(Post 231 of 263)

What I thought was my worst nightmare came true — I needed a root canal on my bad tooth. The pain started to become intolerable in the last week, and after a hot cherry tomato exploded all over the tooth and I saw stars, I knew that it was time for drastic measures. I was careful all week before my scheduled appointment yesterday, but still managed to hit the tooth with hot and cold substances that nearly made me black out. My dentist was pretty mad that I hadn’t pushed up my appointment, but he blamed my history with Canadian dental lack of care for my “patience.”

This is how the procedure went today:

They start you off with some medicine (drops in water) to relax you, although I don’t think that really did anything for me.

The dentist then explains the procedure and checks your history to determine how much numbing agent you are going to need, in my case four times the average…

He asks you about the music and searches for a playlist that you like, in my case, kind of operatic Mexican stuff that did more for me than the drops.

He then tests your sensitivity slowly, using air and water, and then by starting to drill.

When he has drilled to the nerve and you say that everything has been fine, he lets you know that we’re at the end of the worst part and that if you don’t feel anything now you won’t feel anything at all so you can relax.

He gets to work and you relax and take micro naps and enjoy the music and two hours later it’s over. 🤷‍♀️

Once again, I feel so blessed to have such amazing dental care. Cost for the procedure so far (not sure if I have to pay for part two next week) was $3,150, about 170USD or 225CAD.