Bad Tooth January Rolls into February
I finally saw the oral surgeon. The good news is he believes extracting my broken molar (#15) will be a simple procedure involving a little Novocain, some pliers, and about 30 minutes of labor. Very minor. The only catch is the earliest they can schedule the procedure is March 29th.
Meanwhile, the state of my tooth is deteriorating. What was once a hairline crack requiring a microscope to identify is now split wide enough to be easily seen with the naked eye, and I can feel it with my tongue. Despite chewing with only the teeth on my right side, food will work its way into the gap on the left. I must brush my teeth several times daily to keep it clear. The broken tooth lines up directly with my infected sinus. The infected sinus can be observed as a white cloud on the X-Ray. There is little doubt it originated from the bad tooth and migrated upward. We don't know if the smell stuck in my head is from the tooth or sinuses. Maybe both.
The sinus infection is triggering asthma, which makes me cough hard coughs that rattle the broken tooth, which in turn sends shocks of pain shooting up into my orbital. Zyrtec and a rescue inhaler keep the asthma reasonably under control, but the Zyrtec makes me tired and sore, and my inhaler will run dry next week or shortly after. My prescription insurance, CVS Caremark, now requires prior authorization for Albuterol. If my experience with Cequa is anything to go by, they will fight tooth and nail not to cover the prescription. It will likely take weeks of circular phone calls and paperwork to come to a resolution. In the meantime, I'll have to pay out of pocket. I could probably use more antibiotics for this sinus infection, too. My PCP's earliest availability is February 29th. I don't know what we're doing with the health system here, but we need to get our shit together.