Right before the July 4th holiday weekend I was in Oakland, CA working on a project for an ice cream manufacturer. Not a bad gig as the weather is pretty nice in Oakland. It stays within five degrees of seventy more days out of the year than all but about one or two other cities in the U.S. So while it was a sweltering 100+ back in Texas, I was enjoying the “heat wave” of 70’s to 80’s.
Right before I came home I had a pretty severe pain in my upper teeth. It wasn’t any one tooth in particular and nothing I did seemed to make it any worse or better. It hurt pretty bad at the time, but there wasn’t much I could do about it. When I woke up the next morning it was gone. I finished up my gig and flew home. My pain returned once, but it never lasted very long. Heading into the holiday weekend it continued to happen more frequently and more intensely. I was pretty much screwed since it was the weekend and a holiday weekend at that. By Sunday it was hurting all the time and by Monday (the 4th) it was hurting so bad that I bummed some pain killers from a friend of mine just to get me through – it was either that or go to the ER as I was in so much pain I couldn’t concentrate anymore. After the drugs kicked in, it took the edge off but I wasn’t in that good of shape. The pain had also localized to one tooth in particular – my left maxillary lateral incisor, also affectionately known as #10.
I got a list of “in network” dentists from the insurance company and my g/f was kind enough to call them and find one that could work me in on Tuesday with very short notice. I appreciated that as I was apparently whacked out on hydrocodone and not functioning very well – she said I was listing to the side as I came back to bed and I wasn’t making a whole lot of sense. Even though I said I would get up and call the dentist she took it upon herself to do so.
The dentist took some x-rays and politely told me I was screwed. I had an abscess that was just forming up in my skull. My #10 had apparently suffered too much trauma at some point – probably after having a crown put on it years ago – and died. When the tooth dies it ceases to maintain good blood flow and an infection had somehow gotten in there and started having a party. He gave me a prescription for pain killers and antibiotics. He was dead on the money when he said the antibiotics would make me feel better after they kicked in due to getting rid of the infection. I immediately started a cocktail of lortab, a triple dose of ibuprofen, and antibiotics. I think I heard my liver scream somewhere in the background.
I called the endodontist and setup an appointment for a root canal the very next day. Now, I’ve heard all kinds of horror stories about root canals so I wasn’t too pleased with this, but an abscess can actually enter your brain through your sinus cavities and kill you so I wasn’t going to dick around with it.
I know a lot of people hate going to the dentist, but I gotta tell you that there is a good chance I’ve had more dental work done than a lot of people. I have gotten to where I really, really, really don’t like dentist and someone poking around in my choppers. I was pretty nervous going in to get the root canal but they were super nice and other than getting shot with anesthetic it wasn’t too bad. He gave me a little topical anesthetic, which doesn’t really do shit except make you think it won’t quite hurt as bad. Then they pry your jaws open and come at you with the syringe. As they are shooting the anesthetic in you, you can really feel it start to hurt. Not fun and it was hurting more and more as he kept putting more in. Then he says he wants to get the other side and that “it might pinch a bit.” Oh really? “You mean worse than that?” I asked him sarcastically. He didn’t get it and asked if I was ready. Um, yeah…let’s get it over with.
After he numbed me up they put some kind of funky tooth condom over the tooth to keep blood and saliva out of the area while they operated. They also stuck a piece of rubber in between my teeth to hold my jaw open at an angle I couldn’t otherwise naturally achieve. Between the two, I couldn’t have been more comfortable.
Once all the prep work was done it went pretty fast – maybe 20 minutes? It was a little odd to have them sticking tools up in my head and pulling out tissue (nerves) and wiping them off on a little napkin in front of me. But once it was all over I came home, took some more pain meds and crashed out for a bit.
Upon waking up I really wasn’t in any real pain, but I was a tad sore. I stopped the pain killers, but kept taking the ibuprofen through the next day. They had packed some medicine up in the now hollow root canal and told me to come back in two weeks to get it taken out.
Well, today, almost a week to the day, I was eating lunch and my tooth broke off at the gum-line. It didn’t hurt, but it was a bit uncomfortable. I didn’t bite into anything, it just broke off. I stopped eating just in case there was a chance of me getting food or something up in there, but it was a bit strange.
This photo shows my tooth - at least the part of it that broke off. The outer-most part is actually a crown. The darker interior part is what is left of my original tooth, which apparently died. The very white middle part is the medicine that they packed in during the root canal.
My dentist got me in right away and again took an x-ray and told me I was screwed, but worse this time. Because the tooth broke off so close to the bone they said they couldn’t get a post or another crown on it. I was supposed to fly out of town tomorrow, but I had to re-schedule so the lab could get my temporary to me. That way, I can go out of town on a gig for work with something covering the hole in my gums and teeth. I’ll also use it later on when I have to wait for the implant to heal. Oh yes. Implant. That’s right – they are going to cut me open to remove what is left of my tooth and then put a titanium implant in my skull. If I am lucky, my bone will be in good shape after they pull the tooth and they can put the implant in right away. If I am not lucky (which at this point I am leaning towards not gambling) they will have to do a bone graft, let it heal, then cut me open again to put the implant in. After all that, I get to have post sticking out of my gums for about 3 months while it all heals up, and then they can put a crown on it.
And it’s not cheap. Total cost? About $5,000 of which I’ll be out of pocket about $3,000. My insurance isn’t that bad, but all of this is maxing it out for the year and they don’t cover the temporary tooth at all. Keep in mind that my insurance already paid for a root canal, a dental visit, and a bunch of x-rays and drugs and all that. I guess I am lucky as I could be out a lot more and while I am very unhappy about the turn of events I keep telling myself “it ain’t cancer.”
But still….why couldn’t I just have a cavity?
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