A few weeks ago, I had a dental check-up and my dentist was horrified to discover from the x-ray that I had an enormous hole in the side of one of my bottom back molar teeth right at gum level. In the photo above, you can just make out the hole at gum level, where the arrow points to. It begs the question why she had not discovered it before, considering I have annual check-ups usually with an x-ray. Either she had missed it before or it had grown impressively since the last check-up. She was so horrified at the size of the hole that she said her opinion was it would have to be extracted. That would be the third tooth I would have lost in as many years. She was surprised it was causing me no pain. She did mention it might be saved by having root canal work done on it, where they remove the pulp in the tooth and fill it to avoid infection. She would need to first consult her endodontist for their opinion. Unfortunately her endodontist recommended extraction too.
Now at the mention of root canals and endodontists, I informed her that my son-in-law, Darcy, is an endodontist and I would consult him. His opinion was that he thought the tooth could be saved with root canal work and that my dentist's endodontist lacked the experience and letters after their name to cope with complex cases, whereas Darcy has been doing it for the last 8 years. Darcy is extremely passionate about his work and had received many prizes for his expertise.
Darcy does not work at one dental practice, as no one place has enough customers requiring root canal work for five full days a week, so he works at many practices, maybe one day a week or even one day every two weeks in a wide location of practices. One that he does every week is in Canterbury and he has in the recent past done the boss a favour by doing a root canal procedure on the boss' mum for no charge at all. (Root canals can cost anything from about £1,000 or more). So when he offered to try to save my tooth for free, the boss was happy to return the favour. It meant I had to go down to Canterbury and I decided I would make a small holiday out of it by going down to Canterbury the day before and staying overnight in a hotel just round the corner from the dental surgery, so I could easily be there for the 09.30 appointment the next morning. The alternative was getting up at silly o'clock for a hearty breakfast and leaving London at 06.30 to arrive in Canterbury in time. What with the heatwave and the prospect of a three-hour procedure and not being able to eat for a while afterwards, while the swelling settled, it seemed sensible to make life as easy as possible for me.
I know it seems a little weird having your son-in-law peering into your mouth and doing a procedure, but if it saved the tooth and avoided an extraction, it was worth a try. And it's for free!
I duly travelled down by train to Canterbury on Thursday and tried to do a bit of sightseeing, but it was way too hot and the town was full of raucous teenagers celebrating or commiserating their A-level results. After a wander to see some of the sights and the amazing old buildings, I scurried back to my hotel for an early evening meal and an early night.
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| Entrance to the Cathedral grounds |
The next day I met up with my son-in-law who did the three-hour procedure to first fill the hole on the side of my tooth and then drill down the roots to remove the pulp and fill them. It was not helped when, towards the end, the suction machine overheated and refused to work, even with several attempts to restart it, so I had to transfer to another room upstairs for the procedure to be finished. So the tooth is saved and I can't wait to tell my usual dentist - maybe she should employ my son-in-law as her endodontist!
In other news, in an attempt to help Kay weed her garden earlier this week, I managed to rip half my thumbnail off its bed. Long story, but the pain was indescribable and blood everywhere. Kay helped me clean it up and bandage it. A friend commented the next day whether my tetanus vaccines were up to date. I had to fill in an online form with my GP to ask when the last vaccine was and to my horror it was 2009. Within 2 hours of my online form, I had a text message to attend the surgery within the next 45 minutes before the staff went home to get a tetanus booster. My favourite GP did the vaccination which included diphtheria and polio too so I am covered for at least the next ten years.
10 comments:
Oh my word, Addy. I am feeling quite faint reading your blog post... such horrors!! 😱
PS: can you please send young Darcy up here for a free holiday - tell him to bring his dental equipment with him. I need some help ...
Glad all went ok in the end with the complicated tooth procedure. I'd say your son-in-law must be confident of his skills as well, taking on his mother-in-law as patient! ;) Bad luck with your thumb, hope that will heal well, too.
I am sure Darcy could be persuaded to spend time on your lovely island.
Yes, it did seem a little strange having my son-in-law treat me, but it meant saving the tooth. It certainly was one way to shut his mother-in-law up!
How nice to have a helpful son-in-law. How nice to have saved a tooth. 😷
Yes, it is very useful to have a doctor and dentist in the family. All I need now is a plumber on hand!
Never a dull moment, is there!
I'm glad that your son-in-law is so good at his job.
The picture of the hole in your tooth is certainly impressive. Amazing that you weren't in a lot of pain from it all the time.
My usual dentist was also surprised I was in no pain. I think I caught it in time
You may wonder where I am going with this, but bear with me. I never had an engagement ring, preferring just a simple gold wedding band, however earlier this year, after nearly forty years, I decided I’d like a diamond ring and went to a jeweller recommended to me in a neighbouring town. I was looked after by the jeweller’s wife. She told me her husband’s background. After A levels he applied to Guy’s Dental Hospital in London and was invited to a group interview where was asked to fashion a coat hanger into a figure eight. He noticed that some applicants produced handmade jewellery in place of the figure eight. It turned out these were people who worked in the jewellery trade but hoped to become dentists as both professions required similar skills. He suddenly decided he may prefer to be a jeweller and forty years later he is now a talented goldsmith and jeweller. You’ll be pleased Darcy stuck with dentistry, root canal work was more use to you than a piece of jewellery.
It makes sense what you say. Both are quite fiddly jobs requiring concentration and a perfect beautiful outcome.
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