Diagnosis: Badly infected tooth. Remedy: root canal and crown.

[Catshrink]

Well dang. I'm gonna be a queen after all.

The dentist had trouble pinpointing the tooth -- the pain is a dull throb. Neither of the two teeth hurt badly when he probed and poked. Then he felt under my jaw and I nearly jumped out of the chair. Ah ha, he says. Infection. He suspects that the tooth under one of the existing crowns has decayed and that it has reached the pulp. I'm on antibiotics for a week, then the root canal.

It ain't cheap. We have dental insurance but only up to $1000. At least it will cover part of it so I won't complain.

Now the tooth is totally aching -- it wasn't that bad until he messed with it.

Okay, I've whined on DU and now I feel better.

[democracyindanger]

1. Bonus: Painkillers

[Catshrink]

3. He didn't give me any....

but for now Advil seems to take care of it. Most of it.

[democracyindanger]

6. Perhaps post-surgery?

Just trying to find a silver lining for ya. ;)

[Catshrink]

8. Better than a silver filling!

Aren't they mixed with mercury or something?

[thinkingwoman]

2. you have my complete sympathy!

I HATE dental work.

My only advice is...Demerol. Ask for it by name.

[Catshrink]

4. Gawd I hate it too.

I told him I was going to try to be mature, but I wouldn't guarantee success. I asked for nitrous. They have TV monitors and a networked movie thing. I asked if I could bring Shrek or another happy movie to take my mind off the ordeal. He said cool.

[thinkingwoman]

24. sounds like a nice dentist

My dentist is pretty cool too. I happily drive an hour to go to him because the dentist makes all the difference in my opinion.

[bigwillq]

5. Hope your mouth feels better!

Drugs, lots of drugs. They do help!:hug:

[Catshrink]

9. Drugs, booze. I need 'em all.

I'm not going to like it one bit!

[ElsewheresDaughter]

7. remedy $2,500

[Catshrink]

10. No kidding.

My share will be about $800. Gee. I was going to use that $800 to get my A/C fixed in the car. Arizona in the summer without air. It's gonna be hot, baby.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

12. hey ya could have it extracted for $500 and get your AC...my daughter

has no dental coverage and has had to have 2 extracted...makes me sick that their are 45 million without healthcare and probably millions more without access to dentalcare ..........i hope you feel better soon...have some scotch

[Catshrink]

19. That puts it in perspective!

The insurance I have, meager though it is, is better than none at all. It sucks.

[mongo]

11. Clove oil

Tastes nasty and burns when first applied, but it is the ONLY thing I've found to stop tooth pain - including painkillers.

I think there is even at least one product in some drugstores that has clove oil in it. It will be cheaper at your natural foods store though.

[11 Bravo]

23. Is it safe?

(Obscure "Marathon Man" reference)

[dflprincess]

13. I had to have a root canal done on a tooth that already had a crown

It was on a molar. I do have to say it doesn't sound like my infection was quite as advanced as yours. They were able to tell what tooth it was as soon as he tapped it. What tipped me off is that the night before my face suddenly felt it was asleep along my jaw line, I didn't have a whole lot of pain. (Turned out it was pressing on a nerve).

Anyway, the endodontist (root canal expert)was able to drill through the crown to do the root canal. Of course, then I wound up with a filling in my crown, but at least I didn't have to buy a new one.

[Spinzonner]

16. Ditto

but it makes the crown fragile and is likely to break at some point - depending on where the drilling was done.

It's cheaper to have it just filled but often the dentist will push for a new crown.

[Catshrink]

21. I'll ask about it...

Financially it would be better right now. He didn't even mention that possibility.

[dflprincess]

22. It's been about 3-1/2 years since I had it done

and my crown is still good so maybe you'll be able to get by doing it this way. It probably does depend on where they have to drill.

BTW, if you haven't had a root canal before, I was amazed how well it went. I've always heard they were so painful, but the endodontist did such a fine job of numbing me up that I had no pain during the procedure and only a little ache afterward that asprin took care of. (Of course, after he tapped that tooth, it hurt so bad that if he had told me dropping a brick on my foot would help, I'd have agreed to it.)

[Catshrink]

20. That's an idea!

I wonder if it's possible. It's kind of weird that tapping the tooth didn't hurt right when he did it. Now it's starting to hurt worse -- and I'm getting an earache.

I think I'm becoming a hypochondriac about this. Maybe I should just go to bed.

[Zomby Woof]

14. Are you going to be well enough for Cactus League?

I am sorry about your week, B! :hug:

[Catshrink]

18. Oh yeah, I'll be ready.

22 days until the pitchers and catchers report.

[n2mark]

15. Did your dentist give you prescription for penicillen?

He or she should have done this.

[Catshrink]

17. Clindamycin....

I'm allergic to penicillins. 4 a day for a week.