Dental Dammit

I need a root canal. Again.

In theory, I shouldn't really be scared of this, because I've had one in the last two years, and it was fine. I listened to the Nirvana's Nevermind in its entirety, and when it was done, so was the procedure. I sucked down some Amoxocillin to prevent infection and all was right with the world.

That was the old dentist, and now I've got a new one. A dentist who clearly thought that I was overreacting when I came into the office and was going to let me go with nothing but an "I'll call you when I look at the X-rays." The only reason I'm getting my root canal in a timely manner is because I happened to mention that I had heat sensitivity in that tooth to the dental hygienist, who freaked out at me for not mentioning it earlier (yes, because I am supposed to know that that heat sensitivity has special significance, even though you totally neglected to ask any types of questions about what sort of pain I was experiencing; this is completely my fault, and not at all yours or the dentist's for completely failing to conduct a brief but thorough triage after I mentioned having constant pain) did the doctor bother to look at an x-ray on the spot and tell me "oops! I was wrong. Turns out there is a problem, and now you need a root canal."

Yeah, because that's the kind of guy I want working on me. Although, to be fair, he isn't actually going to be the guy doing my root canal, just like my NY dentist wasn't the one who did mine, but I can't help but associate them, and that makes me sick to my stomach.

Also making me sick to my stomach? The thought of paying for this root canal. I really miss guilt-free dental coverage a la parental units. And yesterday at the dentist's office they were all freaking out because I didn't have dental insurance, but seriously, WTF is dental insurance? It's total crap and it's doesn't do anything. I don't think my NY dentist even took dental insurance. I used my parents' dental insurance when I got my wisdom tooth removed and it saved me $400 off of a $2500 procedure, which, when you add up the cost of dental insurance, probably didn't actually "save" anything at all. So why the hell is it a big deal that I don't have it again?

But anyway, apparently it is, and everyone reacted to me like I was a crazy Redneck who'd walked into a hospital without health insurance and demanded to be treated for cancer. They made me sit down and discuss a payment plan, which was fine and helpful and all but made me feel like I'd made this ridiculously irresponsible life decision by not having dental insurance which I just found asinine.

So, the moral of this story? Go to your dentist regularly, BEFORE you feel actual pain in your teeth. And always tell your dentist if you have heat sensitivity, because apparently you're supposed to have at least elementary dental training before getting work done.