Take Care of Your Chompers

It is an odd feeling when you lose a part of you. Thankfully, what I lost last week wasn’t that big of a thing, in fact it might’ve saved my life. It was most of my tooth.

It started with a toothache and ended with a root canal. Well, I suppose now I am waiting for a crown.

I did okay, but I would be lying if I were to say that I was completely brave throughout this process.

One random weekend, my tooth was in so much pain that it became unbearable. So sore that I couldn’t chomp on anything.

I was in disbelief when my dentist said I may need a tooth extraction, so when they asked if I wanted a root canal to save my tooth, I said yes!

I took a long field trip to Lewistown and the good doc confirmed that I did in fact have a deep cavity.

The young assistant sat me down and said, how much do you want to invest in this tooth?

I was taken aback, thinking “What in the world did she mean, invest?”

I immediately jumped to the conclusion that it would cost thousands of dollars.. Then I saw that insurance would take care of most of it, so I agreed.

I didn’t fully know what a root canal was, but the thought of an extraction made me queasy at that moment.

After getting down to the specialist, it took several attempts to numb the nerves in the tooth because it had so much inflammation.

I heard years ago that a tooth infection affects your whole body and can even be fatal, so I am glad I listened to my dentist and I am glad that I had insurance to help pay for the procedure.

Oddly enough, even though I smelled and tasted some horrible things throughout the surgery, I was at peace after I was fully numb in the tooth. They put on some sports documentaries and I even snored a few times.

My beautiful wife, Susan, went with me. She didn’t want to go into the room with me, though I would’ve loved holding her hand throughout the procedure. She did, however, provide me with a great time through conversation and driving back up to Malta. It was the date that I never knew I wanted; a trip to the big city to see an endodontist.

I miss my full tooth, but thanks to the nerves being removed, I am not in pain anymore. I also have more energy.

Take care of those chompers, kids!