At the Root of the Problem

So my tooth had been bothering me for awhile, finally made a dentist appointment. The day before I went I was in the worst pain ever...seriously comparable to child birth. I would have to say I have a high pain tolerance, although any time I say that Tim starts laughing...hmm. I am not sure if it was the pain itself or just the fact that it is located in your mouth, close to your eyes and ears and brain that it hurts so horribly. Essentially (as my dentist explained) my old filling had cracked and was allowing bacteria to fill the inner cavity of my tooth which then infected it (for those who wanted to hear the facts). The dentist did give me some penicillian and pain meds so I have been better this past week, but he referred me for a root canal. Yeah! And I got to experience that joy this morning.
Wasn't really sure what to expect, different stories from different people. It's horrible, it's fine, no big deal but you'll be sleepy all day, one friend even told me that you can eat chips at Hacienda right after, and one worried I wouldn't be able to go to meetings the next day??...so needless to say I wasn't sure what to expect.
Of course you go in and they are very nice and explain the procedure is and what they are going to do. The specialist shows me my tooth x-ray and explains how deep my issue is and that he hopes he be able to keep the tooth...but he won't know until he drills it all out...what?!
Let me just be up front now. I hate going to the dentist. Always have, probably always will. And as they told me last week, I am just one of those lucky people who hold bad bacteria in their mouth and therefore that is the reason I get cavities easily. Great, so really when I say that I hope my kids get my husbands teeth (b/c they are perfect and he has never had a cavity), what I should really be saying is that I hope my children gets my husbands bacteria non-holding capabilities? Interesting.
Anyway, back to the story...so the tech is prepping me and wants to know if I would like a pillow, blanket, or headphones. I went with the headphones thinking maybe the music would drown out the drilling, (not quite). They numbed me all up and asked if I wanted some Gas (Nitrate?) to help me relax...Yes, who wouldn't? So as I get kinda sleepy and numby and start to pretend that I am not really there...then they shove this rubber "mouth keeper opener" in and the drilling begins. Now, I haven't had a cavity filled for quite awile and according to the tech who said the experience would be similar forgot to mention that she is really lying and the drilling would be twice as horrible and twice as loud (even with music blaring). And in regards to that metalic teeth burning smell, well I would rather stick my face in a dirty diaper.
So, they finish up their root drilling and then the doc informs me that I will need to come back tomorrow to finish things up b/c my tooth insides are inflamed and need to settle before he can fill it in. Hmmm, wonder why they are inflamed? So with the glass half full, I have something to look forward to tomorrow. And as I type this five hours later the numbness is now finally wearing off, which means I should probably go and take some more meds. Overall, I would rate it in the middle of easy and horrible. Although eating chips is not an option. Hope your Wednesday and Thursday are filled with just as much fun, and a little less drilling.