Yey, I survived root canal

Yey, my family is so proud of me, after two years of intermittent agony and suffering from category 5 tooth aches, gum infection, swollen cheeks, I finally took the plunge and had root canal.

Whew I am still alive!

I have spent the past month going back and forth to different dental clinics, getting first, second, third, fourth, fifth opinions. Extraction, root canal, extraction, root canal. Crown, denture, crown, denture. I couldn’t bear the thought of having my tooth removed. It still looks whole except for the hole in the center which was made bigger by the dentists themselves. Every time, they drilled, they made it deeper and wider. What started as a small cavity has become a huge crater.

I January, while I as in the US, I woke up with a swollen cheek. I went to a white dentist (funny I have to say he is colored white) and he told me I’ve got to have root canal and crown, that would cost $5,000.

Back in Manila in February I was asked by our family dentist Beth, to have a panoramic x-ray. That showed my teeth were marching down from all directions. That showed that my third molar could still be saved by root canal and putting a cap over it. Beth already gave me instructions in preparation for the root canal scheduled the following week.
I didn’t do it. I didn’t have it done. It was a combination of fear factor and busy schedule.

Then came our Northern Lights holiday which I didn’t enjoy because my tooth game me extreme throbbing pains which radiated well below my jaw and up to my temple. It was terrible. Oh beyond terrible.

I went to a dentist in London before flying back to Manila. The same thing, they advised me to have a root canal as soon as possible.

April– I went to two dentists to have my tooth re-filled. Both suggested root canal. I didn’t do it.

May — I was busy in the US for our family reunion. My tooth didn’t givie me any problem except minor discomfort once.

June—- I traveled to Lisbon and Madrid and luckily my tooth cooperated.

July—-While in Iloilo, my tooth destroyed my holiday by giving me sleepless nights and whole day of intense pain. Galit na asawa ko “ipabunot mo na kasi”.

I was scheduled to have it removed (?) but as soon as we came back from Iloilo I had flu. Then two weeks after I got better, I had flu again.

Then came the toothaches again. Hay hindi na natapos. I went back and forth several dentists. Once and for all, Beth recommended that I go to Dr. Darwin Lim, dean of Metropolitan’s dentistry who has a clinic in UERM. He does extractions according to Beth.

I went to see him. He asked me to have another panoramic xray although I just had one 6 months ago. Nag-bago na daw ipin ko by then. He gave me 7 days antibiotics to arrest the infection.

I went back after 5 days to show the results of the xray and he advised me to have a root canal. He recommended a female specialist who has a master’s degree daw but her clinic is somewhere in Commonwealth Avenue, sobrang layo from my residence.

Instead of contacting her, I went back to Beth to have the root canal done.
When Beth saw me, she said it would be useless to have root canal because of my age. According to her I grind my teeth so the cap would just crack in two years or less and that would be a bigger problem. I didn’t know what to do.
She asked me to go back to Dr. Lim to have my tooth removed. She and Dr. Lim also suggested that I have all my wisdom teeth taken out. General anesthesia, one time big time na daw, sabay sabay na lang gagawin para isang pagod.

Another dilemma. I couldn’t bear the thought of have a root canal, what more subject myself to surgery (again). General anesthesis? What if I don’t wake up anymore? I would be putting myself in a big risk for what? I asked Dr. Lim, why would God give us wisdom teeth if they just cause trouble? What is the purpose of wisdom teeth, I am sure there is a purpose. Bakit ngayon lahat na lang ng tao kailangan bunutin ang wisdom teeth. Nung araw ganyan ba?

I went home feeling saw and overwhelmed. I don’t want to suffer another day of intense toothache but at the same time, I don’t want to undergo operation. I don’t want injection, I don’t want anesthesia.

After Beth refused to do my root canal, I told her I didn’t want to go back to the clinic of Dr. Darwin Lim. I liked the guy and he’s certainly an expert. But what I did not like was to go to a hospital. The first time I went to his clinic in UERM, na depress ako. Para akong may sakit na nag-iintay ng doctor. My body resistance is also low, I don’t want to be surrounded by other sick patients.

UERM building

Dr. Darwin Lim’s dental clinic in UERM.

My appointment was at 3 pm. I over-estimated the traffic so I got there at 1:45 pm. I went to the cafeteria. While I was standing in front of the stainless steel food counter, there was a guy who looked like a nursing student or something who also was choosing what food to order. He pointed at the guinataan.
Guy—“Miss, magkano dyan?”
Tindera—–“Fifty”.
There was a pause. Then he asked “Pwede ba’ng kalahati?”
Tinder—–“Oo pwede”.

