I’m still not sure if it was a cunning ploy, or she was just being open and honest with me, but my dentist scared the bejesus out of me today.
When I first went to the dentist three weeks ago, I was in so much pain (abscess) that she could have done anything and it would have been an improvement (and she did – sorting the problem with one big injection of anesthetic, much prodding & poking , draining the abscess and prescribing antibiotics).
Today I was back for the permanent solution. I was pain free as I trudged through the drizzle to the surgery with much more reluctance than before. Then, I was hopefully going from big pain to much less pain, today I knew I’d be leaving in more pain than I arrived.
I’d been offered the choice of root canal surgery, which she had explained only had a 50/50 chance of success, or having the tooth out. I had opted for the latter.
As my dentist invited me to take to the chair, she began filling my head with a tail of woe: “I’ve seen the x-ray, its not going to be an easy extraction. The roots are long, some root may get left in, might have to have some bone removed.” This was not what I wanted to hear. “If it goes wrong, I can refer you to hospital. We’ll need a lot of anesthetic”
She gave me a big injection of pain killer. Then she gave me some more.
As my mouth began to freeze, and before I turned into a complete dribbling wreck, I instructed her to do what she had to do. I remembered the pain of a few weeks back, and anything would be better than that.
She set to work. Pushing, prodding, pulling. Five minutes (probably more like two) she stood back and said “that’s it.”
Initially, I wasn’t sure if she meant it, but she did. I couldn’t adequately express my gratitude – a combination of a numb face and a mouth full of gauze to stem the blood rendered speech pretty much impossible, so I put my thumbs up, tried to smile but couldn’t (that frozen face again) and shuffled out of her surgery – despite her now being one of my favourite ever people (I was in so much pain a few weeks ago) I hope to not darken her door again for some time.
A few hours later, the anesthetic has worn off, I describe myself as “in discomfort” rather than in pain, a bloody, tangy taste in my mouth, but hopefully on the mend to full dental health.