Tooth Trouble

My boys have a book called Tooth Trouble about a little boy who is the last one in his class of 2nd graders to lose a tooth. Lately the title of the book has played some truth in my life! I have had my own Tooth Trouble, the only problem is I don't want to lose my teeth! Over the past few years I have gotten quite a few root canals on my molars, the problem is that all but one of them have still had problems. Problems like oops we missed a canal, or hmmmm this root is cracked, or did you know you have a cyst on the end of you root? About a year ago I decided I was tired of all the problems and made a plan with my dentist to get it all fixed so I would be fee and clear of my teeth. I have had a ton of work done and several teeth had to be pulled. Well on the last visit I say " Yeah......this is the last thing and we are done! Except for the implants I am going to get!" my dentist cheers with me and then takes some x-rays. A few minutes go by and he comes back in hanging his head and says" ummmmm.........I am not sure what is going on but you have some more problems with your teeth." I am thinking I have only a minor problem and then he tells me that he is not sure how but the tooth that we were just going to fix the filling in now needs a root canal. Not only does it need a root canal .......he can't do it so I need to go to a endodontist......and pay the big bucks! Well, before I could get an appointment with the other DR. I had already made an appointment to get a consultation for implants. While at that appointment they took a 360 degree x-ray of my teeth. And guess what? They found even more problems! I had a cyst on a tooth that had already had a root canal and now I needed to get that removed, and I still had one wisdom tooth that was completely sideways and impacted and pushing on the roots of the tooth in front of it and causing decay on the roots and I needed to just have both teeth pulled. The appointment was 45 min away in Boulder and I seriously cried all the way home! If you haven't ever had any of this kind of stuff done it is super expensive and insurance is a joke! The words they used for my teeth were " you need to get these taken care of as soon as possible........you are sitting on a land mine."

I know by now you are thinking..........She should brush her teeth better! Well I am the best brusher and flosser and rinser I know! I even use prescription tooth paste! No one can tell me why these things are happening other than that I should never have any drinks with acid in them, and always rinse with water after drinking anything but water.

Back to the story. I made an appointment with an endodontist I had never been to. I have been to several but have been scared out of my mind because of the roughness and speed at which they have done things. So I prayed hard to find a good one, I really prayed and prayed. It just so happened that my insurance only had one Dr. they accepted in my town, less than a mile from my house. I was so nervous! I walked in and looked around, it was nothing fancy at all, but it was nice and I had a good feeling. Then I met the most wonderful Dr. He is an older man who took the time to listen to me and chat with me so I would be comfortable. I explained that I could only afford to do one of the two necessary things that needed done. ( I really couldn't afford to do any!) He then almost made me cry when he said we will do the cyst first, but if your other tooth starts hurting call me.....we will figure it out. When I asked about how to pay he told me that he would send me a bill and as long I sent him something every month we would be fine. What a blessing. Some people would say I am lucky but I know that this man was a blessing in my life. The procedure was kind of scary because they had to go in through the side of my gums to get the cyst. He was very good and had I gone to someone else I am not sure I could have handled the procedure.

Fast forward a week. My wisdom tooth and the tooth in front of it start killing me! The awesome Dr. only does root surgeries so he can't help on this one. I make the appointment to have the teeth pulled and when I get there the Dr. tells me that I am crazy if he thinks that I can handle this while just numb. I tell him that I can't afford to be put asleep and somehow he figured it out so I wouldn't be charged more! I have never been put asleep for anything! I was so scared I would pee or something while I was out! Let me tell you, that is the only way to get major work done on your mouth! I went to sleep and when I woke up no teeth! The first day I was awesome and thought it was smooth sailing! WRONG! It has been 4 days and I am in pain! The kind of pain that needs the good meds! If I miss or am a little late taking the pain meds I pay for it! Oh and I still have the stitches from the first procedure on the same side of my mouth but on top! So there you go that is my Tooth Trouble!