Root Canals & Then Some....

I had my first and hopefully 'last' root canal today. I was in Boston recently on business and went to visit my old dentist in my 'old hood,' who decided to replace a filling and before he finished, he said, "I've got news for you - you need a root canal." Egads.

My first reaction was puzzled as I responded, "Aren't root canals for old people?" The dentist and two assistants burst out laughing at my response and it suddenly occured to me that my only reference for root canals was listening to horror stories as a child from 'the adults' in my life at the time, mostly grandparents and great aunts and uncles who were having dental work done over the course of several visits with lots of pain killers in hand.

I had to jump on a plane so couldn't really deal with it in Boston and finding a dentist or doctor of any kind is a long and daunting process in the Bay Area, not to mention expensive. I wrote about 'the really broken healthcare system here' earlier this year.

After several calls and references, I 'got lucky' and found someone who calmed me down on the phone, enough that I slept more than half the night, the latter spent thinking about drills 'and the pending' Walt Mossberg review of client Sharpcast which just hit the web.

Only three advil so far and the day is nearly over. Not bad. They have really improved their technique - I was in and out in an hour and a half and it felt more like an intense filling. The bill was six times the cost of a filling - someone explain that one to me. Fingers crossed the rest of the week goes equally well.