Can't Ignore it Any Longer....

I have extensive dental work in my mouth. Why? Long story short, I had a quack for a childhood dentist. I have paid the price since I changed dentists in college. I had four crowns in my mouth before the age of 25, one of them was an emergency root canal a week before I was married.

I also seem to always be in pain at the dentist. I know most of us can say that, but for me, we found out why a few years back. I have weird nerves. So a dentist may think he is numbing a nerve, he isn't. My face could be so numb I look like I have a mudslide down one side of my face, but I still feel every reverberation of the drill. My dentist figured out a few years ago after watching me tense up while drilling. He took some new kind of xrays and suddenly twenty years of pain were explained. I am sure the Novocaine worked to some degree because I had root canals with Novocaine and it wasn't any worse than any other drilling I have had. Painful but not unbearable, which I think a root canal would be without any sort of pain killers.

Here we go again! Here is where I will admit my full responsibility in this whole matter:

1) I have not been to the dentist in about five years for any sort of preventative work. Why? It's just another bill in my checkbook, and once the kids came....well....

2) I lost parts of two of my fillings a few years ago. I didn't feel any pain from it and really have just ignored the holes in my teeth and kept them flossed. I know!

3) I feel guilty the longer I go without seeing my regular dentist, that I don't want to see my regular dentist. He will hammer me for number one and number two, and he should.

Why am I having a truth telling moment now? Guess.

Yes, I am suddenly in the last week or two I am in some pretty great pain. On the left upper side of my mouth, where one of the fillings lost some pieces, I have radiating pain through my face to my eye socket. Nice huh?

Number three still is in effect. Number one and number two seem just stupid on my part at this point.

So, what is the solution? I am going to cheat on my dentist!! I love him dearly, and I refer all of my friends who live near me to him. He is a great Christian man, who loves his work. He donates tons of medical equipment to medical organizations for third world countries.

I just can't go face him at this point, but I need immediate relief. So, I am apologizing now, and will the next appointment I have with him. But today at two p.m. I am going to another dentist practice. I spilled my guts on the phone just like I have here. I want relief, not scolding, I realize I have created the situation I am in, and will fully accept the drilling I have to endure this afternoon, and probably several other appointments later on.

I also called one of those dentist practices that specialize in pain relief. They give nitrous gas freely, headsets while in the chair, etc.

I will post soon the outcome. Don't pray for my teeth, pray for my stubborn streak. It needs to be drilled out too.