How do I spell relief?

R-O-O-T-C-A-N-A-L

Well, that made a difference.

Seriously, while I still don’t feel good, we are years and away from where I was. As curious as things turned out, I was able to get into an endodontist today. The funny thing was this, the doc had cautioned me from taking any kind of pain medication prior to going in for treatment. Most of Sunday I somehow managed to just soldier through.

I did this two ways: First, I ate very little (some soup and some eggs) and second, I slept... a lot.

This morning I was a little worried because I didn’t really feel as bad as I had. It wasn’t as if there wasn’t some residual pain, just it wasn’t as bad as it was at its worst.

Yet, as the appointed time drew closer and I got ready to go out I found the thing hurting more and more and more.

It was only at one point when I was in the chair and I had gotten a couple of shots into the jaw that I actually felt better than I had in over two weeks.

Really.

It was a weight being lifted off of me.

Dental issues have always been the bane of my life.

It fell through the cracks when I was growing up and it’s something that I have alternate been vigilant or let slide during my adult life much to my own peril.

When I wrote this back just after New Year’s in 2010, the rear post on one of my bridges had just gotten to the point where it needed to go. The nerve in the post got infected and that meant I had to find an endodontist, get the bridge cut and have the root ripped out.

It came on slowly over a period of time but man did it hurt like hell.

This has all happened before too.

I can remember there was a period in my 20s where I had so much pain from my teeth that I would rinse my mouth with high proof alcohol (not drink it - just rinse) because doing so would numb out the nerves enough to get by.

As I’m writing this today in the gap between Christmas and New Year’s cutting down the draft queue, I am going for dental surgery later today. It’s one of two procedures I’ll be having relatively close together to put me that much closer to finishing the big project of restoration.

They’re going to be putting implants on one side today - these are in the back where I had had bridges, lost the teeth that were acting as posts and have had nothing for the last few years. I started this process in 2017 when I first got the staff job.

At the beginning of the staff gig I was in horrible shape, I had to have some teeth come out. I had a missing pair of teeth in the front which was very embarassing but I got that all taken care of and now the last thing that needs addressing is the missing teeth in the back uppers on both sides.

It’s been a long expensive road but worth it and the other reason I’ve addressed it is because they say your dental health affects your overall health and I definitely need to be healthier.