More adventures at the dentist

This morning was my root canal.  Or part of it, at least.  Turns out the dentist couldn't complete it because the root had calcified and I need to see a specialist to get it done now.  :(  So I'm sitting here with my face half frozen and a half-done root canal.  I think the worst part of it is that I won't be able to get in to see the specialist until May.  I was so hoping to just have this over and done with already (since it's been 2 weeks since my last dentist appointment when they told me I needed a root canal), and now it's just dragging on and on.  At least my toothache is gone, so I'm not in pain anymore.  And the dentist sealed up the work he had done, and said that I shouldn't feel anything there (we'll see once all the freezing comes out).

(I got interrupted and I'm coming back now to finish this post)

The freezing is almost all out, and nothing hurts, other than my jaw is sore from being open for so long.  The procedure itself wasn't painful, because they freeze everything up, but I found it very uncomfortable.  I hate that rubber shield they put over your mouth - I almost feel claustrophobic (for lack of a better word) when they put that on.  And I hate not being able to close my mouth and swallow.  Apparently I produce a lot of saliva (my hygienist has told me that on more than one occasion!), and usually I feel like I'm drowning in spit when I can't swallow regularly.  Today, however, they put the spit sucker in my mouth and just left it there, and it was like a desert in my mouth.  It was almost a worse feeling than the drowning feeling.  My tongue was so dried out that I actually moved the spit sucker out for a little while so I could re-hydrate it.  I think the dentist was getting a little frustrated with me, but I don't feel bad about that at all.  Sometimes I think they forget what it's like to be on the other side.

So that's all for now.  They said they'd contact me by next week to let me know when my appointment with the specialist is.  I guess until then I'll just try to put it out of my mind, and try not to think about the fact that I have to do this all over again (I'm having a bit of a pity party right now - can you tell?).