Gnashing My Teeth… Literally

Argh, where to start with this tale of woe? Well, I have been going to the same dentist since about 1998. Picked him because he was one of the few dentists in town who accepted my dental insurance. The hygienist I was assigned to has a sadistic streak a mile wide, and loves to inflict pain with her instruments of torture. She also just happens to be a friend of my sister-in-law. So, like a typical woman who doesn’t want to offend anyone, I couldn’t bring myself to request a different hygienist because I didn’t want to upset her or get her in trouble. (Stupid Mistake #1.)

Back in December 2001, when I was pregnant with Sophia, I had to have a root canal done on an upper left tooth. Recently, I’ve had some problems with that tooth, so I mentioned it to the hygienist at my last check up and cleaning in mid-February. (I had kept this dentist even after losing dental insurance in June 2002. That would be Stupid Mistake #2.)

She consulted with the dentist and they referred me back to the endodontist who had done the root canal. I scheduled a consultation appointment with him and $65 later was told that I need to have a second root canal done on that tooth. It will be $800 plus the potential cost of having to get a new crown done. May 16 is my appointment and no, they don’t have anything sooner because there is a two month minimum wait for root canals. This is the only endodontic practice in town.

Lovely.

Not too long after that February check up, I noticed some pain and discomfort on the opposite side of my mouth (lower right). It’s not unusual for me to have some pain after a dental check up, thanks to the vigorous scraping and poking of the hygienist, so I decided to ignore it and hope that it would just go away. (Stupid Mistake #3.)

When it got to the point where the pain was waking me up at night, I called for an appointment, because the cardinal rule around here is that if it’s messing with my sleep, it must be fixed immediately! I go in, the hygienist (a nice one this time; my hygienist was booked) looks at my mouth and takes an x-ray. Then I wait for the dentist. He comes in, looks at my file, looks at the x-ray (but he doesn’t look at me, let alone in my mouth), and says “You have an abscessed tooth; the last one in the back. You need a root canal.”

I groan. I simply cannot go two months with the sort of pain I am experiencing. The pain is so bad, it’s my only concern at this point. I’m not even considering the financial aspect ($1600 in root canals plus another $900-$1800 in crowns). I said, “Well, since it’s the last one, can you pull it? Or do you not recommend that?”

Still not bothering to look at me, the dentist says, “No, I don’t recommend that. If I recommended that, I would have said that.”

Excuse me? I was stunned. How unprofessional. How arrogant. How rude! (And it sounded even more condescending in person than it does in print!)

I didn’t say anything as he and the hygienist left the room to get some paperwork for me. The hygienist came back with my prescriptions (an antibiotic that makes me feel nauseated and a 4 day supply of pain pills). She explained the root canal procedure to me and advised me that when I came back to the dentist for my crown, it would cost approximately $950. I told her that I would not be coming back to the dentist for a crown… nor indeed would I be coming back for anything ever again. I could be wrong, but I got the impression that the hygienist sympathized with me… sort of like she thinks he’s an overbearing twit, too.

Anyway, I got some rave recommendations for another dentist in town and I will be seeing her tomorrow afternoon. At best, I will have another alternative to spending the next two months in pain. At worst, I will have a different dentist to pay $950 for a crown.