Life Lessons – the dentist

If you have a bad experience with a dentist, don’t wait more than a year to find a new one. Especially don’t wait five.

Short story time!

My first root canal (~5 years ago) went poorly. I received no pain medicine ahead of time, and they had to numb me three times before I could no longer feel the drill digging through an old filling. After the roots were out, the dentist felt the need to marvel at them with the assistants while I sat patiently angrily waiting. When it came time for the permanent crown a few days or maybe a week later, they filed or drilled down a healthy tooth on the top to get the crown to fit.

Needless to say I never went back.

About five years and one checkup later and I now need:

-wisdom teeth out(granted, knew this was coming)
-two root canals

And that’s just what they’ve highlighted as the most pressing issues to take care of. Knowing my history with cavities, if I’d gone sooner they probably could’ve gotten by as just needing fillings.

I do brush and floss, I swear. Some people are just more prone to cavities, and other people more susceptible to gum issues.

If nothing else, the new dentist and hygienist we’re going to now seem to be wonderful. They explained everything, assuaged my worries about the wisdom teeth, and didn’t bombard us with every little thing wrong – just the most urgent issues. For tomorrow’s root canal, I’m optimistic that it’ll be a much smoother and less painful process.

 

So yeah, don’t put off dental healthcare, it’ll just come back to bite you in the ass later.