My First Root Canal

I got a call yesterday morning from my dentist.  I was scheduled to go in in the afternoon to get the rest of my root canal finished from the nasty abcess I had.  The dentist was a little weary about being successful since the other root was calcified and I was pregnant.  He didn't want to put me in anesthesia, not be successful and then have me see an endodontist to do it again so he suggested to just do it right the first time at a place where they only do this type of stuff and have all the right tools.  After asking questions to all parties involved along with my husband, I decided to go with the endodontist and get it done right.  I had to make a bazillion and one phone calls back and forth between doctors, insurance, OB doctor for a medical release form to be faxed over and to my mother-in-law to make sure babysitting was still covered.

I went in and met the woman I talked to on the phone as I filled out some new patient forms.  She told me it sounded hectic in the background while talking to me at home and I told her I had an almost 5 year old and an almost 3 year old who don't play well when I talk on the phone for important things.  SHe laughed and said it seems like you have your hands full.  I told her, that's for sure.

I got called back and they asked me a bunch of questions about my tooth and it's history and then they took some x-rays to see what it looked like.  THey then prepped me with local anesthetic/novacaine.  It felt weird because I was angled downward with my feet up and so the baby was pushing into my lungs which made it a little more difficult to breathe.  I told the nurse I was having a hard time breathing and she suggested deep breaths through the nose which seemed to help.  She put Vaseline on my lips since they were dry and cracked already and let me just say, I hate putting things on my own self and having someone do Vaseline on me was a hard process for me.  I felt all gross and there was a glop in the corner of my mouth that she eventually sucked out.  

Once I was numb and comfy with a pillow behind my neck, they went to work.  THey put a huge rubber pocket over my mouth so the one tooth was just exposed and I appreciated that because I hate gunk falling in and then being missed.  I also got some shades for my eyes and it was go time.  They brought out a microscope and a bunch of tools and went to work.  The baby kicked and moved the whole time which was funky to feel things in my mouth and tummy.  THey used a cauterizing tool towards the very end so I would see puffs of smoke periodically rise up and the smell of the burning kind of annoyed my pregnant senses.  I didn't feel anything but the vibrations they mentioned and after a wee bit, they were done and taking after x-rays for the reports.

They showed me the before and after pictures to see what had been done and then gave me a little more amoxicillan to make sure all the infection was gone.  All in all, it was a good experience for my first root canal and I am recovering well.  Now I just need to go get the tooth capped properly and we're in the clearing.  It's probably a whole lot better experience when you aren't pregnant, I'm sure :0)  Oh well, I guess that's just my luck sometimes.  I chipped the tooth initially back when I was in my first trimester with Hadley and now I had to get things worked out 3 years later while pregnant with this girl.  Man, could you time anything better.  What are the chances?!