Day at the Dentists
I got to the dentists early, anticipating trouble with the processing of my insurance. The card needed is in Norwood, MA. I am not. I got the card # from mi madre, but that was all. It turns out that was insufficient, so I had to pay for my work out of pocket, with Blue Cross/Blue Shield most likely to reimburse me.
I'm really fortunate to have full health and dental. Many Americans do not and I think that's a total shame. Unfortunately the pharmaceutical and health care industries are so massive and contribute so much to both parties that we might have to wait decades for any sort of universal health care provided for those who cannot afford it. How much suffering will people have to go through in that time? Fuck both the D and the R, they suck.
Aaaaaaaaanywaaaaaaaaaaay, the dentist's office was a total departure from the dentist I normally go to. Dr. Riley's in Dedham is a small little office with a few dentists. This place could best be described as a dental assembly line.
I got called in for my X-Ray, they took it then sent me back out. Then they called me back in and sat me down in the 7th examination room on the left. All the other cubicles were filled with patients, splayed and being worked on. This guy in a white coat, who probably was a dentist, walked in and asked me how he could help me. I was at a loss for word. "My tooth hurts, someone took X-Rays." was all I could muster. He then looked at my tooth and injected me with novocaine. Then he left. Nobody came in for 30 minutes.
A woman walked in and asked me "Is someone helping you?" "I don't know, someone took an X-Ray then someone else gave me Novocaine." A few minutes elapsed. Then I was moved into a much more advanced room, not just a cubicle. I was glad to be in a much more hospital-like environment, but this also scared me. Something was wrong.
Then I heard two words I was dreading. "Root canal." I didn't know what a root canal was, all I knew was that it was painful, and something that has to be done for some reason or another. My other option was to have my tooth pulled. That seemed somewhat appealing, but then the dentist (the Head Dentist) told me that this can sometimes result in teeth moving and crowding. It seemed as though a root canal was the best way to go about this problem.
The problem with my tooth was that a previous filling had been cut open. I had suspected this, but didn't think it was much of a big deal. Simply remove the old filling, then put a new one in. But the fact that I waited so long to attempt to do this was my undoing.
Your standard root canal treatment involves removing the top of the unhealthy tooth with a drill. There are several little tubes in your teeth that contain blood vessels and nerves. In my case, the nerves were severely damaged, or even dead. They needed to be removed to prevent further infection and further pain. So they drill off the top of your tooth. Then they use a little tiny drill called an endofile to basically scrape out and clean your canals. Then, with the diseased tissue removed, they cap your teeth and crown it.
It wasn't painful, due to the Novocaine. They did the first few steps, then put a temporary cap on top of my tooth. They told me to come back in a week, not to eat or drink for half an hour, and call if there was any sort of pain.
There wasn't any pain for an hour. Then, the Novocaine wore off. This pain was worse than the pain I had felt before I went in to the dentist's. This was mind numbing stuff. I downed ibuprofen after ibuprofen. No effect. The pain was getting worse, too. Every second was more and more extreme. My mind lost all logical sense to it and I considered options such as ripping my teeth out or driving to Mass. to have my normal dentist cure me.
Finally, I called the dentist here. I had a simple question, asked quietly, calmly and politely.
"Hi, I just had a root canal from Dr. so and so, is it normal to experience excruciating pain afterwards?"
I just wanted an answer. Was this type of pain to be expected? Or was there something wrong? That was the worst part of the pain, it had come AFTER I went to the doctor. For fuck's sake, I could feel my pulse INSIDE my tooth. That's not normal, is it? I had no idea if this was just something that happened, or if something was wrong.
The assembly-line and impersonal nature of the dentist's office here in Ithaca continued. The answer to my question was this:
"This is Robert, right? What pharmacy do you use?"
"Um, CVS."
"Okay, we're going to call in a prescription for you."
Click.
So I went to CVS, after waiting and waiting and waiting, I got a bottle of Naproxen Sodium in 550 mg doses. Only 15 pills, just enough to get me to my next appointment.
Honestly, I was hoping for oxy something or vikes. These Naproxen are okay, but I could get them without a prescription, just not in this high dosage.
