Hi,
Half of February is behind us and it's Valentine's Day tomorrow. I won’t bore you with even more mushiness that has been around but if you are looking for a last-minute gift for someone special we are offering same-day deliveries in Delhi NCR for all those late latifs.
Let’s get to what I want to share today. For as far as I can remember a root canal has been known to be this extremely painful experience. I always remember this comparison that Rajeev Masand made about a movie experience being as painful as a root canal and for some stupid reason that line has found a permanent address in my brain.
Jump to Dec 2021, I had been experiencing something weird on the right side of my lower molars. I was on the peak of my junk binge-ing for the year and with this strong sensation, I knew I was in for something, though at best I was prepared for a cavity filling. I waited till the weekend to fix up my appointment.
After my initial examination, the dentist could not find anything unusual to answer my questions of the sensitivity I was facing. It was only after an X-ray of my teeth that she saw the problem. The decay on my lower right molar was running sideways and was very close to the root of my teeth. Now the only way to fix this was to drill and close out the cavity, however, with the decay so close to my roots the cavity filling translating to a root canal was a very strong possibility. I was at my wits end after being made to understand the next steps.
I got my first cavity filling at 13 so of course, I was no pro at having brilliant teeth. But I had taken very good care of my teeth for the past couple of years and felt entering the root canal territory was something to be ashamed of. 2 years of good care was obviously not going to be enough for the 25 years of not-so-good habits I have had when it comes to oral health and my dentist was very kind to soothe me into the overall process. I chose to get the root canal done because that was a near-time eventuality for that poor molar and I wanted to get a long-term solution rather than a quick fix.
This process was drawn out over 3 sittings for better efficacy and ease. You can skip these and get to the end if you don’t want the details
1st sitting (Day 1): That day we got done with the drilling and complete cleaning of the root. It was a 20-25 min process with the part of my mouth being completely numb. There was medicine applied to the freshly cleaned area and I was put on painkillers and antibiotics for the next 5 days. The next sitting was a couple of days later and the pain in the middle could be anywhere from 0 to 10 on a scale of 10. Luckily for me, the pain never crossed the level of 1 out of a scale of 10.
2nd sitting (Day 3): This was when the hollowed-out root was cleaned thoroughly and then filled with composite white resin. The drilling and shaping is the worst part of any dental sitting. But for the first time since the nerve endings were removed (the only upside of a root canal) I could not feel any sensations when the drilling was happening. The final step on this day was to take an imprint of my teeth to get my cap made. A clay kinda tray was put inside my mouth.
3rd sitting (Day 8): This was the capping day. After some adjustments and minor changes, the cap was put into place and there I was ready with a new tooth.
Overall the experience was not as bad as I had pictured in my mind. It was informative for me considering I also work in this space now.
End of it, basic oral care is quite simple - we use our teeth every day to eat and drink and some wear and tear are bound to happen. Also, teeth are a part of us that does not automatically fix itself. Unlike a cut or a pimple that self heals our teeth do not have this option. What is needed is for us to ensure we clean our teeth well every morning and night and use the right set of ingredients to remineralize them. Luckily for you, our hydroxyapatite toothpaste uses the gold standard of ingredients to help accomplish the best remineralization for our teeth.
Hope this read helps you get motivated to introduce that brushing at night or finally get to flossing before sleeping. I have a cap now so I cannot sleep without flossing every single night. Even though the root canal was not very painful I would not want to go through it again. It is more a thing of pride for me now :P
If any of you have a harrowing or interesting dental experience to share do hit reply and share with me.
Oh and we did an interesting crowd experiment about oral care and valentine’s day, do check out this video and let us know what you think about it.
Cheers,
Tushar
