The Tooth

Some of you, probably all of you, are sick of hearing about my tooth. Hopefully this is the last time you will hear about that tooth. 

It all started, as far as I remember, back in March of 2016 when my dentist, who was my dentist because the dentist I liked a lot was in the same office and she left town, told me the crown on tooth #2 needed to be replaced. It wasn’t even five years old yet, was not bothering me but I agreed because (1) he’s the dentist! and (2) once Vince retires, I won’t have dental insurance so let’s fix everything that needs fixing.

I do not remember him telling me I needed a crown replacement on tooth #3 but when it was all said and done, I got two new crowns that day.

Tooth #2 hasn’t bothered me, or maybe #3 has bothered me so much that I don’t notice #2. I went back a couple of times because the crown didn’t feel right and it had a spot where tiny seeds were getting caught. I was never pleased with it but . . I accepted it . . to some degree. When I went back for my checkup in September, I told the hygienist that I could not chew on that side, that anything cold sent me over the edge. She said the tissue looked bad and she thought all it needed was stimulation . . which I guess means chewing on that side, which I couldn’t do. 

On the recommendation of a friend, I went to a dentist in Abilene and she said, since it was so cold sensitive, it needed a root canal. I then heard about a dentist in town that everyone thinks walks on water. It wasn’t easy but I got in to see him. He did x-rays and all kinds of stuff and said he couldn’t see anything wrong, but it needed a root canal and sent me to an endodontist in San Angelo because none of the dentists I saw would do a root canal through a crown.

Since I was out of dental insurance for the year, and it was already November, I waited til January and the first week in January, saw the endodontist in San Angelo. He said, from the x-rays, he would recommend a root canal on #2 also and he felt that one needed to be done soon. I said . . #3 is killing me with the cold sensitivity so he did #3 that day and two weeks later, he did #2.

Tooth #3 kept hurting and hurting and here we are 10 months later and I still can’t chew on that side. 

When I went back to the dentist here for my checkup in April, he said I needed to go back and see the endodonist. I did and he re-did both root canals, six months after the first two. He said he couldn’t see anything wrong but just in case he had missed something . . he’d do them again.

That didn’t change anything. I’ve been begging my dentist to pull #3 and finally . . he has agreed to do it. Today! 

I hate losing a tooth but I think I’ve gone way beyond what anyone could expect to try to save that tooth. The dentist thinks maybe the tooth is cracked and it isn’t showing up on x-rays. At this point, I don’t really care if he pulls it and says it looked like a perfectly good tooth . . I just want it gone and I want it it stop hurting and hopefully, I can chew on that side again.