I have another 6 days of weirdness and fuzz from pain killers. Then I get my root canal finished. Then I have to keep coming back for more and more checkups and treatments. This is irritating because right when I walked into the dental assembly line, I said to myself "I'm never coming back here again."
I'm really fortunate to have full health and dental. Many Americans do not and I think that's a total shame. Unfortunately the pharmaceutical and health care industries are so massive and contribute so much to both parties that we might have to wait decades for any sort of universal health care provided for those who cannot afford it. How much suffering will people have to go through in that time? Fuck both the D and the R, they suck.
Aaaaaaaaanywaaaaaaaaaaay, the dentist's office was a total departure from the dentist I normally go to. Dr. Riley's in Dedham is a small little office with a few dentists. This place could best be described as a dental assembly line.
I got called in for my X-Ray, they took it then sent me back out. Then they called me back in and sat me down in the 7th examination room on the left. All the other cubicles were filled with patients, splayed and being worked on. This guy in a white coat, who probably was a dentist, walked in and asked me how he could help me. I was at a loss for word. "My tooth hurts, someone took X-Rays." was all I could muster. He then looked at my tooth and injected me with novocaine. Then he left. Nobody came in for 30 minutes.
A woman walked in and asked me "Is someone helping you?" "I don't know, someone took an X-Ray then someone else gave me Novocaine." A few minutes elapsed. Then I was moved into a much more advanced room, not just a cubicle. I was glad to be in a much more hospital-like environment, but this also scared me. Something was wrong.
Then I heard two words I was dreading. "Root canal." I didn't know what a root canal was, all I knew was that it was painful, and something that has to be done for some reason or another. My other option was to have my tooth pulled. That seemed somewhat appealing, but then the dentist (the Head Dentist) told me that this can sometimes result in teeth moving and crowding. It seemed as though a root canal was the best way to go about this problem.
The problem with my tooth was that a previous filling had been cut open. I had suspected this, but didn't think it was much of a big deal. Simply remove the old filling, then put a new one in. But the fact that I waited so long to attempt to do this was my undoing.
Your standard root canal treatment involves removing the top of the unhealthy tooth with a drill. There are several little tubes in your teeth that contain blood vessels and nerves. In my case, the nerves were severely damaged, or even dead. They needed to be removed to prevent further infection and further pain. So they drill off the top of your tooth. Then they use a little tiny drill called an endofile to basically scrape out and clean your canals. Then, with the diseased tissue removed, they cap your teeth and crown it.
It wasn't painful, due to the Novocaine. They did the first few steps, then put a temporary cap on top of my tooth. They told me to come back in a week, not to eat or drink for half an hour, and call if there was any sort of pain.
There wasn't any pain for an hour. Then, the Novocaine wore off. This pain was worse than the pain I had felt before I went in to the dentist's. This was mind numbing stuff. I downed ibuprofen after ibuprofen. No effect. The pain was getting worse, too. Every second was more and more extreme. My mind lost all logical sense to it and I considered options such as ripping my teeth out or driving to Mass. to have my normal dentist cure me.
Finally, I called the dentist here. I had a simple question, asked quietly, calmly and politely.
"Hi, I just had a root canal from Dr. so and so, is it normal to experience excruciating pain afterwards?"
I just wanted an answer. Was this type of pain to be expected? Or was there something wrong? That was the worst part of the pain, it had come AFTER I went to the doctor. For fuck's sake, I could feel my pulse INSIDE my tooth. That's not normal, is it? I had no idea if this was just something that happened, or if something was wrong.
The assembly-line and impersonal nature of the dentist's office here in Ithaca continued. The answer to my question was this:
"This is Robert, right? What pharmacy do you use?"
"Um, CVS."
"Okay, we're going to call in a prescription for you."
Click.
So I went to CVS, after waiting and waiting and waiting, I got a bottle of Naproxen Sodium in 550 mg doses. Only 15 pills, just enough to get me to my next appointment.
Honestly, I was hoping for oxy something or vikes. These Naproxen are okay, but I could get them without a prescription, just not in this high dosage.
I have another 6 days of weirdness and fuzz from pain killers. Then I get my root canal finished. Then I have to keep coming back for more and more checkups and treatments. This is irritating because right when I walked into the dental assembly line, I said to myself "I'm never coming back here again."
posted by rob | 10:43 PM
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