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03/02/2007: "on dentist! on endodontist! on oral surgeon!"

Yes, it's Christmas time in my mouth. The ongoing saga of my one wonky molar got cranked up a notch this week, and not for the better. I have options, none of the particularily appealing, but something has to be done, and soon.

I was not very patiently waiting for my endodontist appointment, which was scheduled for very late this month. My tooth has been bugging me, so I recently put a call into my dentist just to get an idea of how much extracting the damned thing would be. Before he got back to me, the endodontist's office called.

I had called them shortly after the referral was made and asked them to let me know of any cancellations. I figured they'd be able to give me a few hours' notice, and I might get an appoinment much earlier. I was half right - they called, but called at 12:15 asking me if I can make it to their office by 12:50. My drive to work is 45 minutes... Long story short, I did make it, and I saw the endodontist.

Yes, my tooth is likely cracked. Joy oh bliss. I have three options at this point:

1) Live with it. NOT happening.
2) Root canal. I'd have about a 70% chance of it working and not being bugged by the tooth again.
3) Extraction.

Nothing I didn't know before, right? Well, they gave me a cost to go along with that root canal. If they find 3 canals, it's $1000. If I'm lucky and there's 4, it's $1100. OUCH. Dammit, I need to find a permanent job and SOON.

I've now been referred to an oral surgeon for the extraction (or, more precisely, to get an estimate on an extraction). Early estimates I've heard from the dentist and endodontist are between $150-400 for yanking the problem tooth. Frankly, I'm really leaning towards this option. It's not only less than half the price (a worst), but it's a permanent, sure-fire fix for this tooth that has already had as much work done on it as... oh, I can't think of anyone famous for plastic surgery, so you can insert your own joke here.

What a pain. Sometimes literally, too. It's gotta go.