It was last Thursday, which now feels like a month ago, that I went to the dentist to end the bad bad bad bad bad bad pain in my mouth. He gave me antibiotics that were supposed to kill the infection and relieve the pain, with the help of basic over the counter pain killers, so that I could make it to my root canal appointment next Thursday.
It is now Monday, and the pain never got any better.
For four days, I have been dealing with this. ("Dealing" including being a giant grumpy pain in the ass, I'm sure.) I was out of town over the weekend, shooting a wedding, so even if my dentist was open over the weekend, it wouldn't have mattered. (I keep referring to him as "my dentist", as if he did anything for me other than scare the crap out of me with a big monster proposed bill and give me a prescription for amoxicillin, which I thought was an anthrax treatment. Well, I don't believe I have anthrax, so bully for me.)
Four days, and another three days to go? Fuck that. I called the office this morning and told them my sad tale.
"Have you been taking Ibuprofen with the antibiotic?" the nurse asked.
"Yep."
"Have you been taking double the recommended dosage? Dr. Pain Merchant thinks you might not be taking enough."
"Um, I've been taking a LOT more than it says to." I didn't tell her that I also took a bunch of Tylenol 3 with codeine that a friend gave me, which did no good at all. I might as well have been popping Skittles.
It was as if she read my mind. "Well, he doesn't want to give you Tylenol 3 with codeine, since that will just mask the pain."
(Which it doesn't. I could hear my tooth laughing at the Tylenol 3. A tiny little muffled chortle in my mouth.)
In the end, they bumped some people and got me an appointment for tomorrow. (That should make me feel bad except, you know, fuck 'em. I have needs.) One more sleepless night and then blessed relief.
Anyone who knows my past history in the Chair and is watching me now get excited about getting a root canal must think they've wandered into BizarroBlogWorld.
I hope they'll take a check.
Dude, seriously, if this guy is anything but a quack, they'll have payment options available for you. We just started going to the dentist again recently, and our guy not only does all our insurance paperwork for us, but also would put together a plan if we coudln't pay for the outrageous hygenist charges to get my mouth back from the brink of bedlam.
ReplyDeleteMan, you have really been through it. There is no reason why he shouldn't perscribe you a hard-core pain med short of morphine before you walk out of that place tomorrow. I can't believe you suffered as long as you did/have! Yikes!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteOuch! Poor Rob. :( I hope you feel better soon. Make your dentist give you the good drugs. And I think jas has a good idea about the payment plan option.
ReplyDeleteGet better!
I don't understand. Why is masking the pain a bad thing if you can't make it stop? Seriously, there is no honor in suffering needlessly. Your dentist should be concerned with your comfort, not just your clinical condition. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteHeh, heh, heh...there are other options, (she with a full set of dentures since she was 31 laughs).
ReplyDeleteI hope the pain ends very soon. Our dentist has portable cd players with headphones for patients to listen to while having longer procedures done. If it's the sound of the drills that bothers you, perhaps you should take along some aural entertainment. I got through my own root canal relatively stress-free because of the music - and not having to hear the horrid drill.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised you haven't gone the "do it yourself" route. Pain like that is life-altering.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit, I've had my fingers on this tooth a lot this week. There's been a lot of "Why, I oughta..." going through my head.
ReplyDelete"Just mask the pain"? Masking the pain is exactly what those hosers should be doing. What's the goal, if not to help you get through until they can do the root canal? Do they think the pain will give you more character?
ReplyDeleteA couple of years back, I had a toothache and went to the nearest dentist who'd take me. That worked as a temporary solution -- well, the tooth stopped hurting -- but I found out later that the root canal and crown were both done poorly. Despite attempts to fix both, I ended up losing the tooth. Now I get a $3k implant! All I can say is... definitely consider a second opinion before embarking on a huge program of treatment. A lot of dentistry is more art than science, and depending on the doctor's philosophy you may get very different answers to the same situation. I'm not saying that root canals are evil or something (I know there are quacks that say that). I'm just sayin'... you got some bad crowns already, apparently. Might wanna check the reputation of this place, or see what someone else thinks of the situation, before entrusting them with fixing it competently.
There are dental loan programs available at fairly decent interest rates. Few dentists will actually allow you to do a payment plan through their office, but many will give you little brochures for places that will loan you the money. Ironically, I got turned down for not having enough of a credit history, so I've been saving up and getting work done gradually for the last five years.