Root Canal Day

For someone who used to religiously visit the dentist because of braces back in the day, it's honestly wild that my teeth have become such a disaster zone. Like… what happened?

I had my first root canal session last Tuesday -- first of three, mind you -- and while most people would freak out at the idea, I showed up like I was getting my nails done.

That's how familiar I am with dental torture ever since my braces chapter.

What the Hell Is a Root Canal?

If you’ve never had one before, let me break down the process real quick:

• First, you're numbed with topical anesthesia. This means you'll be awake during the procedure but won't feel anything. In my case, I close my eyes the whole time because while I couldn't feel anything, I get spooked watching the bloody instruments being used. I made that mistake before during my wisdom tooth extraction, where I saw the bloody thread while my dentist was closing up the suture. Like FUCK. Never again. LOL.

• Next, the dentist drills and pokes into your actual tooth with needle-like instruments. If you're very sensitive to the idea of your nerve endings being randomly poked and getting pangingilo, this will be a boss-fight level for you. You can't feel anything, don't worry, but no joke, I absolutely dread and hate this part.

• The dentist then clears out the inflamed pulp. This has your nerves, blood vessels, and other freaky stuff. Fun. 🤢

• You wait for a few weeks for your next session. I've been told the tooth (not sure if it applies to all kinds of teeth) has 3 roots that need to be killed, so a root canal generally has 3 sessions. Or more if you're like me where it got infected, swollen, and I had to take antibiotics.

  
  

Sounds like a horror movie, right? I won't disagree, but considering the end goal, it wasn’t that bad. Or maybe I'm just too desensitized to it.

How It Went Down

I guess the term can be pretty overwhelming for someone who has never had it before, but since I already had a root canal done once, I was not totally in the dark about the process.

I walked into the clinic as scheduled, like it was no big deal. LOL. My mom was even more concerned about it than I was when I called her before my appointment.

I was like, "Oh, by the way, I have a root canal appointment today, and I'm already at the dentist."

So here's how it went down. Literally:

• I came in and waited for a bit.

• After everything was prepped, they made me sit in the chair.

• The dentist administered topical anesthesia by injecting it into the gum area where the problematic tooth is. This part stings especially once the dentist injects the anesthesia into your gums. On the bright side, it's over pretty quickly, and that area will start to feel numb soon after.

• LOL I made sure to close my eyes starting when the dentist injected the anesthesia and kept them closed for the entire hour she did the procedure.

• Everything done by 11:30 AM.

Before I knew it, I was done and I'm scheduled for my second root canal session next week.

I've always known that I have a higher pain tolerance level than normal (hello Brazilian-fucking-wax! hahaha), so I guess that's one of the reasons why I wasn't that nervous about the process.

No Rest for the Wicked

The procedure started at 10:30 AM and was done by 11:30 AM. And because there's no rest for the wicked and I'm slightly unhinged, I scheduled a job interview at 3:00 p.m. the same day while on sick leave because why the fuck not. LOL.

The left side of my mouth was still completely numb post-procedure, which made it hard to talk. I totally forgot about this part. LOL. I was like WTF, I can't go into an interview like this. Thank god the numbness faded away after an hour or so.

Venice Grand Canal Mall in McKinley

Life on Auto-Function

So looking back, I guess I just ran out of fucks to give about my root canal and pretty much with so many other things else in my life right now.

It's like being on this auto-function mode where you do what you have to do, and that's it -- no questions asked, no overthinking, no anything.

I don't know. So many things are going on right now. Between job interviews, looking for a new place to move into, making huge life decisions (and I'm indecisive as fuck), and my mom's upcoming 65th birthday, I'm not even sure what I'm doing anymore.

Too Tired to Even Want a Vacation

I feel like I'm spreading myself too thin lately, and I guess going on auto-function mode is me subconsciously just trying to survive without letting things get to me or overwhelm me.

I'm not sure if this is burnout or what, but I don’t even want a beach trip or a spa day or anything like that anymore.

I just want everything to stop being a mess for five minutes. I want to finish this season of chaos and make it to September intact. Until then, I’m surviving on Red Bull. 🤷‍♀️

If you’re in auto-mode too, you’re not alone. Hang in there, and hopefully, life will sort it out eventually.