The Tooth, The Whole Tooth and Nothing But The Tooth
Recently, I had four different dental appointments, to get some major work done on my teeth, yet again. This time, my dentist told me that I needed to have several more root canals that they wanted to refer me to a specialist, and that there was one additional one that they would repair.
They did the work on the one, and it ended up not requiring the root canal, just a crown, which was good. Then off to the specialist, and they did a full scan of my mouth and discovered another tooth that needed to be retreated as it had an infection going on. That same day they did a root canal on tooth #15 and I scheduled for #2 which was the one that needed the retreatment and had an infection going on. They also prescribed me an antibiotic in the meantime.
The next appointment was for the retreatment on #2, and that retreatment took a little over an hour from start to finish and was rather painful, not due to the root canal itself, but more attributed to me having to hold my mouth open for that entire time.
With #15 and now #2 done, it is time for #12 (a bridge between #15 & #12 is soon), the problem is that my mouth is already feeling like I have been punched in the face several times, and tooth #2 had an infection so I’m on antibiotics and a steroid. The root canal for #12 was very quick and painless, and I mean quick, it was less than 40 minutes from start to finish.
So why so many dental problems you ask? Simply put, I have a double whammy working against me, I have Sjögren’s syndrome, which causes dry eyes and dry mouth among other fun things. Your teeth require a moist environment to remain healthy. If they get dry for too long, the good bacteria will die and the tooth can start to decay. I am also prescribed several medications that can cause dental issues and even make the teeth brittle. I had a choice, good dental health or living pain, I chose not to be in so much pain, I mean I can always get implants or dentures, but I can’t hang with all the pain.
What would you do in that situation?
