LM, I really do feel your pain having just completed a root canal. Started like yours, a small pain that erupted into insane, "I'll kill you if you don't move your ass and get that metro card out now, b*tch" agony. I didn't think it was possible to go through that much ibuprofen without the kidneys shutting down (about 200 tables in about 5 days).
But yeah, all I kept thinking about was a NYT front page article from about 2 years ago on people who don't have dental insurance. The woman who's pain was so bad she took a pair of pliers and pulled her own tooth stuck in my mind.
My end of the bill will be about $1,300 (lucky me, while this was going on another crown from a previous root canal fell out--probably in sympathy with the other tooth, so I get to pay about $400 extra). But what if I didn't have insurance? That's what I kept as my mantra at night to help me sleep: I'm covered, I'm covered, I'm covered.
It will all be over in a few days, and you'll recuperate. Focus on that, and the time will fly.
Oh, and my dentist also happens to be to the right of Genghis Khan. Wingnut doesn't even begin to describe him. So it's been weeks of hearing about how Bush will be recognized as the greatest president evah, Obama should be ashamed of Rev. Wright, we're fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them over hear, McCain's the greatest candidate the Republicans could ever nominate, blah, blah, blah.
This is always said while I'm in the chair on my back with an airhose in my mouth and one of those root canal blades in his hand. That was worse than the pain!
OUCH!
LM, I'll say some prayers to the big Ranger in the sky for ya.
Oh MAN do I feel your pain. Feel better FAST
I have great teeth, but crap for gums. It's partially genetics and partially the legacy of NOT having dental insurance for 9+ years. I've had one tissue transplant and had the same bone infection, pocket mess to the point where I got a cavity in the ROOT of a molar. Treatment?
1. Dentist tried to go in sideways so he wouldn't blow through the entire tooth to get to the ick. It didn't work and he wound up blowing through the tooth to drill out the one root. Fortunately, the rest of the roots are still alive, so I I still have the tooth.
2. The periodontist then had to remove the diseased gum and bone. Originally, he thought I'd lose all 4 molars at the left side because it was such a mess. Three years later, I've actually REGROWN bone and the side is stable. BTW: THe periodontist was soo good I was able to DRIVE HOME after that surgery--although once the 13 shots of pain killer wore off I happily downed the percocet and stared at the History Channel for hours on end.
GOOD LUCK with this. Feel better and please see the dentist/periodontist every 3 months. I'm 45 and the only cavity I've had is the blown molar. I've kept my teeth and the gum disease is now under control.
BTW: Strong link between gum disease and heart disease so don't screw around with this.
Damn you, LM! Why did you have to bring this up???
I've been "underemployed" for 2 years now. Truly, the worst two years of my adult life and (truth be told), I'm 46. Last week, I began to experience pain in one of my molars/cheekbone area. Sharp pain that made me sit up and NOTICE. I flossed, rinsed with salt, etc, etc. Pain got worse. Nothing to do about it but see a dentist. With NO insurance, just a credit card.
So this week I'm going to NYU Dental School and pay $90 for the priviledge of having students poke around my mouth and that's just for the "checkup". Am I complaining? Nope.
Ouch!
If it's any consolation, your 'thought collecting/word-find' ability doesn't appear to be impaired.
Is it safe?
Watson:
That's very kind of you. Writing this post was like climbing a mountain with a refrigerator full of bricks strapped to my back.
Hard to assemble a clear train of thought when pain is “ying-ying-ing” up and down one side of your head.
Urrrrgh.
Jeebus...nothing, NOTHING like mouth pain.
When I got my wisdom teeth out the doctors found what's called a supernumerary tooth, basically a baby tooth that never emerged. Not only were my jaws swollen from the wisdom teeth being removed (I got all 4 out), the roof of my mouth was stitched up from the supernumerary removal. It was located under the gums just behind the upper incisors...you can imagine how that was removed.
Afterwards I felt like the entirety of the Liverpool FC took turns curb-stomping me.
You have to watch out for dental insurance. It's good to have, and it's great for covering your semi-annual checkups, but a lot of mainstream dental plans have really low annual limits.
My employer provides dental, but with a (fairly standard) $1000/year max payout. That covers at most ONE significant procedure per year--one root canal/crown, or one wisdom tooth extraction, and you're used up for the year.
(And I'm not even getting into the initial claim denials, and stalling, and delays in payment. My root canal hurt less than did the process of getting United Healthcare Dental to pay for it--the procedure was in September, and I got the final check at the end of the following May.)
LM--good luck.
