Getting To The Root Of The Problem...

Ever been excited for a root canal? I have! And yesterday was the day. Really, never in my lifetime did I think I would be so excited for dental work. But, my tooth (#18 if you're wondering) has been quite uncomfortable for the last couple of weeks. Since Brian and I are leaving soon for the Caribbean, the docs thought it would be better to expedite the process and "git 'er done!" First things first, let me introduce to you another new doctor in my life - Dr. Michael Weber, Endodontist - or "just Mike", as he calls himself. Boy, am I happy my dentist referred me to him! What a great guy - smart, charming, witty - with a crude sense of humor. My kind of guy!! He shot me up with some novocaine and let it do its thing. He came back in about 10 minutes later and said, "Are we numb?" Huh...the weird thing is that I wasn't! He shook his head and said "Yep, I wondered about that - that's why I asked you what surgery you had done." I wouldn't have thought of this...but because they moved my jaws, the "normal" spot they would give you a shot isn't there anymore! So, a few shots later and I was happily drooling and chewing on myself. Let the fun begin!! It all started out well but became less than fun when he told me that it was a good thing I'd come in - two of my three roots were infected. No wonder I had pain. *sigh* Leave it to me to have something MORE wrong than just a plain old toothache. Oh, and did I mention that the tooth is cracked? Uh huh...yep, you got it! We'll work on that later. For now, he worked on the issue at hand - cleaning and irrigating the infection, then closing me up. Because one of the roots was fine, he was able to do that one 100% and get it packed and closed. The other two are now temporarily closed and I have a temporary filling in my tooth, I'm on antibiotics (500mg Amoxicillin for 10 days) and have to do salt water washes, as well. I'll go back when we return from our vacation to make sure my body has rid itself of the infection and then he can go ahead and make everything permanent.

But wait, there's more! When I was done and getting ready to leave, I felt as though I had a piece of something stuck towards the back of my mouth. You know that spot...kind of between the back of your mouth, next to your tongue...and you jusssst can't work it out. So, into the bathroom I go to see if I can get this chunk of whatever out of my mouth. I open my mouth in front of the mirror and, "Ahhhh, there it is - just a little white piece of something!" OW! "That thing is connected!" LOL Yep...towards the back of my mouth, to the left of that fun little dangly thing in your mouth (yes, I know the technical term for it but "fun little dangly thing" sounds much more exciting), is a white bump and it hurt! Why is it white? Well, because whatever it is is pushing through the skin and stretching it! I get the doctor and interrupted his lunch, to find out what on earth he left in my mouth, cause I'm convinced that's what he did. Wrong. It's a bone spur - and not just one, but two! I had to ask why I'd never noticed them before and he said that more than likely, with the movement of my jaw, they became more prominent and also because the sensor that they put back and forth into my mouth during the root canal had irritated the spots. I'll check with Dr. Penski next time I'm there and see if it's something I have to have taken care of. Joy.