January 21, 2008

Statistically speaking

Did you know that today, statistically speaking, is the most depressing day of the year? You see . . . the Today Show is both entertaining and educational. Thank you, Matt, Meredith, Ann and Al.

My day was a mixed bag of emotions. Over the weekend I had a tooth that started giving me problems. It didn't hurt to bite down, but if I put my finger back there . . .say, to get popcorn unstuck . . . I felt pain that was so intense that it triggered my gag reflex. I knew I needed to call a dentist, and I feared the worst. Dental issues are doubly stressful for me because we have no dental coverage on our insurance plan. Which is why I floss, brush and rinse with an anti-cavity rinse more than once a day. So, I honestly spent all weekend dreading Monday because I knew I'd have to go to the dentist. Would it be a cavity? Would I need a root canal? I kind of let it ruin my weekend. (Insert Donna Downer noise here)

I called this morning and they fit me in at 1:20. Which meant that I had to spend all morning feeling sick about the money I knew I was going to have to spend to get this tooth fixed.

When I got to the dentist's office, they called me back immediately. I spent 10 minutes in the dentist's chair. TEN MINUTES. He couldn't find a thing wrong. It still hurt (like crazy) when he poked around and he said my gums looked a little red and swollen. He put some goopy stuff on it that is supposed to decrease the sensitivity of the tooth, told me to stop putting my fingers back there and sent me on my way. Oh, and charged me $98. NINETY-EIGHT DOLLARS! Ugh. I really do like my dentist, but that was so frustrating.

2 comments:

Sarah said...

I have had this same thing happen to me twice in the last 3 years. I totally was freaking out because I thought I was going to have to have a root canal. And I do have dental insurance, but it's not great, and my deductible is high. Anyway, made an appointment for the dentist the first time, and by the time I got there (not that day or even that week), it was gone. Come to find out, my sinuses had just gotten so bad that they'd actually gone into my gums. Very painful, feels like a tooth rotting.....but two times now, it's just turned out to be my sinuses. Try an antihistamine with decongestant and see if it feels better. (like claritin-D or sudafed)

Kyle Luke said...

Yeah, I cannot use a decongestant because I am still breastfeeding. Or trying to at least . . . but that is a different story for a different time. Also, my keyboard will not let me use the apostrophe, which is why I cannot use contractions.