root canal – The Hermits' Rest

Hello everyone, especially those I did not see in my brief visit to Cedar Park yesterday and this morning. I’m relieved to report that the outcome of my dental adventure this morning was good. I feel very much better.

And the crowd goes wild! Hurrah! photo from Pexels

When I dragged myself in to the dentist office, they knew what was up immediately. I should have probably gone in last Friday. I had dry socket, which more often happens in wisdom tooth extractions, but occurs in 1-2% of all extractions. The blood clot that usually forms at the bottom of the site gets dislodged and that exposed raw nerves and bone. Yeah, that could explain some extreme pain.

So they put a lot of anise-smelling stuff in there and packed it back in. I’m pretty sure I caused the issue by trying to swish water around to keep the site clean. That didn’t help at all, and instead made it worse. Live and learn.

Rules after extractions are to not smoke, not use a straw, and not swish water around. Well. I didn’t smoke.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it to the root canal part of the appointment, because I uncharacteristically tensed up when the dentist was putting the anesthetic in. It hit a nerve or something and really hurt. When he finished, I started shaking, turned pale, and began to have some impressive back spasms, over and over. Yow, that hurt. And it scared us all (me, the dentist, and the technician). It finally passed and I was okay for the procedure. Root canal is a piece of cake compared to a messy extraction.

During all the drilling and poking, I imagined I was back in South Carolina, looking forward woodpeckers.

Everyone was so kind to me, and we had good conversations when I settled down. Lots about dogs. And the receptionist was really impressed by my temperature blankets (it came up because I said I was excited it hit 100° yesterday so I could use hot pink yarn.

After Lee got me home (so nice not to have to drive), I fell asleep for a long time. I was so tired from hurting. Tonight I have just a little pain, but I’m optimistic it will be better tomorrow.

I look forward to two months of no dentist! Nice guy, but this week was hard.

Uncharacteristically, I missed two days of blogging. I was not in the mood to write nice, thoughtful words. Being sensitive is hard.

Plus, there was my pain stuff. The back pain is manageable with stretching and not bending over too quickly. But it was eclipsed by the pain from getting my darn root canal procedure finished and getting fitted with a temporary crown. Even with the combination of acetaminophen and ibuprofen, I had searing pain if my top and bottom teeth met. I was a grumpy gal last night, so you didn’t need to hear from me.

Let’s enjoy a flying Great Egret, instead.

Then there was the weather. We’ve had a tiny amount of rain (the storms have missed us two days in a row) but yesterday an incredible blast of wind came out of the east (not the expected direction) and blew things all over the place. Patio furniture flew, a window blew open, and the trees looked like they were going to snap. I’m pretty sure it was hurricane strength. At least we didn’t lose power. It was scary for a while. Straight-line winds are something else!

When I went out to assess the damage this morning, it wasn’t too bad. In fact, it was so pleasant out that I spent some time just watching a friendly rabbit chewing grass. I love how the sun shines through their ears.

Later I went to get the mail and I saw black vultures on my horse area. I got all worried that Vlassic was dead.

But it wasn’t him. It was an amazing roadrunner! What the heck? It looked like the wind had picked it up and slammed it into one of the barrels I use for horse obstacles. Trying to get something positive out of the experience, I looked closely at its beautiful feathers and strong legs, which I certainly can’t do when they are alive. Dang wind.

It’s not all bad, of course. I got praised for doing well at work, which rarely happens to contractors. That, along with reduced tooth pain, made getting through the work day today much better than yesterday.

And chickens. They made it fine over the windy period.

The best part of the day was that Bonnie, the equine dentist, was here for the horses’ annual checkups. It’s just fascinating to watch how she does it. I was encouraged to find out they’d all stayed in pretty good shape and mostly just needed routine maintenance.

I love how she climbs the fence and throws her rope over it to set up her dental station

Dusty is older and started out with some weird teeth, so he just got the “keep him comfortable” treatment, because he doesn’t have enough teeth to truly “fix.” He was very good, though.

Apache did great, too. I’m always so proud of him. He really enjoyed sleeping off the tranquilizers. He even snored.

Drew has started growing in his canine teeth. I wonder if that’s what made him so grouchy for a few weeks? Bonnie said he’s definitely just about to turn five years old, which makes me very happy I chose July 2 as his birthday! He enjoyed the whole experience, including tasting all the equipment and snoozing with Apache afterwards.

Mabel went last. She handled this better than she did the farrier visit. Bonnie kept telling me how much better she looks now. That made me feel glad for all the work we’ve done on her. Mabel’s demeanor change also impressed Bonnie. It was cool to have someone who hadn’t seen her in a year evaluate Mabel. She needed the most dental help, so I hope it will help her keep weight on.