Regular readers will recall that I’ve recently had my run-ins with Messrs. Dental Pain and Root Canal. Sadly, there is another chapter to my story.
Over the past two or three weeks, I’ve increasingly been having pain in the molar opposite the one I previously had drilled-n-filled by my dentist, or, Dr. “Screw Finesse, Bring Out the Drill”, as I like to call him. It had actually gotten to the point where I was being woken up in the middle of the night by the pain, that is, if I could even manage to fall asleep. It was taking up to four Advil liquigels to even dull my aches and pains. Finally, I decided that I had had enough and called my dentist. He referred me to an endodontist down in Philly and I set up an appointment/checkup for Monday.
Monday rolled around and, after X-rays and a brief consultation, it was decided that I needed another root canal. They put me on the emergency call list in case a cancellation popped up. Lo and behold, someone canceled yesterday (Tuesday) and they squeezed me in at 1:40pm.
I know this might sound odd, but my second root canal turned out to be one of the best experiences in dentistry I’ve ever had. Perhaps it’s the difference between going to a general practitioner and a specialist, but this endodontist was incredibly friendly, he kept me informed as to what he was doing at all times, he employed some of the most astoundingly cheerful and bubbly nurses I’ve ever met and he used what I’m assuming to be state-of-the-art equipment in order to get me in, taken care of and out in less than an hour and a half with minimal pain. I’m actually still amazed at the speed with which I was treated. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it was a treat, as one would have to be a dedicated masochist to think that, but it was definitely a better experience than I was expecting.
So, if you’re in the Philly area and need a root canal, I highly recommend that you go see Dr. Hodges over on City Line Ave.
While I’m at it though, I’d like to post a few data points I collected throughout this experience:
- Delta Dental stinks. Since I’d already had a root canal this year and used up most of my $1500(!) yearly allotment for dental care, I had to pay for this operation largely out of pocket. Now, if I want crowns for either of the teeth, I’m going to be paying out my, errrm, ears.
- Tylenol 3 (aka, “Tylenol with codeine”) is some messed up stuff. It certainly made my pain go away, but it also stole a part of my sanity, I think.
Also, I had some of the freakiest Star Wars dreams ever. Did you know that I was a Jedi Knight? I certainly didn’t, at least until I fell asleep the other night. Then, ohhh!, did Vader and Maul taste the business end of my lightsaber, I can assure you. There were purple Ewoks, too, but I don’t like to talk about that… - Dr. Hodges, while being an extremely nice guy, also bears a striking resemblance to Joe Morton [pic] who played Dr. Miles Bennett Dyson in Terminator 2, only with a mustache. It was all I could do to keep myself from asking him if he knew the current whereabouts of Cyberdyne model 101 and whether Skynet was online yet.
- Rubber dental dams are a good thing, particularly when a dentist is flinging chlorine bleach around your mouth like it was going out of style. (Dr. “Drill It!” – no dam. Dr. Dyson, errm, Hodges – dam!)
- It apparently is possible to be shot up with enough Novacaine to actually have some of it seep into your sinuses. Not a sensation I’m looking to repeat any time soon.
- The one and only place that it is ever appropriate, let alone polite, to say to a group of ladies “I hope I never have to see any of you again” is as you’re exiting a dental specialist’s office having just completed a procedure.
