Root Canal today: NOT

First my Mah Jongg was very successful yesterday.  I won two games in the morning and another two in the afternoon.  All good.

It's not Weigh-in Wednesday, but here's my weight anyway.  For some reason, even though I stayed below 1500 calories yesterday, I am up a pound today.  Official report for this morning is 285.5.  I definitely had a lot of calories on Sunday at Monsieur Paul for my birthday, even though there was a lot of walking and sweating at Epcot.  I guess that's where it came from.  Today should be better.

Now on to the root canal story.  Sigh.

In May of 2016 at my regular dental check up, I told Dr. Correal that I was having some odd pains in the upper right molar area.  I couldn't tell which tooth it was and it only happened occasionally. She couldn't see anything or cause me any pain by banging on the teeth, so she said just let it go and come back if it got worse.

Fast Forward up to December of 2016 at my next check up. I told her the same thing and she told me the same thing.  She offered to send me to the Endodontist, but I refused since we had six cruises coming up in the next three months.

Fast Forward again to July of 2017, just a few weeks ago.  This time the pain was stronger, happened more frequently, and lasted longer.  She definitely was able to put me in pain with banging on the teeth and putting cold on it.  She also saw a big fracture in the farthest back molar.  I also felt pain further towards the front of my mouth, but she could not see anything there.

So, she referred me to the Endodontist with paper work that said root canal.  When I made the appointment, I really thought it was to get that root canal today.

But NO....this was a consultation appointment only.

And surprise! I need TWO root canals.  Not only did this dentist see the the fracture in the back molar, but he also found an infection in the tooth next to it.  So both need root canals.  I am now scheduled to have the farthest back cracked molar done on Monday, although he said if he goes in there and finds that the crack goes down into the root, it will be an extraction instead of a root canal.  Ouch.  The second one will be done on Thursday, but he's only starting the root canal process by killing the nerve and then putting an antibiotic in it to kill the infection, depending on how bad the infection looks.  He will then put in a temporary filling, let it stew for a few MONTHS, and then I'll go back for the rest of the root canal.

All three of these appointments, (today, Monday, and Thursday), will cost $2033.  Fortunately, I have great dental insurance, so my part is only $371.  That, at least, is some good news.

After each of the root canals, I will need to go back to the regular dentist to have permanent crowns created, so that will be additional costs, which I will figure out later.  The second will be months later, so at least it will all be spread out a bit.

So, I was relieved I didn't have a root canal today, but I was shocked to find that I'll have two of them next week instead.  At least Mark can go with me for those two appointments.

Now I'm spending the rest of the very hot afternoon at home alone while Mark is teaching someone the Saturday morning prayer service.  I have used my gift cards for Roaman's from niece and Amazon from Lowell.  Shopping online is very good therapy!