Goddamn dental work.

By | September 4, 2009

Yesterday, my endodontist called to follow up about my root canal. By our third appointment – which was two weeks ago – she had completed all the drilling and filing, and I left with a brand-spankin’ new, slightly more durable temporary filling than before. She promised that after she spoke with her team leader and the reconstructive surgery department, she would contact me to discuss whether or not the tooth could be saved.

I’ll cut through all of the flowery bullshit about the phone call and get right to my crisis: my tooth is too damaged to fix.

I have to get a tooth extracted. I am terrified of getting my tooth pulled. Part of the reason it took me so long to get my wisdom teeth pulled is because my dentist in NJ wanted to do it with Novocaine. Just novocaine. Like, I was going to be awake for this shit. No Nitrous. No anti-anxiety meds. Just Novocaine. Last night, I thought I might alleviate my fears a bit if I just read some information on tooth extraction. Big mistake, because I started crying and yelling that I wasn’t getting it pulled and Libertarian Boyfriend couldn’t make me and that was that. (Just like the time I tried to tell him that teeth break for no reason, he wasn’t buying that bullshit.)

It’s not the procedure that scares me. It’s the concept of hearing my tooth crack that scares me. It’s the “being awake for this shit” part that scares me. It’s the concept of what exactly needs to be done (while I’m awake) that scares me. It’s the fact that – since they’re a dental school – I’m not so certain they’ll be able to just give me a Valium or a Xanax (let alone good shit like Nitrous) to relax me enough to handle it.

I’m trying to not let my overactive imagination get the best of me, but I’m not so sure I’ll be successful. I’m already getting freaked out every time I Google a handful of dentistry related search terms.

After this, I have the fun of deciding whether I want the far more expensive, yet much more durable, dental implant or the less costly, much less durable, and way more invasive dental bridge. Unfortunately, I don’t think that Penn will be okay with my considerably cheaper option: jamming a Chic-let in there and calling it a day.

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  • http://www.bigheadpress.com Scott Bieser

    I've had all 4 wisdom teeth extracted (they were either impacting or threatening to). Two at a time. With Novocaine only. Yes, it hurt like a motherfucker. But after it was over, it was over. And I earned myself some bitchin bragging rights, plus avoided the far worse pain of an infected or abscessed tooth.

    (Well, at least until 2 decades later when I waited too long to get a bad tooth fixed.)

    Just do it already and get it over with. You can enjoy having Libertarian Boyfriend baby you for a few days.

  • http://www.drunkenatheist.com drunkenatheist

    I had my wisdom teeth removed the way God intended: doped up to high heaven and stumbling around for the rest of the day while popping Vicodin. :P

    I canceled my initial appointment for my wisdom teeth and didn't get them out until a few years later, when eating caused me immense pain and I'd sometimes need a fistful of OTC painkillers to go to sleep. The only reason I'm forcing myself to get the tooth ripped out now is because the rotting wisdom teeth were more painful than childbirth and about as bad as a sprained ankle. Owie.

    (Well, that and the fact that I want to eat tortilla chips again!)

    My appointment is Thursday the 10th. I'm so not looking forward to it. :(