LM hang in there. be grateful you have the insurance and are able to have it taken care of. i go in tomorrow for the final round of a major reconstruction job that has been consuming the last four months. i had to face and own the fact that a lot of my problems stem from my wild, reckless, and indulgent youth (and early, and middle adulthood) when i was on a mission to find and consume the entire supply of drugs in the world and then play rock and roll as loud as possible.
i also had to face and own the fact that things would not have been so drastic if i had bothered to keep regular visits and checkups. i have great insurance from the musician's union and the only reason i didn't go in is because i didn't feel like it.
now i'm paying the price in pain and loss.
still, with my insurance the price tag isn't all that brutal.
it is all on me though.
Brat -- You are very correct: chronic gum inflammation doubles your chance for a heart attack and triples your chance for a stroke. It also increases your chance of respiratory disease and increases the severity of diabetes.
Also, generally people tend to lean toward getting either cavities or gum disease -- or cavities when young and gum disease later. When your saliva is more acid you get cavities and when it's more alkaline you get more gum disease. (If you don't take care of yourself, you get both anyway.)
FLOSS!!!!
--Kim (yes, I'm a dental hygienist)
Lowermanhattanite-- I hope you feel better soon. Unfortunately, I have no further words of wisdom for you -- it sounds like you are doing the right stuff.
LM,
Best wishes for a speedy recovery. Have an idea of what you are going through having had root canal work which I found out years later wasn't done quite right. The cap was not placed properly so that bacteria were able to get inside which years later became quite painful.
LM, get better! We need you.
It still blows my mind that you can't really get anything done with your teeth in the E.R. or the minor emergency room. I was with the misses after she had a bike accident and lost a quarter of a tooth when we went to the minor followed by e.r. to find they had a dentist's chair, tools, everything there but a dentist. We were told to find a dentist somewhere and schedule an appt. She was given pain killers and antibiotics to last the weekend. When I asked why they didn't have a dentist since there are cases where a problem with your teeth could be lethal or life threatening the doctor on duty frowned and said they would be doing crowns and cavity fills for every poor person in the city and probably bankrupt the hospital. His statement there shocked me and I to this day can't understand why dentistry isn't considered as important as any other medical procedure. We as a country need national health care of some sort, and dentistry needs to be included and in hospitals. It really is ridiculous.
Get to feeling better LM. I don't post in comments much but I've read Steve's blog and now this one for quite some time. I love what yall have done and wish you only the best.
Cheers
As I've said previously, I was seriously considering casting my vote for a protest candidate or not voting at all because of the Democrats' inability to get behind a single-payer national healthcare system. I broke down and decided to vote for Obama despite that inability because his heart really does seem to be in the right place and his ideas for dealing with the healthcare crisis are a vast improvement over Hillarycare and McCain's "mostly-leave-things-the-way-they-are" non-plan. That will change the moment Obama starts acting spineless and pandering to wingnut mouth-breathers the way Democrats seem almost pre-programmed to do (even though it doesn't help them one damn bit).
And if that's what I decide, then I probably won't announce it to anybody because I don't need to hear the same old flaccid, craven arguments yet one more time. ("But you've got to because blah-blah-blah-something-about-Supreme-Court-
Justices-that-was-lame-back-in-1988-blah-blah-
blah...")
Oh, and my dentist also happens to be to the right of Genghis Khan. Wingnut doesn't even begin to describe him. So it's been weeks of hearing about how Bush will be recognized as the greatest president evah, Obama should be ashamed of Rev. Wright, we're fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them over hear, McCain's the greatest candidate the Republicans could ever nominate, blah, blah, blah.
So he preaches politics to patients while they're helpless and vulnerable in his dental chair. Classy man, him.
We as a country need national health care of some sort, and dentistry needs to be included and in hospitals. It really is ridiculous.
And the sad thing is, the situation probably will never, ever change because the little dittotards "got theirs", and it must be protected at all costs.
OMFG. You poor man, you're right about it being some next level shit. Sending wishes for a speedy recovery.
I had a cracked tooth a few years back, not enough tooth left around all the fillings (childhood without fluoride=too many cavities). Four ibuprofen tabs at a time dampened the pain just enough to bring it below grab-a-pliers level. Cost of a crown is horrendous even WITH coverage. As a struggling single mom, had to refi to pay for my share of 2 crowns, the pain was so bad i had no choice.
LM, feel better.
It's inspiring to see how you can go beyond the agony to a national issue.
Grrr. Haloscan ate my comment and my nice long missive.
Feel better, LM.
Out here in California, our legislature passed single payer health care for all, including dental, but our governor vetoed it. Twice. We are trying for a third time.
LM,
dood, glad to hear you got to the docs office. Hope you feel better soon, and I second what Brat wrote above - there is a strong link between gum/oral disease and heart disease. It would be good to read up on it.
Your description of the pain is spot on - been there myself. If not for health insurance I'd be broke. Everytime my dentist sees me coming he puts a down payment on his next Mercedes. (I brush and floss like it's religion, unfortunately I had several fillings as a kid and they're now all cracking/falling apart).
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