Dental Crowns Are No Fun - Especially With TMJ

I had bilateral TMJ surgery over thirty years ago. At the time, it was a relatively unknown surgery performed at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Ever since then, going to the dentist even for a routine cleaning can put stress on the joints. So whenever an even more elaborate procedure is required, I get rather nervous because my jaw is sore for several days. As luck would have it, the last molar on the lower side chipped off and needed to have a crown because the huge silver filling was probably the oldest one in my head! But the promise at Capitol Hill Dental Group was that the procedure could be done in one visit. I had one done a few years before, and it was completed in one visit. So, after the needle and the numbing, the drilling started. That went well until... the machine that made the crowns stopped working. That meant I needed a temporary crown until the machine got fixed. So what was supposed to be one visit turned in to two. But I had to keep calling the office for a status and try to schedule an appointment. In the mean time I was biting the inside of my cheek and feeling awkward. So after ten days, I finally had it replaced yesterday - but that required some cautery, pain, more anesthetic, and finally a new crown. My jaw was tight and hurt for the rest of the day and finally starting to feel better this morning - although my face is swollen and uncomfortable. At least it was the lower molar - otherwise I would have had to have a new splint made for the upper teeth. I really dislike the dentist, but I dislike lack of communication even more. I'm anxious for the day I don't have to think about it.