Published by Linda on 01 Apr 2008 at 05:09 pm
You Can’t Handle The Tooth
So the short version is that I have to have a root canal.
Sensitive tooth, related to but apparently not the result of a recent bout of sinus/cold nonsense that started right after I left my job. ROOT CANAL! The good news is that I had already decided to continue my premium dental insurance — because I have some crowns as a result of relentlessly grinding my teeth as an adolescent, I always take the best possible dental insurance — so that will help. Nevertheless, BITCHES! (And by “bitches,” I mean “my teeth.”)
I hate going to the dentist. I hate the chair, I hate how incredibly uncomfortable the x-rays are, I hate how they blame you if the x-ray thing slides around in your mouth, I hate how they poke everything, I hate how the dentist pokes around making notes for ten minutes before saying anything. I appreciated this particular dentist’s dry sense of humor and fairly delicate touch, as well as the fact that he did not at all unload the “your teeth are a horror show” speech that I think everyone secretly dreads, especially when overdue for a cleaning.
But it was one of those “we have to do this, and then we really SHOULD do this…and this…and this…” visits, which I hate. This is partly the result of having those crowns, which don’t last forever and therefore periodically have to be redone or resealed or whatever the hell, but I still hate it.
I’m not even writing, am I? I am JUST COMPLAINING.
I did like this dentist, whom I found partly with the assistance of Yelp.com, of all things. And my dental insurance. It was also good news that there doesn’t appear to be an infection or an abscess or anything gross like that in the sensitive tooth…just a tooth with a crown going bad, as they do. I never know how to feel confident that I’m not being suckered when it’s that “here are the ten things I’d like to do, in order of priority” speech. Work down the list until I run out of insurance? Until I run out of money? Until I hit things that can wait until I have a regular job?
It’s one of those things…one of those things I hate, and worry about, and get frustrated over, even though it doesn’t really matter. I am well aware that in the grand scheme of things, this doesn’t matter. In a year, it won’t be on my radar. But it just fills me with dread and misery and makes me Hatey O’Grump all day long.
I hope that tomorrow will return me to my normal, more chipper status. Today? BITCHES!
Nancy on 01 Apr 2008 at 5:16 pm #
Good luck with the tooth! Five years ago I ignored that little bit of pain and suspicion that “something wasn’t quite right” with a crown and ended up having to have the tooth pulled and an IMPLANT put in. “Bitches” is mild compared to what came out of my mouth all aimed at me.
Ebeth on 01 Apr 2008 at 5:22 pm #
Ouch. Aren’t crowns supposed a decade (or more)? I have 2 and they had to be redone in less than 4 years because the dentist who set them didn’t do a good job. I am praying these now last a good 10 years. Bitches!
Good luck!
lderouin on 01 Apr 2008 at 6:21 pm #
I LOATHE the dentist with a fiery passion for all the reasons you list, but mainly for the vague sense of guilt that if I had brushed better and flossed more, I would have better teeth. Plus, the whole “am I being taken” thing looms large – I don’t know enough about teeth to know what’s necessary and what’s just a good idea – it’s how I feel when shopping for a car. PLUS (I’m just complaining too I guess) in 15 years of being insured through my own job, I’ve never found a dental plan, premium or not, that’s much good. Even with the most primo dental plan, I still end up paying a TON out of my own pocket.
amy on 01 Apr 2008 at 7:17 pm #
I was told I had to have a root canal…uh, two years ago. That I still haven’t had. So please let me know how it goes, because I ran away in free and haven’t been back!
amy on 01 Apr 2008 at 7:17 pm #
Oops, I meant, in fear. Not free.
Julie on 01 Apr 2008 at 7:29 pm #
I love my dentist–he’s my uncle.
But the best part is that I know I’m never being suckered. My uncle is not going to tell me to have anything done that’s not necessary, and if anything is really necessary, he’s going to *make* me have it done.
sportsdiva on 01 Apr 2008 at 7:57 pm #
I found that the first root canal I had was nothing, absolutely nothing, compared with the pain the tooth was causing. The second was nothing, period.
I’m hoping the current pain in my teeth is related to this dreadful flu (it is flu and not just a bad cold because of the many days of fever and the incredibly horrible pain in my head that finally has gone away after two miserable days, which I spent in bed–colds do not send me to bed–yes I had a flu shot but back in October and they say this year they guessed wrong and only picked about 40% of the active strains this season), anyway, I hope this pain in my teeth goes away when my flu goes away.
But I love my dentist. A lovely man from London (clearly, they don’t use dentists in England so he had to come here to make a living) who wears a bow tie and laughs at my jokes and won’t confess to his real first name (intial S. middle name Valence, so the S much be brutal). I keep my medical professionals laughing to be sure they like me and take good care of me.
Good luck with the crown. I hate the goopy fitting part.
SP on 01 Apr 2008 at 8:30 pm #
I have never, ever bitched with such righteous indignation as I did the time I learned I had to have a root canal. It was due to complications from a long-ago TMJ surgery that I had in high school because I HAD to! And it was no FUN! And I got all swollen and I missed Senior Beach Week and now it was making me have SURGERY! Son of a BITCH! (stomp stomp stomp)
But, the thing is? Aside from the Novocaine–about which I am seriously the hugest whimperiest embarrassingest baby on earth, in every context–it was…nothin’. NOTHING. Maybe the least traumatic dental experience of my life, literally, and I am including routine cleanings. (I hate cleanings, so you understand here that you are not dealing with a stoic woman.)
Once the appropriate areas were numb, I hung out in the chair with my mouth open for a while, and listened to music (bring an iPod), and the periodontist did his thing and chatted cheerfully with me and his assistants and kept me posted on what he was doing, and then I was done. I went home and entertained myself by making faces in the mirror with my crazy drooly mouth and watched TV, and totally could have gone back to work but totally didn’t.
