the TV on the ceiling, as happy as ever. it had been a week since i had been able to relax like that!
the root canal was a breeze. i was in the chair for less than half an hour, and felt absolutely nothing. from the dental language i could translate, they got a lot of pus out (he was very surprised that i wasn't swollen, and said if i had waited any longer to come in, i would have been), and my root or tooth or whatever was infected (also what i didn't want to hear. and also? it must have been a lot of pus, because i could smell it. and it was really gross. that's gross. sorry.). so it was a pretty bad situation.
because i had an infection, all he could do was medicate it and put something temporary in until it went away, and i am scheduled to go back in a few weeks to finish. he put me on penicillin for the infection and gave me instructions to sleep with my head at least 1 foot above my heart (which is basically sitting up. totally uncomfortable.) and told me to ice my jaw line as much as i could.
i was so discouraged when he said it would be days before the pain went away because of the infection and i would just have to give the antibiotics time to work into my system, so when i got home, and the numbing wore off, i was back to miserable.
the next morning, i called the office and told them so, and they prescribed me Lortab which has helped a lot, but makes me nauseous. i'm pretty sure though, considering the circumstances, that i'm pretty lucky. it could have gotten a lot worse if i had waited any longer to see the doctor, and compared to the pain i was in before, i'm doing much better. i'm also completely thrilled with my experience at the endodontist - minus the whole x-ray thing. but really. the doctor was awesome and did a great job, and it was so fast. i was expecting it to be a huge long process (but now that i think about it, maybe it's supposed to be and i only went half way because of my infection. either way. it wasn't bad at all!)
today was my first day back at work and it was mostly miserable. i've spent the last 3 and a half days laying down and icing my face, and i couldn't do either of those things at work, so it was pretty hard. my mouth has gone from being in pain to just feeling stiff and sore, so i think that's an improvement. when people ask how i feel i tell them i feel better, but not good. it makes the most sense. i can't wait to eat regular food again.
also? it snowed.
and cooper loves it.
