Oh ohhhhh, Trouble in Paradise

Oh ohhhhhh, owwwwwwwwie, so woke up Friday with a bit of a mouth ache, I’ve been known to grind my teeth at night, but, by Saturday I realized this was an actual tooth ache, a back molar, sore to bite and chew on, hmmmmm, what to do. Google it of course, looked for local dentists, maybe English speaking????? Nope, but at least there were several french only speaking clinics within a 10 minute walking distance, but what were their hours????? All closed on weekends, nearest emergency dental clinic a train ride plus bus ride away, how bad was the pain, hmmmm. Decided to hold out, fortunately Vern insisted I pack some heavy duty painkillers (with codeine) just in case, because you never know.

With a quick call to my dentist in Coquitlam I was able to get some info on my teeth, problem tooth was a root canal done 15 years ago, OMG, root canal, how bad can that be, I have extended travel insurance, so any expenses would be covered. How much is a trip to the dentist, x-rays, drillings, root canals, stay calm, stay calm. Well thanks to the painkillers (side effects of constipation, nothing a few croissants with butter couldn’t help), I was able to hold out until Monday morning, with a plan of attack, I started with the closest, Unfortunately not able to see a dentist until Tuesday at 9:30am, could I do better, headed to next clinic, no appointments until the following week, hmmm, it seemed 1 more day was indeed lucky. So how did things work out, terrific, my assigned dentist spoke no English but I realized I was able to understand most of what he was explaining (some charades were involved). In the chair, a few pokes, a few instant digital x-rays, and we were able to diagnose/see an infection (une infection dentaire) surrounding said root canal tooth, his smile was more than enough to convince me that with a week’s worth of antibiotics, some anti-inflammatories, some dental floss sticks and medicinal mouth wash (solution de bouche) after every meal, that I would be much better by next week. So after another booked rendez-vous for the following Wednesday, he seemed to assure me that the infection should be gone and my tooth no longer aching (mal aux dents). Fingers crossed, I’ll keep you posted. So what did it cost, well using my Superstore credit card, the dentist was 23.00€, the drugs+dental products+laxitives 24.00€, plus pain relief, priceless (inestimable)!!!! So far :-}