Root Cause Analysis

"Molar Eclipse" a wonderful art quilt by my friend Jamie Final. $800 on SAQA website. I love this quilt and spent a lot of time thinking about it this week. Read on.

It all started with that little "twinge". I really wasn't even sure I truly felt it. Maybe I just bit down too hard on something. Time passes. No, no, it was there alright. Maybe if I just ignore it, it will go away. More time passes. It is not going away and now it HURTS! Trip to my dentist confirms the worst fears. I need a root canal!

I was referred to Alabama Endodontics where I have been before. In all honesty, if you MUST have a root canal, this is the place to do it...if you MUST!

It all starts off pleasantly. Lisa smiles and takes my insurance card; and Rachel smiles and assures me I have nothing to fear. She will be right beside me through the whole thing. HA!
She failed to mention that she will be right beside me handing the doctor the instruments of torture.

OK, so first Dr. Chris Jebeles gets out his little dry erase drawing board and a sharpie and draws me a picture of what is wrong with the offending molar. This is impressive. I am, after all, going to pay this man over a thousand dollars for this visit so I darn well expect some high tech, explanations. Then, they shoot me with enough Novocaine to put down a small elephant. Dr. J: "Are you doing ok?" This question will be repeated often throughout the visit. I am ok if you discount the fact that my left eyeball is numb, I can't tell whether I am breathing or not, and I cannot swallow on the left side. Next they fit my mouth with a green trampoline with a little hole poked in it for the offending tooth to present itself. This contraption is not to protect the modesty of the other teeth, its purpose is to keep all the debris that he is drilling out of the tooth from falling down my throat. It is a good idea but an odd sensation. THEN he comes at me peering through a microscope mounted over my head while wielding the inevitable drill. As you can see, at this point, I was a little nervous.


It is finished! Doctor J looks pleased don't you think? I am feeling no pain. I am feeling nothing. However, my initial feelings of trepidation seem to have frozen into place.


This is me forcing a BIG smile. The left side just won't join in the party. At least I don't have to fear awakening in the night screaming with an abscessed tooth. Seriously, gang. These folks are the best there is at what they do. And Dr. J is not hard on the eyes...if yours are not numbed, that is.