Yay teeth

[torquill]

I tried out the new dentist today... catnip13 suggested Dr. Oakleaf, and I had a cleaning today.

Good news: it looks like he and I get along well, and he knows his stuff. He diagnosed my sensitive tooth fairly easily despite clean X-rays. The use digital X-rays, too (neat). And his hygienist gave me the most thorough cleaning I think I've ever had... I'm thinking even less of my old dentist now. I'm really fairly happy with the practice, and I've recommended it to my dad.

Bad news: the tooth is cracked. While the root seems to be fine (so far), I need to get a crown quickly before it turns into crown + root canal. Bonus suckiness: my insurance doesn't cover crowns at all.

I can afford the $980 that he quoted me for the crown, so long as it goes on plastic (it'll get paid for next month). I'll come home early on Wednesday, and I expect to have recovered enough by evening to go to knaveofhearts' place (good thing the Indian food I get is quite soft :) ).

What I am not looking forward to: anesthetic. I expressed my reaction to it when filling out the forms today as "anesthetic can simulate pain". It's the closest I can get to my brain's "oh shit, if I'm getting nothing from those nerves it means they've been completely shredded, RED ALERT" reaction to numbness. :P I can cope, but it's very nerve-wracking, which is why I get away without it whenever I can... I think my last four fillings were done without. A crown is a different story. Sigh.

knaveofhearts, an evening without adrenaline will be very welcome after that. Some nice soothing Burn Notice should do the trick. :)

Comments

[hopeforyou.livejournal.com]

I thought a crown went on top of a filling, so it shouldn't hurt that much... but I have yet to get mine, so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about?

[luna-torquill.livejournal.com]

They essentially take off all the enamel of the tooth and file it down to a peg, then put a (in my case) porcelain cap on it. Filing at least 1.5mm off the entire tooth surface really does require anesthetic at the very least.

[unseelie23.livejournal.com]

What about sedation dentistry?

[luna-torquill.livejournal.com]

Excellent idea. The two reasons I'm not pursuing that are:

1) lack of time to explore the options (it's less than 24 hours away now)

2) I react very badly to a wide range of pharmaceuticals.

I've never taken sedatives, and the odds of a bad reaction -- which would be worse psychologically, though not necessarily medically, than the topical anesthetics -- are rather more significant than I'm comfortable with. Being so dizzy I can't move without throwing up is the most likely outcome of such a reaction, and it gets worse from there.

On the other hand, it might be fine. The trouble with most sedatives (like most prescription painkillers) is that it's very hard to convince anyone to let you "test drive" one. :/

Given two weeks, I could probably find something that would work. By then, I might have to get a root canal. I'll clutch the armrests and nurse my shattered nerves this time. I really ought to talk to my GP about a "test drive" of drugs for common uses like this, though.