Listening to the Voices in My Head

Just came back from 3 month dental check up. Gums are much improved. Because of my teeth not being straight, there are issues with a few of them, cleaning issues, but overall things are looking good. Surprisingly the cleaning was near painless, would say just uncomfortable in a few spots, but overall easy to deal.

On the way to the dentist office, I was riding my bike and was coming up behind a man with a smallish dog on a leash. I rang my bell repeatedly, and the man coming towards me from the other direction heard me, but the man walking the dog didn't. The dog charged at man coming towards the dog walker, and I rang my bell again.

Getting no response, I started to get off my bike to walk it around him. But his furry jaw muscle saw me, charged at me and grabbed my left foot and bit hard. Luckily the teeth didn't go through the shoe. Just felt as if my foot had been squeezed in a vise.

I said a few umm naughty words and kept riding, as I did have an appointment. Didn't call ranger, as I would have been charged for the dental appointment if I had waited to file a report.

Wing forgot my appointment was at 8:30 this morning. I reminded him that I do have my bike, and the reason I have it is to get to nearby places. He went on and on about how far away it was. It took me a whopping 13 minutes to get to Dr T's office. I actually ended up getting there early. Tooth worked on, root canal taken care of. In 2 weeks, head off to the dentist for a permanent filling and then a crown.

Stopped by the shops on the way home to pick up a few things. Headed home, and was almost there when the bike threw the chain. I remembered from my teen years how to re-mount the chain on the sprockets. fixed it, and finished riding home.

The ride to the endo's office was longest trip so far. And the good news is my right knee is doing pretty well. A bit sore, but not too bad.

Now waiting to see how my jaw feels. There's a camera club meeting tonight, and I really don't want to sit through one if my jaw/tooth are giving me grief.

Yesterday, had the filling drilled through (after numbing, of course) and sat through first step of a root canal. Dentist had a bit of a problem with one of the roots (a calcified cap), and after trying for a hour to clear it, he flushed it with anti-bacterial solution, then packed with with something specifically made to soften the cap, and allow for the rest to be removed later. Put a temporary filling in, and then went home.

I have to admit, I was feeling trepidation about pain returning. I don't know what it is about dental pain, but it seems to be less tolerable than pain in any other parts of the body. Luckily the only pain I had was residual from the procedure itself, rather than the nerve in the tooth. I do have to be careful about biting down on it, as the area is still sensitive. I should probably stick with soup until my jaw feel better.

Another thing: even though I intellectually know that modern dental procedures are more or less painless, there is an atavistic fear of dentistry. I have a great reason to be a bit skittish (even Dr C agreed I had every reason to be on edge after what some moron did to me years and years ago).

Having severe tooth pain, and making appointment is cause enough for anxiety. Confirming it, me making arrangements to get there, then you calling me to say 'Oops, that time was blocked out, can you wait until tomorrow?' isn't good. If I could have waited until tomorrow I wouldn't have called you this morning.

And then I tell you "I had to use Jack Daniels, and felt like biting pillow and screaming into it" , you then suddenly shift, find an opening, but earlier than the first Oops appointment isn't doing a damned thing to enhance my inner calm

Due to the wonders of modern dentistry, one tends to forget what things will feel like after the numbness wears off.

Umm.. ow?