deviating from the program
My dentists' office has the slogan "we cater to cowards". While I do not consider myself particularly cowardly, I won't object to gentle handling and I do squick easily, so I count this as a bonus. And thus far the dentists there have lived up to that slogan.
When I was there two weeks ago for a checkup the dentist noted a loose filling, so I went back today to have it replaced. ("You don't want novacaine, right?" "I don't want it; will I regret not having it?" "You should be fine." I was.)
During the checkup the dentist had also noticed that one of my teeth was a little darker than the others. (She says; I hadn't noticed anything.) My teeth are stained in various ways (due to things that happened in childhood), so I shrugged. But she said she wanted to have the oral surgeon look at it today just in case. (He wasn't there last time.)
Aside: I have very thick, very strong mouth bones for a woman. Figures; I got almost all of my other genetic factors from my father, and I have big bones in general. Anyway, I'm told this is good.
So anyway, the oral surgeon poked around and then applied cold to that tooth and the surrounding ones. Sure enough, this one isn't sensitive to cold. The following conversation then ensued:
OS: It's dead.
Me: Mmmrf? (mouth still full of implements)
Dentist: Don't worry; it's not infected or anything.
OS to dentist: Are you going to do the root canal?
Me: Mmwrff!!
Dentist to OS: We're going to discuss it.
The dentists know how to cater to cowards, but the oral surgeon needs to get with the program.
According to the dentist, there is no harm in ignoring it. If it becomes a problem later, the process of dealing with it will not be any worse (or any more painful) than it would be now. So, I said, this is a no-brainer, right? She agreed.
I asked how a tooth can become "dead" (that is, dead nerve inside). She said trauma. I cannot think of any trauma that has occurred to my mouth during adulthood. The only possibility I can imagine -- a car accident from which I do not remember the half-minute or so after impact -- did not involve any head injuries. And I've seen dentists since then anyway. X-rays show nothing special, and she had already put me on a small round of antibiotics against the possibility of infection last time (when she thought she saw some swelling), so that's ruled out. It's a mystery.
There is one bright spot, though. I said to her: "So if I understand correctly, what makes a root canal excrutiatingly painful is interacting with that nerve, right? The nerve that's dead in this tooth?" She confirmed my suspicion. So if I ever do need to have this done, it should be less traumatic than normal. But I'm trying an avoidance strategy anyway. :-)
When I was there two weeks ago for a checkup the dentist noted a loose filling, so I went back today to have it replaced. ("You don't want novacaine, right?" "I don't want it; will I regret not having it?" "You should be fine." I was.)
During the checkup the dentist had also noticed that one of my teeth was a little darker than the others. (She says; I hadn't noticed anything.) My teeth are stained in various ways (due to things that happened in childhood), so I shrugged. But she said she wanted to have the oral surgeon look at it today just in case. (He wasn't there last time.)
Aside: I have very thick, very strong mouth bones for a woman. Figures; I got almost all of my other genetic factors from my father, and I have big bones in general. Anyway, I'm told this is good.
So anyway, the oral surgeon poked around and then applied cold to that tooth and the surrounding ones. Sure enough, this one isn't sensitive to cold. The following conversation then ensued:
OS: It's dead.
Me: Mmmrf? (mouth still full of implements)
Dentist: Don't worry; it's not infected or anything.
OS to dentist: Are you going to do the root canal?
Me: Mmwrff!!
Dentist to OS: We're going to discuss it.
The dentists know how to cater to cowards, but the oral surgeon needs to get with the program.
According to the dentist, there is no harm in ignoring it. If it becomes a problem later, the process of dealing with it will not be any worse (or any more painful) than it would be now. So, I said, this is a no-brainer, right? She agreed.
I asked how a tooth can become "dead" (that is, dead nerve inside). She said trauma. I cannot think of any trauma that has occurred to my mouth during adulthood. The only possibility I can imagine -- a car accident from which I do not remember the half-minute or so after impact -- did not involve any head injuries. And I've seen dentists since then anyway. X-rays show nothing special, and she had already put me on a small round of antibiotics against the possibility of infection last time (when she thought she saw some swelling), so that's ruled out. It's a mystery.
There is one bright spot, though. I said to her: "So if I understand correctly, what makes a root canal excrutiatingly painful is interacting with that nerve, right? The nerve that's dead in this tooth?" She confirmed my suspicion. So if I ever do need to have this done, it should be less traumatic than normal. But I'm trying an avoidance strategy anyway. :-)