The day after Christmas I awoke with a tooth ache. It wasn’t minor or major but annoying enough to warrant some over-the-counter pain management medicine. I had a deadline to meet and I channeled my energy into the deadline. The next day I awoke, and the ache had subsided. I completed yet another deadline for a client and afterwards, took Lucy out for a walk. The temperature was pretty chilly with a high at 32 degrees and the cold air exacerbated the tooth ache. By the time I got home, I was in considerable pain. I took an Alleve and by bedtime around 10 PM, I had no relief, so I took another one. At 12:51 I jolted awake with excruciating pain in my right upper gums and into cheekbone. I got up and took four ibuprofen. Finally, 2:30 AM was the last time I saw the time and I was able to sleep a little. When I awoke Friday morning, I grabbed my phone and attempted to find a dentist who could see me during the holiday when most offices closed for the week.
At first, I attempted to find the last dentist I saw in Cherry Creek but could not remember the name and couldn’t find it in my phone–another reminder of living with a TBI–some things I just don’t remember. Not having a dentist of record to call upon I knew from experience was not in my favor as now I would be an “emergency” case and not be a patient of record. The pain in my head intensified so I determined to find help immediately, started smiling and dialing as we used to say in the sales office in my first position out of college. The first office was not open but had a dentist covering for them and knew there was a 9 AM appointment slot as of the previous night. The first office representative encouraged me to show up and explain my situation and see if they would see me. I asked for a PA of the tooth and told them it was a known problem tooth. The dentist agreed to see me and soon I heard sad news.
Not good news
The prognosis wasn’t good. The tooth infected was indeed the past problem tooth. Between 2001-2006, I had to have a crown placed which led to a root canal therapy treatment. The procedure didn’t go well, and the dentist broke a tip in the canal and referred me to endodontist to finish the procedure. Not long after, the tooth flared up again and I had to have it retreated. In 2008 when I was living in Grand County, the tooth flared up once again. I returned to the previous endodontist in Glenwood Springs and had an endodontic surgery (an apicoectomy) to clear out the infection in the gum and bone.
On December 28, 2018, ten years after the endodontic surgery, the dentist told me grim news I never ever wanted to hear or thought I would—it was time to consider extraction. Tears filled my eyes and I listened to the dentist tell me about everything I’ve already done to save the tooth. Then the dentist referred me to an endodontist for a dental cone beam computed tomography (CT) to produce three dimensional (3-D) images of my teeth, soft tissues, nerve pathways and bone in a single scan and another exam. To get me through the pain and infection, this dentist prescribed Vicodin and an antibiotic. I spent the entire weekend on the couch in misery attempting to manage the pain.
Meeting with the endodontist
A week later I met with the endodontist and he recommended a second endodontic surgery estimated at $2100 plus a root canal treatment to an adjacent tooth which flared up during the exam but prior to that appointment I had not had any trouble with at all. I absorbed the information and left stating I would meditate on it and process everything as well as continue advising with my college pal, a dental hygienist and faculty member at a teaching institution.
My dental advocates
By that evening, I had processed and made up the direction I would like to take and conferred with my college pal. Then, the dentist called after hours to check on me and we spoke for over 30 minutes about my options and situation. I phoned him the next morning and got a referral for an implant consult and treatment, specifically, surgical extraction. By this time, the pain was still like someone was constantly punching me and so he prescribed a second antibiotic, bringing out a more potent antibiotic with higher risk of side effects but more likely to reach the infection in and near the bone to get me through until my periodontist appointment. I made the appointment for the following week and the soonest was Wednesday the 9th of January. I urged and almost begged for sooner appointment and extraction as this tooth was causing me a lot of pain and I had already made the mental jump to move forward with the extraction and implant process. The receptionist said they would evaluate treatment at my appointment time. I hung up the phone resigned to the saga continuing. Not one to let things slide, I immediately phoned the endodontic office to get the CBCT x-ray sent over to the periodontist office, so they could review before my arrival.
But wait! there’s more freakishness
Saturday evening, I started to feel less pain and so went out for dinner at a nearby Mexican restaurant. No other guests arrived after we did and as soon as they brought our food out, the staff begin their deep cleaning nightly chores including leaving standing ammonia water on the tile floor and cleaning the bathrooms one booth away and leaving the doors open. Soon, I began to cough from the exposure to the chemicals. The server came up and asked if she could get me anything. I told her I was having a reaction to the chemicals and asked in between coughs to open the windows. The staff opened the front door, but it was too late—the chemicals had burned my trachea, vocal chords, and lungs and I was in a serious, uncontrollable coughing spell. Immediately I left the restaurant and waited in the car. At home, the coughing worsened so I went to urgent care where the PA administered a shot of prednisone and prescribed a five-day oral regiment along with an inhaler to open the restricted airways.
Once home, I sent a message to the dentist and told him what happened. Unfortunately, he told me if the coughing didn’t improve, I would not be able to undergo the delicate surgery on Thursday. My spirit began to go down, but I kept up with the rest and medications and by Monday morning my lungs were not as constricted and heavy, and my coughing was minimal. This is a good thing because something positive was about to happen.
Positive attitude leads to positive outcome
On Monday afternoon the 6th of January, I answered the phone and the periodontist office asked if I could come in the following day for the consult and treatment. I clarified she meant extraction and she confirmed. I accepted and then cleared my tutoring sessions for the next day. Fortunately, the students were understanding.
Tuesday morning at 9:15 AM, I arrived for surgery. I took a last picture of my big smile before the gaping hole would replace where #3 had been for so long. For the past week, I was joking about what the going rate was for an adult molar with such an expensive history. Hey, if you can’t laugh at a bad situation, life is too serious. I use humor to lighten up bad situations and to alleviate stress. I told the staff I thought I would die with all my natural teeth (minus the superfluous wisdom teeth) but she didn’t really get my humor. Off I went in for the consult and pre-op instructions. The surgeon told me her plan was to remove the tooth in three parts separated by each root. Then she and the assistant went to work. An hour and a half later, the surgeon had extracted my tooth, cleared the remaining infection from the tissue, placed bone graft and membrane for the preparation of an implant and sent me home with another scrip for Vicodin and other post-op instructions.
Pain and a big surprise
The pain was intense once again and it took until 4:30 AM to get the pain managed and I was finally able to drift into a restful sleep. I awoke at 8:30 AM and iced my cheek in bed. As I started to wake up, I remembered I had put my teeth remnants under my pillow for the Tooth Fairy. I slid my left hand under my pillow and felt something like a card! I started to giggle. When I opened the envelope, I found a beautiful card and lottery tickets! I like how the adult Tooth Fairy rolls!
When I got out of bed, I scratched the first line of the first ticket and was one digit away from an $1100 prize—oh, nearly the amount my procedure cost yesterday! I continued with a hopeful attitude a winning ticket would surface and kept scratching. I had a $3 winner and now I have three more tickets to scratch to see if the winners can help fund the expensive tooth scenario.
It was such a sweet feeling to know the Tooth Fairy still exists even at 49 years old! Sad about losing a tooth I had worked so hard to save, and with another painful day and night, waking up to the beautiful card and lottery tickets was a positive start to my day.
Thank you Tooth Fairy!!
