Dentist . . .

Dentist.  About a month a go I had a tooth ache, I rarely have them.  I mean I have a tooth ache about once in 20 years.  But it was tooth the local dentist had done a root canal on and then capped the tooth with a crown.  I took a couple of Aleeve's and that took care of the pain.

I followed up with one more Aleeve and called the dentist.  They squeezed me in and promptly took an X-ray of the tooth.  The dentist looked at the X-ray along with his dental assistant and said they saw a spot.  That could mean a cracked tooth with an infection or abscess under it or just an abscess from the original root canal.  But that to keep the tooth I would have to see a specialist.

So off I went to see the Ondodontist, or dental surgeon.  He looked at the X-ray sent over by my dentist and said pretty much what the dentist had said.  So we scheduled an Apiecoctomy.  That is basically, cutting a flap in the area, and drilling down to the base of the tooth.  Once down in there clean out the residual infection and fill in the area with literally concrete.  Well, maybe it is not real concrete but it is back fill material that gets as hard as concrete.

Well I went through that Thursday, two plus hours in the dental couch with him cutting, scrapping and drilling and finally sewing me up again.  The dental surgeon said it was a large lesion, and the infection was sort of like cyst growing down under the tooth.  He back filled the area and sew up the incision.

I drove home after stopping at Walmart to pick up pain killers, Amoxicillin, and some Ibuprofen.  The pain killers are Tylenol 3's and Tramadol.  Judie takes Tramadol for her back and it is mild opiate.  So once at home I popped in a Tramadol and got in my chair and watched the stock market on TV.  The Novocain gradually wore off and the Tramadol took over.  Basically, everything was pretty painless.

The second day, Friday was okay, no issues to worry about.  I took the Ibuprofen and that seem to do the trick.  Today is Saturday and not so fast, things are a little sore or achy, so I took a Tylenol 3.  Everything is tolerable but I still feel the tooth in the back ground.  I did the salt water treatment, basically washing out the mouth with warm salt water.  And I rinse with my mouth wash after.

I think as the Tylenol 3 wears off I will see if the Tramadol will quite it all down.  Eating soup is beginning to get old.  I have a hankering for steak but will end up with a "cup or noodles" instead.

I get the stitches taken out Thursday.  I am sure it will be another Tramadol or Tylenol 3 day for me.

And perhaps by then we will get a biopsy report on the material he sent in to be examined.  At my age that is a wise move as it could just as well be cancer.  You never know what is going to happen and of course one's mount is full of all the worst kinds of germs.  It is said that a dog's mouth is cleaner.  I wonder about that but . . .

As I said before, it is hell getting old.