Yesterday was a strange one. I headed into my dentist to get a cracked crown replaced. So they put me in the chair and started prepping me, giving me a ‘cold’ test to see if the tooth was feeling cold. I didn’t feel the cold on the tooth in question but they went ahead and numbed me up and took some x-rays. It is really amazing what those digital x-rays can capture . I had a lot of x-rays that day.

The dentist decided that the lack of cold response warranted another look and they took x-rays below the tooth only to find – an abscess. Since I was already numbed, their office found an endodontist that could provide me a root canal that day. I scurried on down to the endodontist and then went through a root canal procedure . Getting the numbing shots at that point was a piece of cake since I was already comfortably numb.

So they drilled out the roots, breached the abscess, and began to drain it, but I will need to wait 4 weeks for everything to heal up so they can finish. And then I can get my crown replaced.

It was good that the dentist recognized that something might be wrong when I didn’t respond to the cold test. I had not been feeling a tooth ache or swelling, so I have no idea how long the abscess had been there. Putting a crown on top of an abscessed tooth  would really be a waste of money since it would all have to come right off.

I do wish dental work was included in our overall health insurance plan but I guess that will have to wait for another administration.