The Death of A Tooth

Bonus Photo! My cute sister Tauni assisted with my root canal.

I’m not sure if a root canal really makes your tooth die. I don’t think it does, but for all practical purposes, my tooth is no good without my beautiful new porcelain crown! Okay, the root canal wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected. I always get nervous for shots at the dentist. My hands roll into fists and I dig impressions into my palms as the shot takes place. I am always prepared for a sting or hurt with the shot. Thankfully, with Dr. Anderson’s shots I have never felt a thing. The anticipation is the worst part about it. Once I was numb, I put my earbuds in and listened to my new favorite radio podcast, “This American Life.”

Sidenote (for Carla mostly): Our friend Jared got us hooked on “This American Life.” It’s an hour long program broadcast on Chicago Public Radio. You can get it as a podcast. Seriously, if you listen to it you will be impressed. I LOVE it. They pick a theme and then do several different segments on the theme. Recent themes: The Truth Will Out, The Ten Commandments, The Prom. Every week is extremely interesting and I love how listening to this program gives me something to converse about other than my kids. I like talking about my kids, but sometimes everyone doesn’t want to hear ten million stories about how cute my kids are. Go figure. (They are pretty cute, though.)

Back to the root canal! Scintillating, I know. Having something to listen to greatly took my mind off the drills and files going into my mouth. The worst part about the whole thing was how achy my jaw got from biting the bite block for so long. I now have a metal post inside my tooth. It’s pretty hard to see but it’s on the x-ray marked final.

I’ve totally reached a milestone in life. I have had a root canal. Speaking of milestones, I also have some plaid shorts that remind me of what the moms wore when I was a kid. Ugh, I’m getting old!