The Root Canal Re-Do, Not

It was heaven when The Husband arrived home friday evening.  I missed him so.  And we've had a good time together just being together since then.

Saturday we celebrated a birthday, saw a movie, had some birthday cake (yummy pineapple) and re-celebrated with sno-cones on Monday evening.  Thanks for having a birthday!

For the last almost two weeks I've been plagued with mouth pain.  I was certain it was a tooth, but couldn't quite pin down which tooth, though I thought I kinda-sorta had it figured out.  It took some time to get into the dentist (lucky him to never work on Fridays or Saturdays!).  He took an x-ray on Monday afternoon and his office then called an endodontist to schedule a consult/re-do of a suspected failed root canal.

I was pretty anxious.  (And remember, I'm a fan of the understatement.)

They got me in yesterday afternoon, The Husband insisted on going along, for moral support. And it was definitely helpful.

Oh What a Beautiful Morning...

So the doctor came in, asked a few questions, studied the x-ray and said he was pretty sure what was going on.  Then he poked around inside my mouth.  And we chatted.

Are you stressed? he says.  My uncensored response was to just laugh.  Which made him laugh. And he said I must be stressed or I wouldn't be laughing.  Over the course of the conversation he said a few things of interest:  your root canal is fine; don't let anyone touch your teeth; while the root canal isn't a perfect one it's good enough; your dentist did the right thing by sending you to us. 

Bottom line:  I'm apparently one of the majority of women who clench / grind their teeth at night.  This has caused all the muscles in my jaw, tooth area to become inflamed and sore. The solution?  Try some prescription strength ibuprofen (NSAID) for a few days and see if it doesn't help.  Try to reduce the stress in your life.

I am unequivocally certain that by the time I left the office my blood pressure was much lower, my stomach was definitely more settled and I just kept breathing deep relief sighs.

Since we were in the area, The Husband stopped at Nielsen's Frozen Custard and we treated ourselves (even though it was only an hour until dinner, and no it didn't spoil our dinner, we ate just fine).

I feel much better this morning, probably simply because I am better informed (the frozen custard didn't hurt).  I have started the suggested therapy with the knowledge that if that doesn't help, the doctor will prescribe something else for me.  Which I'm assuming will not be necessary.

I'm so grateful for specialists to help me with my apparently special needs. I'm so grateful for a wise dentist.  I'm immeasurably grateful for a husband who treats me with such love and care.  Whatever did I do to deserve him?

And this picture - I'm so grateful for the beauty of this world.  I had been on my walk this morning for about ten minutes and simply could no longer resist documenting the gorgeous sky. The clouds were a bit unusual, it was so lovely out.  I'm so grateful Heavenly Father made this world as pretty as it is.