Steph, if you do need a root canal, see if the surgeon will let you use an ipod of equivalent. It helps with the zoning out.

The dentist who did my last one had to use a child-sized block for my jaw.

Yup, me too. It was way less agonizing than the one before when I had to hold it open myself.

Steph, if you do need a root canal, see if the surgeon will let you use an ipod of equivalent. It helps with the zoning out.

Oh, definitely. I don't think it's even something you need to ask about though, is it? At any rate, I wouldn't have thought to. They never batted an eye at me.

Also Tep, meanwhile, can you swallow smoothies and shakes and soups without solid bits in?

Honestly, I'm a HUGE baby about dental pain, and I've had a few root canals. (See: vicious circle! Does not go to dentist out of fear! Suffers more pain as result! Ugh.) As long as your dentist will keep pumping in the novocaine, it really is more tedious and uncomfortable than anything else, with a bit of soreness after. And it's not a one-appointment thing, either, which is a bitch.

I watch dvds when my dentist does any long work. He has this thing that fits over my head like glasses/ immersion helmet thingy. Best thing ever.

As of now there is no more carpet in my house.

And it's not a one-appointment thing, either, which is a bitch.

Mine both were, unless you mean the crown afterwards.

Mine both were, unless you mean the crown afterwards.

It seems like I remember more than one before the crown. Maybe I'm just special that way? ::weak smile::

Also Tep, meanwhile, can you swallow smoothies and shakes and soups without solid bits in?

Well, anything colder or hotter than room temperature is painful, so the smoothies/shakes idea won't work, which was my original plan. Soups are okay once they cool.

Peanut butter and a smooshed up baked potato (not together) seemed to be okay, as was room-temperature orange juice. Yayfun.

Took a percocet (thank you, back pain, for the leftover narcotics!), and either the pain is less or I just care less. The floaty feeling is fun, though.

Mine both were, unless you mean the crown afterwards.

It seems like I remember more than one before the crown. Maybe I'm just special that way?

Stuff I've been reading online (I can't stop) says that 1 visit + 1 for crown is pretty normal, but that 2 visits + 1 for crown are pretty common, too. And that molar root canals are more complicated because the molars are (1) harder to get to, versus an incisor, and (2) have more roots than an incisor.

Stoopid teeth. Be more healthy!

(((Teppy))) Feel better.

I think TCG is going to be a really good dad some day. He was so cute with G today, and now he's all worried about the poor, teething boy.

All my life, I have had my teeth cleaned twice a year. I brush. I floss. At every dental visit, I bask in the glow of the technician telling the dentist that I have the best home care ever.

My teeth:

• Tetracycline stained, so they'll never be white
• Four pulled for braces
• Four wisdom teeth pulled the old-fashioned way. Two turned out to have weird mutant roots and took forever to heal.
• 2 that are about half bonding, because I broke them in a fall
• 11 gold onlays (Thank you, late lamented Emory Dental School)
• 2 root canals
• 1 crown
• 1 missing because it was unfixable and not replaced because it's in the back
• 1 replaced with an implant after a root canal, gum surgery and crown failed to save it