Sound of Drilling Hanging Over the Pacific Northwest...

Root canal is over, and the drilling wasn't too bad. You might remember, it was on a tooth that already had a filling that had fallen out, and I had ignored for awhile. Since it was already drilled out, the dentist just needed to drill out the decay, and that was deep. Honestly, none of that drilling bothered me and if he had done nothing else, I could have fallen asleep.

Teeth people, correct me if I am wrong, but from my perspective, this is what it seemed like. He goes to the hollow "canals" of my teeth where the roots are, and files them out. He used terms like, "I need a long file for the second canal". I can see him and feel him filing the inside canal of my tooth. The decay on that tooth was deep and it was questionable if we could save it. Dr. Awesome did, of course. But it also meant that as he was filing, he was going pretty deep.

So deep, I could feel him hitting the absolute tip of the root of my tooth in to flesh as he is filing. Now that is nothing I have felt before, and it hurt. It wasn't sensitive tooth hurt, it was hit me in the face hurt. The Novocain didn't cover that part of the procedure. Dr. Awesome is very cool in that he definitely knows what part of the procedure will be painful, will warn you ahead of time, etc. "You'll feel a quick pain here." "This will be uncomfortable for a moment." "A little bit of pressure for a moment."

He also filled another tooth that was to the back of the one he did the root canal on. "As long as we're numbed up, let's do it." Sounds good! No joking, he numbed me well. I felt absolutely nothing nerve-wise this time and that is unusual.

When we were done, I felt good. My face was numb, of course, and felt like it was sliding off my jaw. I came home and actually worked out for 30 minutes. Then I picked up the kids from Vacation Bible School, stopped at Jamba Juice and came home. I laid BH down for a nap, and I laid down too. I just woke up a little while ago. I zonked out and I didn't plan on it.

Now, I am feeling the pain of hitting the tip of the root. My face aches. My teeth are pretty okay, although I have been advised to eat soft things and be nice to them while all the "material" sets for the next ten days. I have three Advil Liqui Gels (my gold standard for all pain relievers) in me, and my husband is picking up yogurt so I can make a smoothie for my dinner. I might be pouring a glass of wine or making adult smoothies soon (pina coladas or margaritas).

All is well. More drilling coming up at the end of August.