..........my day at the dentist.

Guilty as charged - I'm afraid of the dentist! During most of my summer break, I have been annoyed with pain from a tooth in the far back of my mouth (the next to the last molar on the upper left side). Hot and cold hitting that tooth really sent me through the roof! I went to the dentist in June. He told me there was a cavity; not large, but large enough to cause the problem. There was a slight bit of infection; so, we did the antibiotic thing and scheduled an appointment for the filling in July. I took the antibiotic, the infection cleared, and I went to my July appointment for the filling. During the course of the filling, I heard what you don't want to hear a dentist say; "uh oh!" What? "It seems that the tooth has a hairline fracture that goes pretty deep. With that kind of a fracture, things will get in there and cause pain. We need to get you scheduled with a specialist for this one. There's a great guy down in Winston-Salem who does nothing but root canals"; replies the dentist. "A root canal?"; I responded. "Yes, and this one could get a little tricky"; he says. That's not what I was prepared to hear. Later the next week, I went to see the specialist. He took an x-ray, looked at it, and said; "yes, I believe we can save the tooth." What? Save the tooth? I'm in danger of loosing the tooth? He says that if the crack goes into the pulp of the tooth, then we may have to pull it during the course of the root canal. Okay, this is getting really scary! I scheduled my root canal for September 2 (yesterday). I had a late appointment so I wouldn't have to miss my marching band class. I had a visit from the new Wind Ensemble Director from ASU, Dr. John Ross for my rehearsal yesterday. He's one of the most personable college level directors I've ever met. He watched the rehearsal and made some great suggestions. I told him at the beginning of his visit that I would have to leave right after the rehearsal to get to Winston-Salem for my 3:00 PM root canal appointment. As soon as I said that, he made a horrible face and proceeded to tell me a dental horror story - not what I needed to hear at that point! I left the high school right at 1:00 PM and arrived at Dr. Gambill's office in Winston-Salem at 2:40. I went in, signed-in, and began "the wait". I hate waiting in the dentist office. The calming music, the outdated periodicals, the sound of the drill in the background, and the smell. I think it takes a few minutes to prepare yourself mentally for what is to come. As I'm doing just that, the receptionist calls my name. What? I've only been here for five minutes, I'm not ready! At any rate, off I go to "the chair". Now, these people do nothing but root canals all day long (at $900 a pop, no less), and they're not into conversation. The nurse put me into the chair, and began pulling out all the stuff the doctor would use on me today - it took two damn trays to get everything out there! I began to find a place on the ceiling that I could focus on. Immediately, in comes the doctor, and I'm still not ready for this! He comes at me with this thing that looks like a drill; but, delivers the anesthesia. He says, "you will hear some beeping, and may feel some slight pain." Pain? I don't want pain! With the anesthesia delivered, he begins the clamping, and puts a rubber membrane over the tooth. "Here, you can bite down on this"; he says, putting a big rubber thing in the other side of my mouth. Now, I'm getting nervous. I'll need something to bite on? Where are we, 1870's Dodge City? Does he also double as a barber? Next, they put these big sunglasses on me. You know, the type that all the elderly Florida types wear when they drive. The nurse says; "we'll put these on you in case something flies into your eye." There's the possibility of stuff flying into my eye? Alert. Alert. We are a DEFCON 5! Attack is eminent! I find my place on the ceiling, grab the arm rails with my hands, and prepare for the worse. "Now, you may feel some vibration"; says the doctor. Here it comes, I see the drill! He begins his work. I hear the sounds, feel the vibration, and then there's the smoke that comes from the drilling. I hate the smell of that smoke. It reminds me of my time in "the chair" with Dr. Jimmy Harrell in Elkin. I'm a small child getting fillings with no anesthesia. This guy drilled, ground, and picked at my tooth for one hour solid, without saying a word. I'll have to hand it to him, I felt absolutely no pain at all. I guess that takes away the need for meaningless conversation. The thoughts of what was going on was the worst part. After the hour of work, the doctor led me to the checkout desk, wished me well, and sent me on my way. The great thing about this whole experience was the lack of any pain at all. The anesthesia he used only numbed the area right at my tooth. Normally, the numbing that I get at the dentist, numbs my entire face on one side. This was great! I hadn't eaten anything all day long (in anticipation of this appointment). I went to Krispy Kreme, got a doughnut, and headed for home. The doctor gave me a prescription for some pain medication; but, I've yet to use anything other than ibuprofen. I'm not even sore this morning. There's no longer hot and cold sensitivity, and I'm lovin' the results! I now must go back to my family dentist and get a crown in a couple of weeks. All in all, this was a good root canal experience. I'm still not over my dental fear; but, this helped me make some headway.