and that's the tooth...

update on my teeth. (hey it's my blog, so what if all I write about are my teeth problems?)
So yesterday I went in to the endodontist for my consultation regarding the oral surgery (the whole cut in to the gum to get to the bottom of the root thing). Luckily, he said that wasn't the tooth that had had 2 root canals. Apparently, the one they just pulled and are doing the implant on was the double r.c. So he suggested I do a root canal on the abscessed one. again. he showed me the x-ray and how the rods didn't go down to the bottom of the root and how that was bad (thanks a lot, Jeffrey Feffer DDS of Chicago). So I asked him, with my history of root canal failures, would you still recommend that? And he said he would and that's what he would do if it were his tooth.
So I said ok, when can you do it? He said "how about right now?" So that was good and bad. I went in there expecting a consultation and left with a root canal. But hopefully it will make it start to feel better so that's a good part.

So, I don't need oral surgery, just a root canal, and since my crown is good he can just drill through it and not have to make a new crown which will save me money.
Today, I think it is all actually starting to feel better. I haven't needed as many pain pills, so that's good.
I have caught the kids' cold so I have a yucky cough and I don't know which ailment this is from but I am very nauseous and have no strength. When lying in my bed (which I have been doing a lot of lately) I feel pretty good, then I get up to take a shower and half-way through it feel like I am going to puke and/or pass out. Way fun.

The end is in sight I guess, for all this nonsense. And that is a good thing. Hopefully this isn't cut too short, but right now I have to go lie down again before I puke on my keyboard. Fun visuals! Thanks for visiting my blog!

you want the tooth? you can't handle the tooth!

A wise man (whom I also happen to be married to) once replied to a dentist office questionnaire. When asked "Is there anything you would change about your teeth?" He replied "Their need for care." I could not agree with this statement more. Here is what is going on with my teeth:

A couple months ago, Cody & I decided to go to a dentist office that opened near our house just for a cleaning. Of course, as is usually the case, not only with us, but as when neither of us goes to the dentist for 5 years, we had more problems than a little bit of plaque.

So, upon the news of intensive work needed, we took the x-rays to our regular "Super-dentist," Dr. Craven. I say this because there is not much he cannot do. He does the regular stuff, he does root-canals, he does braces, implants, etc.

So as it turned out, my issue was I had a root canal on the right lower molar (2nd from the back) some time ago. Well, somehow there was a LOT of decay under that root canal, to the point where under the crown, there wasn't much left. I was told I needed an implant, and soon. Otherwise the jawbone would get infected and I would be in serious pain at some unpredictable time in the future. Cool. That's about $2500. It's not like I had other plans for that money, so ok. Well, here's how an implant works:

They pull the "tooth". That is to say they pull the crown, and the fun little metal rods they originally stuck down into the root-holes, do a bone graft, or inject a "liquid-bone matrix" into the holes, then stitch it up and let it heal for 4 months, then they go back and drive a post down into the jawbone and finally put another sort of crown on that post. (are you squirming yet?)

For some reason, I wasn't really looking forward to getting that done. But 2 weeks ago tomorrow I went in for the first step - the extraction and bone graft. It hurt. a lot. for a week and a half. I called to make a secondary appointment to go in to make sure I didn't have a dry socket. The appointment was for Friday, but on Thursday night it started feeling a little better. So Friday morning I canceled that appointment. Also Friday morning, I noticed my teeth on the left (opposite) side were kinda doing something odd. They were tender when I bit down. I figured it was because I was chewing solely on that side (due to the gaping hole on the other side) and maybe I had been grinding my teeth when I slept. Seemed logical. So then Saturday morning I awoke and my teeth on the left were hurting. I thought, "wow, I must really be clenching my jaw when I sleep." But as the day went on, the pain got worse. We went out to dinner at Boston's and I ordered fish tacos. They were delicious, too bad I could only take about 5 bites, because it just hurt way too much to chew.

So we came home, put the kids to bed, and within a few hours, I was crying on the floor with an ice pack on my cheek. So I called the dentist at home at 10:30 Saturday night. He called in some pain meds and antibiotics and said come see me Monday.

So. I went in today and he did an xray and basically this is the same tooth that was pulled but on the other side. I has had 2 root canals. They didn't get all the root out or something the first time so it swelled up and had to be done again. That was back in 2002. So it looks like that is what happened again. Apparently I have long roots. So at the base of the root in question, there is a big abscess, and it is infected, which means there is a big hole in my jaw and it is filling with puss and infection which equals pain.

So he wanted to drill it down a bit so that the teeth on that side weren't hitting first because of the swelling. I said, ok, gimme the gas because even the pressure of an ice bag on my cheek causes pain. So he was drilling, and had me bite down and grind to mark it with the paper to see where to drill, again and again and again. Then the gas wore off. Then I started crying. Because all that grinding and biting made it hurt. a lot. Poor Dr. Craven. I think he felt pretty bad for me as I sat there blubbering in his chair.

So here's the solution: He doesn't recommend another root canal seeing as I've had 2 done there already. Also just pulling the tooth wouldn't really help because the problem is at the bottom of the root where they can't get to. The solution? Surgery. Hooray. Basically, I have to go to a specialist (who by the way can't get me in until February) and somehow he will go into the bottom of the root via the gum. So he is going to cut into the gum and go in sideways. Doesn't that sound like fun? That's what I thought. Oh and also it's another $1500 or so.

So there is my ongoing pain story. Hopefully the antibiotics that I am on will bring down the infection and at least lessen the pain in the meantime. We shall see. And there you have it. The whole tooth and nothing but the tooth.

And if I weren't worried about my jawbone receding I would have them all pulled and just get dentures.