By the Roots

I sat in the dentist's chair yesterday, headphones softly murmuring what displayed on the TV while I waited for the dentist to finish with her previous patient. I tried to keep my mind away from thoughts of the up-and-coming root canal, but that didn't last long. I could almost feel the needles and the pressure of the drill on my teeth, and my fingers tightly clamped around the chair arms in anticipation. Once it's done, the pain will be gone. Once it's done, the pain will be gone.

The dentist said hello and introduced herself. My regular dentist had told me that one of the other dentists in the practice would be filling in while she was at her other office so I wasn't too surprised. "Okay, I want to take another set of x-rays and try a few more tests on the tooth. I checked and checked the other set, but could not see anything wrong with the tooth, and I don't want to do a root canal if it isn't necessary." She didn't need to tell me twice. I had been considering a second opinion already so a fresh set of eyes wouldn't hurt. And after a few slight gags with the piece of the x-ray equipment that was forced between my teeth, the new set showed exactly the same thing: no cavity or dark mass or signs of infection in the tooth. "Okay, I still don't see anything wrong so I want to try three things: pressure when you bite, and hot and cold sensations."

She first used the blunt end of the dental mirror to gently tap a few teeth. Nothing. She asked the assistant for a few ice cubes which she crushed, then pressed the chips against my teeth. I felt some quick, slight pain, but it vanished almost as quickly as it appeared. She then heated a small, flat metal bar and pressed it against my teeth. The same sensation as with the ice. "Those are normal. A healthy tooth will feel a quick sensation of hot or cold, and then it will disappear." Lately, when I'd swish some ice cold drink on that side of my mouth, that tooth would throb and continue throbbing well after the icy drink was gone. "Hmm. Okay, then if it's alright with you, I'd like to try the hot and cold on a few other teeth in the same area. Sometimes the pain might radiate from a different tooth, and I want to make sure to find the right tooth before doing anything. I'd hate to just do the root canal, but the pain doesn't stop after that." I agreed with that thinking and told her to go ahead. She used more crushed ice, this time starting with the top left incisor and worked back toward the molars. Normal, normal, and then....the cold struck and lingered. It felt as though she'd stuck one of those sharp metal probes into the tooth from the bottom and was jabbing it into the nerve. She pressed the ice against it two more times to make sure, then checked the next two teeth, which were within the normal range.

The heat test was much worse. When she reached that same canine tooth, I almost jumped from the seat. She had the assistant take an x-ray and noticed a small, dark spot near the root. The tooth looked healthy, but that spot gave her a bit of concern. "This looks like it might be causing the problem: a dead tooth." Dead?! "Cold or heat sensitivity lasts longer on those teeth. But, I want to be sure before we do anything so I would like for you to have a consultation. They have more precise equipment and will be able to pinpoint which tooth is causing the problem." And since it would be a consultation, it shouldn't cost anything.

So that's where things stand at the moment. I have an appointment on Monday with an endodontist. But somewhere in my future, the root canal calls.