Anyway, 41 today - only one more year till I finally have the Answer!

Happy Birthday!

Le Nubian is right though. I am 10 months into 42 and the answer is elusive.

Happy Birthday, Epic! Get some good ice cream, or chocolate, or something, and create your own birthday fuss!

Thanks for all the validation on my weird dentistry issue. If the tooth really needs to be pulled, so be it, but I'm very taken aback by the idea that the dentist wouldn't even try more than one antibiotic. I know how antibiotics work, and if every pathogen was able to be killed by just 1 antibiotic, well, then, there wouldn't be a kajillion antibiotics out there.

Also -- I forgot this -- she said root canals can be slow to heal because of diabetes, and I said "I don't have diabetes," and she said, "Really? Maybe you should get that checked."

HAND TO GOD.

I told her that I don't understand why she asked me the question if she's going to not believe the answer. (Also fucking inappropriate to suggest I have diabetes -- I get the connection between diabetes and slow healing, but slow healing + my fat ass does not automatically = Teh Diabeeeetus. God DAMN. I'm fat and have a parent with heart disease; I get my cholesterol and glucose tested every year.)

Anyway. I'm going to switch dentists no matter what, because I am over their shit. I just didn't know if it was okay to switch mid-root canal. Well, not mid-root canal; the actual root canal is done. Just between root canal and crown. But surely every dentist gets patients who want a second opinion, right?

my more cynical self says, is interested in making good money with an expensive tooth implant later

And this is what I was also thinking. Again, if it's so damaged (despite the total absence of pain) that it needs to be ripped out of my head, so be it. But she seemed awfully quick to jump to that option.

she said root canals can be slow to heal because of diabetes, and I said "I don't have diabetes," and she said, "Really? Maybe you should get that checked."

okay, this made me laugh. ruefully.

girl, you need a new dentist.

I said "I don't have diabetes," and she said, "Really? Maybe you should get that checked."

Wow, you're dentist is a dick.

Tep, I totally validate the change dentist recommendations. Anyone in a service industry who is not an emergency room doctor who is removing a spear from your frontal lobe, should take your input into consideration. It's wrong on every level to disrespect a request like yours.

Happy birthday, Epic! I got to 42 and was told to rephrase the question.

Ginger speaks for me. On both counts.

she said root canals can be slow to heal because of diabetes, and I said "I don't have diabetes," and she said, "Really? Maybe you should get that checked."

okay, this made me laugh. ruefully.

And, you know? I *am* slower to heal than the average person, which is *another* reason I get my glucose checked annually. It is a suspicious thing -- slow healing -- but it's just how I roll, apparently. (And might be why my gum infection isn't gone yet.)

Anyone in a service industry who is not an emergency room doctor who is removing a spear from your frontal lobe, should take your input into consideration. It's wrong on every level to disrespect a request like yours.

Chatty!co-worker told me that he has a phrase he quickly pulls out with healthcare providers who get shirty with him: "I think you're misunderstanding our relationship." I wish I had heard that one *before* my appointment this morning.

Happy birthday, O Most Epic of Tangents!

I love this phrase and will pet it and call it George.

Le Nubian is right though. I am 10 months into 42 and the answer is elusive.

Darnit!

Happy Birthday, Epic! Get some good ice cream, or chocolate, or something, and create your own birthday fuss!

Oh, yes, there will be chocolate chips at lunch. Probably a sandwich or something too, but there WILL be chocolate!

Also -- I forgot this -- she said root canals can be slow to heal because of diabetes, and I said "I don't have diabetes," and she said, "Really? Maybe you should get that checked."

Oh Hell to the NO SHE DINT! My vote now is that all she gets to see of you from now on is your shapely ass as you walk away.

Oh, and late to the yays - but yay for good tests for Ginger & ita !'s mom!

Happy birthday, ET!

Yeah, I'll jump on the Lose the Dickly Dentist train, Steph. Root canals and crowns are pretty common. Unless your dentist was working with some exciting new treatment method (it doesn't sound like he was) a new dentist should be able to take over without major problems.

Happy birthday, Epic!!

And yeah, Steph, DTMFDentist.

There's a feral cat situation next to my boss' house, and I'm going to have to step up and deal with it. There were three very sick kittens and now there are two, because one was dead this morning. They may need to be put down, and in any case I cannot foster or adopt them. There are 4-6 other cats that need TNR. The neighbor was feeding a couple and then more showed up, and she slowly stopped feeding them. Uh, clearly they're not going away.

My sister has offered to help me pay for the neutering, which will be $25/cat. I think I'm going to try and catch the kittens tomorrow if I don't have to work, and borrow some traps for the others. I really didn't want to get into this business, but I don't like watching kittens die and knowing that more will be born to die if I don't do something.

Steph, I had a complication with a root canal with infection continuing after the root canal, and I got an apictoectomy, so there are definitely options other than pulling the tooth.

(entire saga follows)

I had the root canal, but still had soreness above the gum (between my nose and cheekbone) and my dentist sent me to an endodontist, who said that in a small percentage of cases, removing the main nerve from the tooth doesn't get rid of the infection. The apicoectomy removes the end of the root, where the infected little nervelets are hanging out.

I had a several month wait for the apicoectomy, and wasn't given antibiotics until just before the procedure because my face started swelling up. I didn't respond to the first antibiotic so after a couple of days the endodontist put me on another antibiotic.

I have to say that even though I was a bit grossed out by the idea of it, I felt better the day after the apicoectomy than I had since my tooth started hurting before the root canal.