May 18, 2008
Dentist verdict: I need a root canal
I finally had my dentist appointment to have a tooth looked at that has been a major pain for some time. Part of the tooth had cracked and the fissure in it wasn’t helping things. The dentist did some testing on the tooth to check the nerve, things seemed positive. After a bit of drilling away I guess the decay was into the nerve and the news is I have to have a root canal done on the tooth. One thing that is for certain, after that is done there won’t be any more pain from it since the nerve will be gone.
Financially speaking I’m probably looking at a significant bill just for the root canal. I will more than likely wait a few months after that before having a crown put on the tooth. From what I figured out it will be at least $500 out of pocket which I will try to roll into the budget, maybe slide along with help from the EF to spread the cost over 3 months. At least my dental insurance will pick up the other half of the cost. This is the last major dental work I must have done, then all I need to worry about is cleanings. My going to the dentist lapsed quite a bit while I was gone at college, otherwise a lot of issues I’ve had over the past 3 years could have been avoided. It’s very important to go to the dentist twice a year for cleaning and inspection.
My wife on the other hand also has to have some dental work done this summer. Her wisdom teeth have been a problem for quite some time and need to be removed. I think that might be a medical procedure so we’ll have to see what our cost will be for that. When I had my wisdom teeth removed it was a really bad experience. When a blood clot doesn’t form where the tooth was, it’s called dry socket. My jaw bone was exposed to my mouth which is really painful and prone to infections. I had migraine headaches, sinus infection, and some other stuff. This is why I keep telling her to have it done this summer so she has time to recover if things are rough.
Question for my readers: Have you had any major dental work done like root canal? What was it like and did you have insurance to help pay for it?
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