I shouldn't do this when I'm high on painkillers....

...but I will anyways. Please excuse any spelling or grammatical errors, but codeine makes me loopy. Why am I high right now? Funny story (not really).

Let me first start by telling you that Celiac Disease weakens tooth enamel, which explains why I have always had issues with my teeth. In 7th grade I had a minor accident and lost part of one of my front teeth. So I've had a crown, secured with a long pin, on that tooth since then. Well, Friday night, about 30 minutes before I was to leave for Happy Hour, that pin finally gave out, taking half the tooth with it- in other words, both the crown and the tooth split down the middle and broke off, so I only had half a front tooth. Well, obviously, I started freaking out, crying, etc. Needless to say, I'm not good in a crisis. Luckily, Roommate is. Her mom has a crown on the same tooth that always comes off, so she called her mom to find out what she does for it. Y'all will never believe what she uses- Crazy Glue. So, being the resourceful girl she is, Roommate had some on hand. So, I Super-Glued the crown back on. And, well, since no one noticed at happy hour (or since then), it obviously worked.

I was nervous that the glue wouldn't hold out for very long, so I made an appointment with my dentist. I went in this morning and told the dentist what happened, and that I couldn't afford to get a new crown right now, but wanted a temporary fix. His response- "I can't tell you to use the Super Glue, but honestly, it works much better than dental glue, which is what I would use right now to fix it. So I would leave it alone." He checked it (pushed on both sides) and told me "wow, you did a better job than most dentists. It's really on there."

I did, however need other work, and since I was already there, and off work, I told him to break it down for me. Eek. All I can say is that I went into the wrong profession. I need about $7,000 worth of work, $2,200 after insurance. Because of the Celiac, I get cavities very easily. And this is embarrassing to say, but I need a total of 8 fillings and 3 crowns (including the Super-Glued tooth), and a root canal.

I went ahead with the root canal today, which is the second one I've had. The first one was painless and quick, so I wasn't nervous. In fact, I have always thought, "why do people always associate a lot of pain with a root canal? They aren't that bad." Well, turns out this one was a LOT more invasive than that first one. It took almost 3 hours, 4 shots of novacaine, and 6 x-rays. Towards the end, I wasn't numb anymore, and could feel everything. This was one of the most painful things I've been through. I felt the file in my sinus. The doc gave me some Tylenol 3, but my mouth is still throbbing. The codeine part has kicked in, but the Tylenol part has only dulled the pain. I'm loopy and "foggy," but still hurting.

My fear of dentists still stands.