Root Canal Treatment

Are you scared of dentists? I'm not particularly scared of them. But when I sat outside the consultation room and as I listened to the dentist's drills ... I got nervous despite my calm and cool demeanour. And while lying on the dental chair .... I found that my hands were clasped real tight .... I was hardly at ease.

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At the end of April, a premolar tooth cracked and I panicked. I was scared of losing my tooth, you see. How could I face the world if I had a gap in between my pearly whites. Well, I was probably over-thinking or over-worrying or perhaps thinking of the worst scenario that I could be facing. Whatever it was, it wasn't a pleasant feeling.

Since the crack happened on a Saturday, I had to wait till Monday to go to a dentist which was recommended by a friend. This particular dentist which I visited checked my tooth and pressed my gums above my tooth. Indeed there was tenderness and even a bit of swelling at the gum. A tiny lump at the gum indicated bacteria infection. So Mr. Dentist gave me two options. One - extract the tooth and use dentures. NO WAY! I thought only old people use dentures!!! Option one was definitely out. Two - perform a root canal treatment, where the bacteria will be rid of before a filling is place. Ok. I choose to do the root canal treatment.

But wait a minute, Mr. Dentist did not do root canal treatment because he did not have an X-ray machine. So, we prescribed me some antibiotics for the bacteria infection and recommended me to go to his friend's clinic. A normal root canal treatment would cost about RM750 - RM1000, he said. He charged me RM50.00 for consultation and antibiotics. Back home, I did not even take the antibiotics. Duh.

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I asked around for recommendations of dentists, and friends did suggest to me some names. In the end, I decided to go to CK Goh Dental Surgery - a dental surgery clinic run by a husband and wife team. Appointments were very difficult to make .... and I could only secure an appointment at mid-May. Unfortunately, it coincided with Grandma's funeral .... so I rescheduled the appointment to next available slot, which was early June. 

Dr. Wong - the wife - did my consultation and she too confirmed that I had to do the root canal treatment. She had a gentle demeanor which put me completely at ease ... and I knew that I was in good hands. My treatment had to be scheduled for a week later. 

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Dr. Wong talked me through each step so that I knew what was happening. First she drilled 2 holes on my tooth - because premolars had 2 nerves. She had to find the nerves. Apparently, only one nerve was dead - because I did not feel any pain there when she cleaned out the canal. The other nerve was still alive - and there I felt pain whenever she scrapped and cleaned the canal. It was a bearable kind of discomfort, though. Then an X-ray was taken .... and then more scrapping before a temporary filling was placed to cover the canals. 

Dr. Wong explained to me that I would have the discomfort for at least 2 days, and that a little bit of swelling was normal.

That night, I went to bed with throbbing pain in my teeth and gum. But when I woke up the next morning, there was no more pain ... and my gum did not swell. Over the next few days, the tenderness I felt on my right cheek, and my little lump went away .... and I was over the top.

Actually, I've had the tenderness on my cheek since last year! I remember distinctly when because it was not long after I had gotten a filling done at the Polyclinic. So, I have had the tenderness for over a year! And I never even knew why! And I never even bothered to get it checked. I hadn't suspected that it came from my bacteria infested nerves in my gum ...... Had my tooth not cracked, I would not have even gotten it treated! 

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The following week, I went back to Dr. Wong - and she removed my temporary filling and replaced it with a permanent one, and I was good to go. I also got her to check my other teeth .... and they were all fine. :))

This treatment set me back by RM440.00 - which was very reasonable indeed. I'd just found a myself a reliable dentist. I would really recommend her should you need any dental assistance. :))