Cocaine, anyone?

I'm wishing I had some of these right now...

Last month, I cracked a previously filled (poorly done by my previous dentist) tooth and had to go in for an emergency repairs.  Of course, this happened a week after Gary's benefits from his previous job expired... {sigh}

At any rate, Dr. M was gracious enough to squeeze me in before her Superbowl trip (lucky duck!).  While she was repairing the tooth, she hinted that there was a good chance that I'd need a root canal.

Fast forward a few days, and sure enough, the tooth begins to throb and pulsate like it has a life of its' own - all the while shooting piercing streaks of pain from the tooth to my temple.  Of course, this happened just as soon as Dr. M left for her trip.  Knowing Murphy's Law, it was probably the moment she stepped foot on the plane...

I dealt with the pain for a week by ingesting Advil by the truckload, thinking that it was just the aftereffects of the previous work.  Then I finally broke down and made an appointment.  I love my dentist office - they're all so wonderful!  The receptionist, L, squeezed me in for today. 

Now, going to the dentist has never bothered me.  In fact, I've had several root canals and they weren't overly painful - not as much as the pain leading up to it, for sure!  I'm not a big baby when it comes to needles and the anesthetic (sp?) usually wears off fairly quickly for me.  So I wasn't worried about it.

Sure enough, as soon as Dr. M tapped on the offensive tooth with the end of one of the dental tools - and I nearly leapt out of my chair! - she announced that yes, indeed, I would need a root canal.  Of course, it was late in the day and she only had time to start it.

So here I sit, with a temporary filling in place, and my tooth aching from all of the digging and stripping of nerves...  Is it sad that I can't WAIT to get to the dentist on Friday to finish this off?

Off to raid the medicine cabinet for the Tylenol 3's...