Root Canal Day
From Bellybuttonporn
So the day is here. At around 12:00 p.m. today I'll be strapped in a chair and the grim task of inflicting the maximal amount of pain through my mouth will begin.
Actually, I've been doing quite a bit of research about a root canal. Most everyone knows that a root canal is painful, but I guess no one really knows what one is. Well, at least I didn't, and since I'm the smartest person I know, I just assume the general populace doesn't know either.
So here's the deal. First they numb the hell out of you. I guess the thing is that people mentally lump all of the pain before-hand and during recovery together when they recall the pain of the procedure. But according to my research, you're so fucked up on drugs that you're probably out cold during the procedure.
Then they cut a hole in your tooth and start using files to remove the nerve from inside your tooth. Basically your tooth is a thin veneer of enamel, then a layer of spongy white tissue (well it's still pretty hard, but not as hard as enamel), then way on the inside is some tissue with blood vessels, etc. That's what's commonly known as the "nerve".
So anyhow, they gotta get all of that living tissue out of there so it can't get infected and stops inflaming your surrounding gums and messing up your jawbone. So they scrape it all out.
Then they put little shims in there to take up all the space so bacteria can't get back down in there. Afterwards they might put a metal post in your tooth to hold a crown on (if, for example, the top of your tooth is very fucked up), and then you either get a bigass filling or a crown. If your root canal is on a molar (as mine is), you basically have to get a crown due to the damage done to the tooth.
So at the end of it you've essentially got a false tooth surrounded by your real tooth. I will have a badass gold toof. Bling!
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Aftermath
Ok, so I'm safe and sound at home after the root canal. The right side of my face was entirely numb. I didn't eat anything all day till about 8:30pm. I had a couple fajitas. I await a bitchin crown now.
I also stopped at Best Buy to pick up my laptop and went to see Borat with Jess. Hot shit that movie rocked.
Car Savings
One other thing about getting this work done. I have insurance, which is great. However, they classify a crown as a cosmetic procedure, and they don't cover cosmetic procedures during the first year of coverage. Even though they covered 80% of my root canal (leaving me with a couple hundred dollar bill), I'm going to pay out the nose for the crown. So now the really bad news. I've dipped into my savings account to pay for the work. I haven't lost any of the money I've put away for a Car, but I haven't added any in a month, either. I expect my next contribution to be at my end of November paycheck. So this has effectively postponed buying a car for a couple months. Knowing that it'd be pretty silly to get a brand new car (a brand new rear-wheel drive car) during the winter, I'm going to try to hold out until late February or March before I finally buy my Magnum. The bonus of this is that I'll have more down payment available; if I play my cards right I could even manage to put 20% down.
Weekend
I basically drank the weekend away. I got put into a sour mood on friday, so I didn't go see my roommate's final performance. She's in a band, or rather was, and has a beautiful singing voice. Oh well; she'll be in other bands. I can go listen to them.
Project
I'm like 99% done with the project for the Ag Dept. I'll be so happy when its done.
