It's dead!

Since Justin and I have been married I have had a plethora of strange/uncommon illnesses. Uncommon for me at least. I used to be like Justin, where each year I would only have to worry about a short-lived cold coming once or twice a year. Now in the 3.5 years that we've been married I have had bronchitis, a cracked rib, strep throat, 2 ectopic pregnancies, kidney stones...and my latest problem? A dead, stinkin' tooth!

For the last couple weeks I have had issues/pains with my upper left lateral. I made an appointment with the dentist for a cleaning/check-up yesterday and the news was beyond disappointing. After tapping on the tip of several teeth, it was obvious the pain was isolated to just that tooth. Then the real cherry on top was the liquid nitrogen test. The cotton swab with the gas was excruciatingly cold to several teeth but when placed on my lateral, I didn't feel a thing! I kept waiting for the searing cold pain to hit but it never did. That was when the worst was confirmed. Either this tooth no longer thought life was worth living or it seriously offended my big front tooth, but in any case it is definitely dead.

Here's the thing with my teeth, I am slightly obsessed with clean teeth. I do not have a single cavity/filling in my mouth. I pride myself on going to the dentist twice a year, having flawless x-rays and getting a bill of excellent teeth care. (Maybe this has something to do with being the teacher's pet growing up... I now need to get an A+ from my dentist?) I floss constantly and can't stand the feeling of any plaque on my teeth. And then out of no where this happens. In all honesty the dentist said it could have been from something that happened a long time ago (perhaps the bike accident where I flipped over the handle bars and landed on my face? or maybe the aggressive orthodontics to get these babies all in a row?) but my tooth held on for as long as it could then gave up.

Anyway so this means a stinking root canal. That phrase to me is like saying Voldemort. We'll see how it goes. I have never minded the dentist because I have never had any intrusive work done. Who knows what my relationship will be with the dentist after Monday. Hopefully the laughing gas will work wonders. On the up side, since it is a small front tooth the procedure *should be* simple and straightforward, with only one root to deal with. I just hope the rest of my teeth like my mouth enough to stay alive!