A root canal? Are you freakin’ kidding me?

I guess that says it all, but here’s how it all went down:

I showed up to my dentist appointment about 20 minutes late today, so we were short on time. “We’re running a little late, so we’ll have to see what we can get done before we close”, says the assistant lady. This is the semi-annual appointment where they do x-rays and a cleaning, so there was much to be done.

First, we do the x-rays. That’s the part where I stand with my face in the weird robotic contraption that swings around my head, buzzing and beeping itself to a better understanding of whether my teeth are rotting out of my head. Next, we start the cleaning. The assistant lady grabs the dental tools and starts scraping away. A few minutes later, she says, “Your oral hygiene is very good. There’s really not anything for me to clean in here. We shouldn’t have any trouble finishing before we close.” Well, that’s good news! The teeth are in great shape and we’ll finish everything up this visit. Score!

So, we finish up the cleaning and then I just have to wait for the dentist to come in and tell me that everything’s great and he’s so proud of me for taking such great care of my teeth. Piece of cake, right? Of course not. “How are you doing?” “Pretty good.” “Well, that’s good, but we have a bit of a problem.” I figured he was just kidding. He wasn’t. “Your gonna’ need a root canal.” “Seriously?” “Yeah, the third one from the back on the top over here is pretty bad. There’s a cave in there.” He shows me the x-ray and he’s right, of course. There is a cave in there. He’s already got people on the phone, booking spelunking expeditions and some camping trips to the cave.

So, I’m going back Thursday morning, taking time off work and spending almost $900 bucks (yes, I have insurance and, yes, that’s just my out of pocket) for a freakin’ root canal and crown. I say, “Is there anything I could’ve done to prevent this?” “No, sometimes these things just creep up on you.” So what you’re saying is it doesn’t matter, all this flossing and regular brushing? Super.

That was my day. How was yours?