Dental days

It's Wednesday morning here in Oregon - on the brink of the England - Croatia World Cup semi-final, but all I can think of is my poor teeth and gums which have been taking a pounding the last two days. My toothache was reviewed by Lucy's dentist on Monday morning and his analysis of the situation was that, to relieve the pain I was experiencing, either extraction or root canal work was required.

Extraction would create difficulties given where the problem tooth is and its key role in chewing and the fact that it would leave the adjacent tooth exposed and unsupported, so I opted for his recommendation of root canal work.

The dentist re-organised his daily schedule and started work later on Monday morning. He had to have three attempts at numbing me up and then I spent another couple of hours in his chair as he worked away on the root canals. He put in a temporary filling overnight and I was to come back first thing on Tuesday morning to have the rest done.

Tuesday brought more of the same - this time it took him 4 attempts to get my mouth sufficiently numb for him to start work. By now, I reckoned he must have injected me with Novocaine (or equivalent) more than 30 times in all. My gums must have seemed like a pin cushion.

Anyway, the root canal work was finished on Tuesday but I have to go back tomorrow (Thursday) morning to have the fitting for a crown. The results will then go to the lab and the completed crown should be back in a week or so.

Goodness knows what all this is going to cost - and our travel insurer has already refused to pay for it all - apparently all I'm entitled to is emergency pain relief. I'll keep arguing my case.

With all this going on, our plans to have some away days this week have been scuppered for the time being. I'm still popping Tylenol for pain relief, but hope to be better by the end of the week.

Sorry - nothing much else to report for now.