Not saying it isn’t hateful news, and I’m sorry you have to get the damn thing done. But it’s not so bad, and that’s something.
Tara on 01 Apr 2008 at 10:04 pm #
I had to have a root canal the summer before my senior year of university and took the day off work to recuperate. The office manager was like, “…Seriously? Because it’s really not that big a deal.” I stuck to my guns because I just wanted to have a day off, but he was right; it was not any worse than getting a filling. Of course, I’d just had all four wisdom teeth out two years prior to that, under general anaesthesia and in a hospital, so maybe everything else would seem okay by comparison. But it truly was among the five easiest things I’ve ever had to do to my grill.
Veronica on 02 Apr 2008 at 7:13 am #
Agreed. I just had a root canal last year and it was actually one of the more pleasant of my dental experiences. I had been expecting to spend the entire weekend recuperating and ended up needing nothing more than the three regular-strength Tylenol they gave me at the endodontist office.
And word about the goop they use when making the mold for your crown. Can you say nasty-ass?
Anlyn on 02 Apr 2008 at 8:42 am #
I was afraid of having a root canal, too. The dentist shot me with novocaine (or however that’s spelled), then started to drill. I could feel some discomfort, so he shot me again. After some more drilling–of which I only felt the pressure of the drill, no pain–something twinged. I thought, “oh, here comes the pain”.
He then patched me up and I was good to go. No pain. More like barely twisting your ankle kind of feeling and you don’t even limp.
The worst part for me was the smell resulting from drilling the tooth enamel. Yuck.
Kristie on 02 Apr 2008 at 12:47 pm #
I’ve had a couple of root canals (one a few years ago, which will need a crown this summer, and another last year that got a crown right away, and though I say they’re at least in part sinus-related because I’ve had sinus issues for years and both are right below sinus cavities, my dentist will neither confirm nor deny), and while they weren’t necessarily among my favorite dental procedures, it really wasn’t a big deal other than not caring for what Novocaine does to me (it makes me tired, so I try to do this sort of stuff at the end of the day so I can go home and nap rather than go back to work).
Hope it all goes well.
aqua on 03 Apr 2008 at 11:50 am #
wow, so apparently root canals bring out the comments for ya! and here’s mine too. i, too, hate the dentist and went for long periods not going whenever i was without insurance. i lucked out most of the time, apparently i’m one of those lucky people that have really great teeth, or so i’m told.
part of the problem with humans and dentistry is that as mammals, we were never really meant to live this long but we have artificially lengthened our lives while our teeth have not evolved. they still breakdown when we’re technically supposed to die. which always sticks in my gaw that i became a marine biologist and NOT a dentist, an occupation where i would apparently make gobs of money (like every other industry i bitch about when i come in contact with it because i’m as broke as shit and should have become a mechanic, dentist, plumber you name it when i have spend money on it…)
i digress. i was forced to get a root canal because for about a month whenever i would surface from a second dive, the whole inside of my head felt like someone was taking an icepick directly from the top through my eye, my nose and my ear (it wasn’t a straight icepick…). someone said oh your tooth is probably cracked and air gets in there and when you surface it expands blahblahblah see the dentist. so i did. they said i need a root canal, it’s the nerves that are reacting to the pressure change. i said pull the tooth. they said no. root canal. i said please pull the tooth. they scheduled me for a root canal. the front counter lady at the end of my consult pulled me aside and asked if i know what my coverage was? and i said yeah. and she said “oh ok because when i entered your info and your coverage amount came up i called them because i’ve never seen such low coverage.” it’s $500 and they only cover 75% of major work. and the consult had already taken up $150. the root canal cost about $3000. i’m still paying that bill three years later.
so on that happy note GOOD LUCK BITCHES
Bob Horseman, DDS on 05 Apr 2008 at 6:10 pm #
I’ve been a practicing dentist now for over 60 years and have never heard of anybody getting charged 3 grand for a root canal treatment. After a root canal treatment, the tooth almost always requires a crown because it’s not strong enough to withstand the wear and tear without one. The RCT and the crown are frequently done by two different people (endododntist plus GP), so the two treatments could total $2000 give or take a little, but 3? I doubt it.
Linda on 05 Apr 2008 at 7:36 pm #
I’m glad you said that, Doc, because I had the same reaction. I’ve had a honk of dental work done, and that seemed wildly high to me. At least I was hoping it was wildly high.
Fortunately, I still have the good dental insurance — my share of the root canal was $87, so I’m thanking my lucky stars. But the crowns I’ve had have never been more than about $800 at the high end, and most of the estimates I’ve seen on root canals were more like $600 for front teeth and $900 for back, so $3000 seems like an awfully high root canal bill.
Anyhoo, as I said, my dentist on the root canal was great, and I’m very glad I found that office.
aqua on 06 Apr 2008 at 2:13 pm #
seriously feeling ripped off.
you’re correct that it included the crown as well. sorry i wasn’t clear about that. but still, yeah, it was that much. i even commented to a friend of mine who works in a dental office in Canada after i had the work done and she said I could have bought a roundtrip ticket to Canada and gotten the work done up there for well under that much. i thought she was commenting the price was high compared to Canada.
Bob Horseman, DDS on 07 Apr 2008 at 12:48 am #
The moral of this story is get a second opinion unless you’ve had a good relationship with the first office for a long period and trust it. And for heaven’s sake always get an estimate of the fees before you open your mouth for treatment.
No embarrassment about asking for a 2nd opinion. This isn’t shopping, just good judgement.