Hopefully one day soon I will get back to happy fun posts and cute pics of the kiddos but I have to give the latest update on my tooth. In short, it isn't good. I thought the worst case scenario today was that today would be a consult only and I would have to come back for the root canal re-do (again, worst case) next week.
Well I sit down in the chair--there are needles everywhere. Can they hide those things? People, normal people, not just worriers like myself, have dental anxieties. The sweet assistant, the same lady who helped last week with my x-ray and deemed the x-ray results "very bad" in her thick eastern European accent, is suiting me up for the work. It is good and bad. I am scared (I'm a chicken with pain related things) but want to just get this all behind me so it looks like we are doing the root canal.
The very kind endodontist saunters in and sits down and oh-so-casually asks me if my dentist had explained what she thought was going on. Not really but I knew that she and the sweet assistant had labeled my situation "very bad" which I knew could not be very good. He proceeds to draw a picture for me. Oh this is very bad. I some point I zoned out in complete disbelief as he explained the scenarios. Basically it is likely more than just a root canal redo. It may be an issue to far in to reach or, worse, a crack in the tooth. Choices are root canal re-do that may fail then go to plan B or plan C or go directly to plan B: cut into the gum line and take a look/take out that part of the tooth (Eeewwww) or plan C: pull the tooth and get an implant (fake tooth), 8-10 weeks after the tooth is pulled (ie hole in the mouth for 2 months.)
It was at this pint that I started to break down a little bit. There were tears shed and all hope of listening with an open mind went out the window. I could not think it through enough to decide right then and there. I am an extrovert. I need to talk it out. Ask more questions and talk it out some more. I am not a gambling kind of gal so do I go for the sure shot and just pull the sucker out and start anew? This is the only tooth in my whole mouth that has had any troubles but boy has it made up for the rest of them.
I still do not know what I will do. Although as I am thinking it through, I am working on my own personal "dental degree on the Internet" (yeah right! but so true) and I found this article which seems to sum up my situation. I think I can see my "halo" like in my x-ray, which I guess is the infection. It really does look like the picture Dr. S drew for me today.
Feel free to e-mail me off-line if you have any input or know anyone who has had a situation as such. I have never heard of such a gruesome task but I can only assume I am not the first since they did not call a team of doctors in to say, "hey take a look at this freak."
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2 comments:
UGH! I am so very sorry to hear of your situation! I hate dental work, my mouth is full of fillings!!
Yuck! Right before Sam was born what I thought was a cavity turned out to be a cracked tooth. They ended up chipping a bunch of it away and putting a crown on. Not fun, but fine now. Sorry your choices are so crummy.
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