i followed a convoy of cyclists, i was one of the anchors. i made it to park street right on time, went upstairs to the dental practice. the receptionist was that real bitch of a lady who never smiles, and seems to barely tolerate the patients. rarely have i seen someone so lacking in joy. i almost wanted to ask her why she was grouchy all the time, but didn't want to burn any bridges. another woman was already waiting in the 3-seat waiting area, wearing a mask, holding a box that contained a molding of her teeth. later an old lady came in, also holding a similar box, wearing a mask as well. she opted to stand even though there was a free seat, she just didn't want to see next to anyone i guess, so i wasn't about to get up and offer her my seat. because i biked, i was super sweaty, but tried to cool off with what little AC there was in the office.
eventually they called me in. the dental assistant asked me how i was. i told her about my toothache, and that i was basically here to get a referral, not for any dental procedure, since my tooth hurt too much. i guess it wasn't her call, and she prepped me for procedure anyway, despite my reservations. she took 3 x-rays on my right jaw, and 2 x-rays on the left jaw.
minutes later the dentist came in. i repeated what i said to the assistant. she decided to check for herself anyway. the first probe with her dental hook made me involuntarily jerk my body and wince. like i told her, i was in shape for any sort of procedure today. she had a printout of my dental insurance claims, and apparently my old doctor huang filed a claim for the molar even though he only worked on the implant next to it. it seemed a little fishy, but because of this discrepancy, the dentist i was seeing today could not do any work on the tooth without me having to pay out of pocket (insurance wouldn't cover repeat work). she told me to go back to my previous dentist and resolve the issue. she did say she could pull the tooth for me, which would be insurance covered. "would you like me to pull it out?" she asked. "no, i'd like to save my tooth if possible," i told her. i also told her that my lower jaw felt painful for a few days, she said that was normal, that the nerves are all interconnected (doesn't mean i also need a lower jaw root canal). only then did she finally write me a referral, to the infamous tufts dental school. so told me to be prepared for a long wait for an appointment, and that i could basically go to any dentist to get my root canal, and then i came come back to her to do the crown. it was like saying, "okay, you're on your own, but after your difficult situation is resolved, please feel free to come back so we can do more work on your teeth." if i found a different dentist, i wouldn't be coming back. because of the pain, she also wrote me a prescription for ibuprofen (which i can get on my own over-the-counter) and an antibiotic.
i left the office by 9:40am. instead of going home, i rode down tremont street and went to ming's market to pick up a few things for the cafe. normally i'd also browse for snacks, but if there's one good thing that came out of this toothache, i've pretty much lost my appetite for snacking, just too painful to eat. i got a taiwanese cabbage, some carrots, scallions, water spinach, and longans.
i left ming's market by 10am. trying to find a dentist who can perform a root canal kept bothering me that i stopped the bike and was ready to call tufts dental to see if i could schedule an appointment as soon as possible. but then i calmed down and realized it'd be better to do it from home, instead of out on the streets. so i cycled home via the esplanade across the MIT bridge through kendall and inman square. along the way, i picked up some cactus potting soil and organic fertilizer someone had left out on the sidewalk. i got back by about 10:30am.
after a quick shower, i started searching for a root canal doctor. i called lux dental first, they have an office by lechmere. i got an answering machine and left a message. i then called tufts dental. i told the receptionist about my referral, was glad they accepted my insurance, but not so glad that the earliest they could see me wouldn't be until the end of august, more than a month away. i won't be able to survive a month. i asked her about wait list, she said they had one, but i could also call in early in the morning for last minute cancellations. unfortunately i wouldn't be able to do that until next week, as they're currently on summer break. next i called doctor huang. his wife picked up, said i could come in to their allston office tomorrow morning at 10am.
with dental wheels spinning at that point, i decided to ride out to market basket to get a few more things for the cafe (salt and vinegar). i got an italian sub sandwich for myself, with the thinking that it was solid food, so it wouldn't fall on the painful right side of my mouth.
i returned home, gathered the chinatown supplies, then went to the cafe close to noontime. i was surprised my sister wasn't there, since she was supposed to be working. my mother said my sister was taking a week off. that immediately made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, because what would happen if it got busy? but so far up to that point, it's been a very slow tuesday. my mother was wearing her brooks shoes. yesterday my father and i finally pushed the used hot water heater out to the curb. it didn't take long, but it was already gone. my father said there's a lot of expensive copper inside the tank. i left around noontime, after my parents assured me it wouldn't be busy. i saw my sister bringing in her trash but she ignored me when she saw me ride by. crossing the harvard smithsonian, i saw lauryn and feifei's husband walking with their advisor, though they didn't see me.
lux dental actually called me back, to their credit. i thought i'd never hear back from them. the receptionist seemed friendly and kind, walked me through the process. since i was a new patient, they don't do walk-in root canals, which requires a referral. she told me to send the referral i got from my dentist this morning, along with the x-rays. i told her referral i could do, but x-rays would be more difficult as they still shoot on film, not digital. i told her that i was seeing another dentist tomorrow, and he (doctor huang) would be more accommodating with referral requests. once lux dental receives the referral they can start scheduling me for a root canal. and yes, they do accept my insurance, which is probably the most important thing. she did tell me that their root canal specialist in cambridge only did front teeth; that i'd need to go to their quincy office for molars (and only on wednesday). i said that i was fine, i'd basically travel anywhere just to get the root canal done.
i ate half the italian sub. in hindsight, it was not a good idea. i basically can't eat any foods that require a lot of chewing. i sort of knew this and regret not getting some greek yogurt. each bit of sandwich was painful, but i slowly worked my way through the half sub, finally finishing. at least when i drink cold water now it doesn't hurt like it did yesterday. this toothache seems to be evolving every day.
i stayed home the rest of the day. the weather was sunny, and i briefly thought about going down to the community garden and water my plants. but around 3pm the sky turned grey and then dark, and then suddenly there was a windy downpour. the rain saved me a trip. temperature dropped from the 80's into the 70's, and by evening as low as the 60's. i did some retroactive blog updating, but it was so boring, i found myself nodding off to sleep.
lauryn came home by 6pm, immediately started making dinner. i didn't eat myself until 9pm, as i painfully gnawed away on the second half of my italian sub. i also had some grapes. later i threw out the trash. the rain had stopped but it was still wet outside.