ouch

[julesjones]

Dentistry happened this afternoon. Lower right jaw is *still* aching after the root canal saga, but it's definitely getting less painful, if much more slowly than it should be. The upshot is that the crown preparation went ahead this afternoon, and the crown will be put on using a temporary cement in case it has to come off for further exploratory work. I am hoping that the net result of this is that I will not be doped to the gills on codeine during Worldcon this year. Needless to say, I will be packing the codeine and penicillin just in case. Worldcon last year was definitely made interesting by being doped to the gills for the previous root canal episode, but would have been even more interesting without the drugs.

ETA: Once the anaesthetic wore off I could feel a sharp edge catching on my tongue. Fortunately they're open until 7 pm, so were able to fit in me in about half an hour after I phoned for a quick polish to get rid of the sharp edge. And the teeth don't seem to have any more than the normal post-prodding soreness, so with any luck the nerve hasn't been further irritated by today's work.

Comments

[ritaxis.livejournal.com]

I think I've been told that the lower jaw is worse than the upper jaw, or was it the other way around? Or did I hear both from different people?

Anyways, go on and have adventures, taking pills if you must -- I did my flying trip to Death Valley the day I had two teeth pulled, and I was okay.

And I think you're gutsier than I am.

[julesjones]

I've already done one con on codeine courtesy of this specific problem, and managed, so as long as it doesn't actually get any worse I'll be fine. :-)

One of my standard rants is the "Why is the US so anal about pain control?" rant. You can get low dose codeine over the counter in the UK, although it does have to be dispensed by a pharmacist. Codis and Nuofen Plus won't control severe pain, but they do give you a sporting chance of getting a decent night's sleep when you need a root canal filling and you're three hours of time zone away from your dentist. It's a fairly reasonable compromise between being too zoned on pain/lack of sleep and too zoned on drugs, so I mild flare-up shouldn't be a problem as long as I've got a packet with me.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

Lower is definitely worse for wisdom teeth - I remember when I had mine out, the top ones they extracted pretty easily, the lower ones they practically smashed the jaw to get out.

[niobedancing.livejournal.com]

good luck! I can sympathize, having had many dental procedures this year.

Don't you love how they ask you "How does it feel? Normal?" when you can't feel a darn thing? This last crown, I was like, I don't know, it feels a little high to me but I think that's just because I'm chewing on the inside of my cheek again...

[julesjones]

By now they assume I can tell the difference between normal numbness and oh-shit numbness, by virtue of far too much practice. It was serious painting the Forth Bridge territory for 18 months about three years ago...

I *could* feel stuff, which was ever so slightly worrying. :-) Especially when he started tapping teeth to work out which one hurt, and the two that hurt the most were the ones with root canal fillings, which ought by rights to not feel anything anyway.

[niobedancing.livejournal.com]

Yargh, that would be unsettling. Something I often hear is "You mean that hurts? Better give you another shot of novocaine..."

Ah well. I hope you're at least close to being done for now anyway. I hvae to get a permanent crown put on in a couple weeks (they did the temporary crown this last time), and after that it's all over but the paying. And until another cavity turns up, of course. :)

[julesjones]

They'll put the permanent crown on in a couple of weeks, just do it with temporary cement. So at least I will have fully functioning teeth again while they scratch their heads about why the whole nerve branch is still sensitive. It's calmed down to a level where it doesn't bother me most of the time, but it's still unnerving for all concerned. I hope I'm not about to have another one on that nerve branch go on me.

I hope yours goes well on the final lap, and you have no further trouble this year. I know only too well how it gets very, very tedious after a while, when you have one tooth go after another...