Is the Tooth Fairy around?

This is a serious warning to anyone out there who neglects their teeth or fails to keep every six month dental appointment. DON'T DO IT.

I am not kidding, I have been in the biggest nightmare of my life over the last few days. It actually all started last week when one of my molars decided to basically shatter. The dentist had been telling me for years that this tooth would eventually need a crown. Well, that day had arrived. So I got in for an emergency appointment where they did the beginning stage of crown preparation. They put a temporary on and told me that my crown would be ready sometime after the twentieth. No big deal, right? Wrong. The following night while eating some ice cream, the temp literally just popped off in my mouth. I called the on-call dentist and he instructed me how to put it back on. It was a pretty traumatizing experience.

The next day, I started noticing some pain on the other side of my mouth. I didn't think too much of it, just thought I probably had a nasty cavity that I would get taken care of later. This pain got worse with each day, to the point I was popping Tylenol Extra Strength every six hours to get through. I had a scheduled cleaning yesterday morning. The night before, I was up sobbing because it truly felt like my tooth was about to explode inside jaw.

The moment the dentist took a look inside my mouth and at my x-rays, I could immediately sense there were some big problems. Turns out that I need to have a root canal done on the painful tooth, a deep cleaning where they have to numb my entire mouth, and three cavities that need to be filled. He drilled into the bad tooth and cleaned as much of the infection out that he could, sealed it up, and sent me home with a prescription for super strong antibiotics and an appointment for the root canal on Monday morning. I have had two root canals in the past and I'm not going to lie - I am dreading this appointment.

Anyways, the lesson in all of this is I will never again neglect my dental health. I can't believe I went two years between cleanings (and throw in a pregnancy as well!). I literally feel like my teeth are just giving out on me. But the dentist assured me that this can all be reversed if I take care of my teeth from here on out. Believe me - brushing, flossing, and dental appointments will begin taking top priority for me!

So boys and girls, brush and floss your teeth and please visit your dentist every six months! Take it from me - I would never wish this experience on even my worst enemy.