Root Canal

The day has come finally. I had to get a root canal done. I hate the idea of having to do that to my tooth, but I'm glad that the pain will be over. It wasn't anything unbearable, but it was annoying because it was sensitive.

If I remember correctly, root canals take 3 hours at a normal dental clinic. At UCLA, because everything takes super long, I have to go 3 times, each appointment taking 3 hours!!! I just keep telling myself that it's much cheaper there and is actually good quality work without scams. It helps that she was already working as a dentist in India but has to go to dental school out here in order to practice as a dentist in the states.

I wonder if root canal was kind of a new thing for her, though, because there was an interesting incident during my procedure. She talked to her professor before starting the procedure, and I heard him tell her to numb me up and get started. I guess he thought that we had already consulted with the endodontist. Makes no sense to numb me up before the consult...how else would they test to see if I need it? Shouldn't pain be the indicator? It's not like you can see down the root.

Next thing I know, she was giving me a shot. I didn't really think about it either because I don't know the procedure. She goes away for a while and comes back to tell me that we might have to wait a couple of hours for the painkillers to wear off. Interesting fact I learned is that these shots tend to last longer on the bottom teeth.

The professor talked to the endodontist and got permission to go ahead with the procedure. Considering the tooth's history, it was obvious that root canal was necessary. So of course, the pain killer wasn't working very well and it starts to hurt as she's drilling!

But...I don't know why people told me that root canals are painful, because I have no pain now. Of course, I'm not 100% done, but the only pain I'm feeling is the soreness from them trying to put the dental dam around my tooth. That almost broke my jaw. Keeping my jaw open in that weird position (and my jaw was injured few years ago) was so painful that I had to massage it to shut my mouth.

I have to do this 2-3 more times for it to be completely done. ouch.