How About a Root Canal?

Tomorrow (Tuesday) I head back to the dentist for more and more and more work. This time, it’s a root canal. That sounds fun, no?

A “root canal” is actually called endodontic therapy. It’s the procedure where the dentist (from my limited understanding) hollows out your tooth with a drill and a brush. He removes the pulp and the nerves and then fills it with stuff (possibly gutta-percha – a plant from Southeast Asia) and then fills it and caps it with a crown.

Not THAT kind of canal!

Root canals have a long history of being THE worst dental procedure you could endure. In recent times, however, I think things have gotten easier. I hope so.

After this, I’ll have two temporary crowns and will have to get them replaced with permanent ones soon enough. After that, I think I’m done with crowns and root canals. Those are the expensive things.

Part of me wants to take a break from going to the dentist after this. Just a month or two. But another part of me wants to just get everything done as quickly as possible. The financial part of me is torn as well. I obviously can’t pay for any of this out of pocket, so it’s all going on a credit card. I’ve got good credit, and so I have a year or so to pay without interest. So you see, speed is essential to not paying interest.

This whole thing has been one big mess. In the end, it’s still cheaper than dental insurance (which is sort of messed up). But even more importantly, if I would have flossed, this wouldn’t have been as much of an issue.

So take it from me. Floss. A lot. Every day. Or at least once a week. And go to the dentist at least once a decade. Probably twice a year.