Dr. Pain DDS
I made an appointment today to have a cavity filled on tooth #14. He also wanted to replace the filling on #15 the upper left molar. Neither tooth was bothering me. I could feel tooth #18 cracking- this was the most expensive tooth as it needed an Onlay.
When I arrived, the Dentist said, “Hello” and went out the door- probably for lunch. I was a few minutes early but this isn’t a good sign. It must have been a short lunch as he was only 20-minutes late. There was a salesman from Patterson Supply, which is the primary supplier of dental supplies in the area. I was tempted to engage him in conversation as he walked by. Give him a ribbing for the high cost of porcelain. This is the second time I brought my iPod but even with the long wait I didn’t take it out. While I’m being worked on I don’t want to be distracted. It seems I’m very motivated to know exactly what is going on.
Dr. Brant numbed the gum with a swab before hitting the nerves with Lidocaine, or whatever they’re using now. There was another patient in the station near by ready for an inspection after his cleaning. Rather than attend to him while letting my anesthetic take hold, Brant started up the drill and went after #14. This was okay. He got a bigger drill and went after #18: this was a problem. I signaled my discomfort with a loud moan. Brant gave another injection. Again he didn’t wait long before he was drilling. I signal more discomfort. I got another injection. He returned to the drilling. I returned to the moaning. I relaxed when he drilled and molded the composite fillings for #14 and #15. I tensed up when he returned to #18. Either he was drilling on the tooth, or spraying crap that seemed to head straight for the back of my throat. I was in a constant state of gagging, choking, or pain. I was thankful I had my wisdom teeth removed. The assistant said, “this is the worst tooth. Because I’m on your left side I can’t get a good angle on the tooth. It is so far back that everything has a straight path to your throat.” Brant had photographed the remainder of #18 and modeled the replacement. It was currently milling in the Cerec machine. Once Dr. Brant got the replacement bonded in place, he finished with #14 and #15. He apologized for the ‘discomfort’ #18 caused. “I’m concerned about this tooth. I gave it three loads of anesthetic, which is enough for an extraction. It suggests the nerve was in an excited state.” I was too polite to offer up my theory, “You didn’t want long enough to it to take affect.”
They didn’t honor the price quote, which I got in the mail just a few days earlier. I wrote the check, happy to get out of the office alive. When I got home, I checked the quote and called them on it. They said they’d check and get back with me, but they didn’t. I wasn’t surprised when all the teeth on my left side started to ache once the anesthetic wore off. I wasn’t prepared for the discomfort in my jaw and gums. My jaw ached for a day or two. My gums were swollen and painful for two weeks. I came back on January 7th to have the #18 Onlay adjusted. It was blocking my flossing. As of 1/10/2010 #18 doesn’t ache any worse than my other teeth. I’m hoping #14 calms down or I’ll have to go back and get that fixed too.
