Woke up Friday to intense pain in a front tooth. I hadn't needed a dentist locally, instead traveling back to my favorite one in California. But this tooth would not wait, nor could it travel. I spent over an hour on the phone with Yelp and my Dental Insurance phonebooks trying to find a dentist that was open on Friday. Luckily Life Smiles was open, and they placed me with Dr. Schmidt, who is not yet listed on their web site.
When I arrived, they had me fill out the usual 30 seconds of forms, then I was escorted into the back to a typical dentist chair for x-rays. The problem tooth was difficult to detect, as three of them in the painful area had decay, but the one that was most painful already had a root canal - it shouldn't be hurting. Dr. Schmidt and I discussed the treatment plan, finally deciding to fix the tooth with the largest hole closest to the pain.
Dr. Schmidt's hygienist did the numbing injection, the first painless injection I have ever had. She had carefully reviewed my medication sensitivities and told me what she was going to give me, which I recognized as an unlisted bad medicine. She changed it immediately, non-flustered, glad that she was able to avoid causing me problems. She also gave me a suggestion for how to list my medicine sensitivities to make her job, and other care professionals' job, easier in the future.
During the drilling, I needed more numbing, which was quickly given, and drilling continued. I was pleased to find they used a white filling, none of that amalgam garbage. The decay was close to a nerve, so Dr. Schmidt advised that the repair may not take, if decay had hit the nerve, I would need a root canal, which would become known in the next few days. We also discussed an area that had become sharp due to a small filling breaking off, and Dr. Schmidt quickly polished it smooth. He diagnosed another tooth that had become sensitive to cold and noticed my gums were irritated, so prescribed a mouthwash that will solve that problem.
The day after, I woke up to a pain-free mouth. The teeth were happy, and, incredibly, instead of a week of soreness where I received the numbing injections, I have no pain. I've found my local dentist!