The Root Canal Diet

Two weeks ago I started feeling deep tooth pain on the left side of my mouth. It came and went fairly consistently and I was eating ibuprophin like candy. On Labor Day I finally called my dentist who gave me better pain medication and set me up with an emergency endodontist appointment on Tuesday. The endodontist I saw was impatient and unsympathetic. He finally diagnosed it as the last molar on the bottom and went ahead with a root canal. After the anesthetic wore off, I was still feeling pain but was hoping that it was just sore from the procedure. By the end of the week I finally called the dentist again, told her I was still in pain, and explained why I did not want to see the same endodontist. Because I did not want to be seen as an "emergency" (I felt that was part of the reason the first guy was so rushed), I went through a few more days of the pain coming and going before my appointment with a different guy on Wednesday. It reminded me of the contractions when Dexter was on his way into the world. I knew the pain would ease up and that I just had to get through it for a while. Finally, on Wednesday I saw a different endodontist who diagnosed the problem as the second to last molar on the top and started a root canal. When he got the tooth opened up, he said, "No wonder you're in pain. This is what we call 'an angry tooth'." Even though the extraction of the nerve was painful (three times he had to stop his work to drill another hole in my tooth so that he could shoot anesthetic right into the nerve), I felt relieved that this time I was sure they got it right. However, because everything was so inflamed he couldn't finish the procedure. I get to go back in a few weeks when things settle down for the completion of the work. To top it off, while I was in the chair the receptionist came over to explain that I had maxed out my dental benefits for the year and would have to pay a pretty penny out of pocket. Whatever!!! Just stop the pain!! The upside is that I lost 3 pounds in the last 2 weeks.