Pain, Pain, Go Away!

Monday, I was back in the dentist's chair to get a permanent filling. I told the dentist about the muscle relaxant (Cyclobenzaprine) that my TMJ doctor prescribed. It had stopped the pain in its tracks. The most helpful things I found for my tooth infection and root canal pain: Hot water bottle for pain. Cyclobenzaprine for muscle spasms and intense pain. Ibuprofin for three or four hours' moderate relief from intense pain. Probiotics (Udo's Choice Super 5 Lozenge Probiotic) for my stomach while I took cleocin (an antibiotic). The cleocin must have killed some of the good bio in my digestive system, which the probiotics helped restore.

Four days later, I got back in the dentist's chair. My gums, lymph glands and chin were swollen, even though I was taking antibiotics. "What happens if the tooth is still infected?" I asked with a pineapple-flavored swab in my mouth. "We'd do a temporary filling and let it drain, let it heal, then do a permanent filling." The dentist looked in my mouth and seemed surprised. "Amoxicillin kills 99.9% of infections." He said I needed broader spectrum antibiotic. He gave me a shot that made me numb from my front teeth to my inner ear. A few minutes later, he and his assistant started work and I squealed. "Cold," I explained. The assistant put something fibrous behind my lip and started again. It felt like they were removing tartar from the tooth next to the infected one. Awhile later, the dentist said he was done. That was it? I didn't know they'd started drilling. The assistant spent the next few minutes getting all the fiber out of ...