A few weeks ago, I began feeling an unwelcome twinge in one of my teeth. As it grew a little more frequent and a little more intense, I narrowed it down to a lower molar covered by a crown from a root canal that I got more than 20 years ago. Could it be hurting? Then it occurred to me that we will be flying next week, and if something were wrong with my tooth, I'd better check it out.
But first, I looked it up on the internet and found all kinds of terrifying scenarios: teeth exploding in mid-air, people hospitalized with blood poisoning ("If there is a crown on it, the infection has nowhere to go, so it can go to your brain," etc., etc. I read that airlines will not even let you on if you have an abscessed tooth. I couldn't sleep that night for worrying, besides having mild discomfort.
A visit to the dentist became paramount in my mind. Not having a dentist here, I got the name of our son's family's dentist and called first thing the next morning. Unfortunately, they had no openings and couldn't work me in, despite my insistence. "We have one emergency slot and that has been filled," I was informed. The receptionist did recommend the only one she knew of who took walk-ins, though.
"I'm sorry, but because of Christmas we are closed the last two weeks of December and have re-scheduled all our patients into the first two weeks, so we have no openings at all," I was told. "If someone cancels, we'll call you." They even suggested that I might go to an Urgent Care clinic and get an antibiotic. That would entail paying for an office visit, so I tried one more dental office. They got me in that afternoon.
"That is not your crown, the roots on the root canal look fine," the dentist said after viewing my x-ray. "Ouch!" I winced as he probed further. "That is your wisdom tooth!" he exclaimed. It looked fine to me on the x-ray, the huge filling practically dwarfing the tooth. "You have a cavity in the back which you can't see, and biting down on this tooth is cracking it. It really should come out," he advised.
Well, it is never good news to lose a tooth, but in this case, it seemed the lesser of two evils, and I was elated. My crown was intact! He put me on antibiotics which should clear up any infection, so I was cleared to fly. We had been so looking forward to this Christmas trip to our daughter and family in Georgia!
I was so relieved! I had prayed, fretted, and imagined all sorts of obstacles, but the dental staff was very kind and reassuring, and now that I'd put my problems in the hands of a professional, I could relax. I don't even mind going back in January for the extraction. I think the Lord had a hand in it all along, using circumstances to prompt me to get help before anything worse happened. And if we put our lives in His hands, we won't lose our heavenly crown, either!
ternoon.
me in
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