more medical things

[tielan]

So I saw the endodontist today; he cleared the roots of the tooth out, and widened them - next time I go, it'll be to get them filled up.

That's in about 6 weeks. Lots of healing in the meantime.

It felt really weird and a bit unnerving when they were cleaning out the root canal. I could feel it in the bone, even if it wasn't hurting. And now my jaw aches, but that's not unexpected - they would have inflamed the tissue there. Still, there haven't yet been any little 'nerve crackles' like after the treatment on Thursday, just a steady ache.

Unfortunately, the ache isn't just in my cheek and jaw, but also in my foot and my hand. Which, I know all the doctors and specialists have told me that it's not related, but my experience says otherwise.

*sigh* We'll see how it goes down as the throbbing/swelling/ache goes down.

At any rate, now it's just the waiting and the drugging. I have antibiotics and painkillers - the kind that make you groggy and have labels like "do not operate heavy machinery or drive cars".

I'm supposed to have a nerve conduction test tomorrow night; I should probably call the neurologist and check that it's okay, given that I had 2nd stage root canal surgery today.

Curious question: how many stages are root canals in the US? I have a friend from the US who said they did the drilling and filling all in one go! Here, they spread it out over 3-4 visits - and the price she quoted (in USD) is twice that of the price I was quoted (in AUD).

Comments

[jelazakazone]

Here's hoping this has taken care of the problem! Ugh, what an ordeal.

The one root canal I had done was taken care of in one visit.

[tielan]

Yeah, it's been an ordeal, to put it nicely.

Now I'm just hoping I make it through the healing process.

And yes, I'm beginning to see that other countries seem to just do one visit. In Australia, the standard is three, I believe.

[retsuko]

I can answer this question because (annoyingly), I have to have root canal surgery on Thursday: I will have to go in twice, once for the surgery itself and once to fit the crown. I'm lucky that I don't have to go to a specialist, because my Mom had to do that recently, and she had to go back twice: once to unpack the surgery site, and once for the permanent crown. Her case was pretty advanced, so that accounts for the specialist and more than 2 visits. With my discount plan (I don't have dental insurance, just medical), I'm looking at about US$ 1200. For a simple filling, yeah, I just go once. There are some dentists here who are starting to offer same day root canals and crowns; they have some sort of fancy 3D printing system that allows them to do it. I trust my guy (been going to the same practice for over 20 years now) so I won't switch to a fancy place.

I'm pretty anxious about the whole thing, so please don't take my lack of commenting as a lack of sympathy; I'm trying not to trigger myself and build anxiety. :(

[tielan]

*hugs* Good luck and best wishes for swift healing!

[everbright]

Good luck!!!!!

[everbright]

Ugh, that sounds miserable. I really do hope you heal up quickly and completely!

[monanotlisa]

Mine was done in 2 steps.