I was watching the whole process. I also wanted guinataan. The woman got a very small bowl, as small as a tea cup. Dyos ko ang liit naman nun. I interceded.
Me—–“Miss yung malaking bowl na, dalawa”.
Tindera—–“Isa, tapos kayo na lang ang maghahati?”
Me—–“Hindi, tig-isa kami nung malaki”.

The guy looked at me probably confused. I didn’t look at him. I just said “ako na lang ang magbabayad, don’t worry about it”.
He got one big bowl, I motioned to the cashier that I would pay for both.
He said thank you.

I sat down three tables away from him and never looked at him. Baka akala mama san o sugar mommy ako. After he finished eating, he came up to me and said “Mam, salamat ho uli”. He even bowed his head. Naawa ako, parang anak kong lalaki. Tingin ko magka-edad sila or this guy could be younger. Gusto ko sanang tanungin gusto mo bang magtake home ng pansit?
Ang tamis naman nung guinataan at walang bilo-bilo.

The second time I went back to UERM, I felt the same way. Depressing. I felt dizzy, claustrophobic. I didn;t want to ride the elevator with people in a wheel chair and ubu ng ubo. Kasi ubuhin rin ako. Baka magka hawahan pa kami.

I think going to a dental clinic with a nice comforting surrounding takes away a lot of anxiousness or nervousness. It helps make patients more comfortable. The clinic of Dr. Lim is nice but it’s inside a hospital.

September 13

After Beth suggested extraction instead, I told her I would just go to Robinson’s Galleria where there are many dental clinics. She gave me a referral to Dr. Lino Tutanes which was her professor and a very close friend.

I went to Galleria with a heavy heart. My gums were painful again. I only have a two day window to have this done. I just had to close my eyes and do it.
I went inside a nice clinic to inquire how much they charge for tooth extraction. Depende daw. For the third molar it’s 15,000 to 25,000.
Ano!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bubunutin isang ipin beinte singko mil? Dyos ko. I was so shocked. I was doomed, forever na lang dito ipin ko.

I went to Tutanes hoping he would give me a discount, after all, I have a written letter from her friend who is my cousin. Alam ko mahal din dito pero baka may discount.

He wasn’t there, he stepped out of the clinic and would be back after half hour. The secretary informed me that Dr. Beth had just called. Good, that means meron na siguro akong discount. I was praying nay ko huwag naman sanang beinte mil.

Me—-“Miss gaano katagal bago mag totally healed?”
Sec—-“Four months”.

What!!!!

I left the two panoramic x-rays so they could take a look while I go grab food.
I had to eat something before they extract my tooth. I was imagining me bulak ang bibig ko, maga ang mata ko sa kaiiyak at maga ang pisngi ko. HIndi na ako makakain ng two days.

I went to Pho Hoa. I went back at 4 pm and Dr. Tutanes had already studied the x-ray. He told me— “Buong buo pa ang ngipin mo, sayang kung bubunutin. At your age, 4 months bago mag-heal. I suggest root canal”.
We discussed the previous diagnosis of several dentists, the pros and cons and I finally agreed to have root canal instead, although I was scared.

I had anxiety attack within the first ten minutes. I couldn’t breathe and we had to stop for a few minutes till I calmed down. I was choking, trembling, and my heart was beating faster.
There was a lot of discomfort. I hated it every time the dentist said “Nganga, nganga”. I couldn’t open my mouth wide enough to fit his hand, fingers, gadgets etc. in. A female dental assistant was also poking something inside my mouth. I knew it napunit ang gilid ng bibig ko.

After one hour and twenty minutes of poking, drilling, and super kalikot inside my mouth, the root canal was done. He removed 4 roots in one sitting. It was not as painful and terrifying as I thought it would be.

I paid P19,000. When I was asking for “Beth” discount, the secretary said it was supposed to be 28,000. I will be back in two weeks for final filling and then 5 days after for the cap. The cap is 10,000.
Whoa.

The best part of this was when Dr. Tutanes told me there’s no necessity to undergo surgery to remove all my wisdom teeth. They are not giving me any problem so why take them out daw. What a big relief. He also said putting me under general anesthesia is too risky. He also said even local anesthesia he injected in my gums also have negative effects. In my experience, anesthesia aggravated my migraine.