At the end of April, one of my teeth started to hurt. It was just sensitive to cold really, but I was afraid that I had a cavity. I didn't want a cavity to get really bad because I desperately did not want a root canal while in Korea. So I searched for and found an English-speaking dentist. Booking the visit was great. The dentist spoke English well and set up an appointment quickly. He even texted me back because he forgot to ask my name. On April 28th I went for the first appointment. They were very kind and helpful. However, I had cracked my tooth and therefore needed a root canal :( But I knew they were not just saying this because they used some kind of dye to show me the crack in the tooth. They also told me the full procedure (or so I thought). I was surprised because he told me I would need to come in 3-5 times to complete the procedure. This was my first root canal but from hearing from others most of the time a root canal in America is completed in 2 maybe 3 visits. But I didn't think much about it and was glad to find a dentist that spoke English.
On May 1st, I went in for the beginning of the procedure. I decided to make sure I had an audio book to listen to during the procedure because in the dentist office it is a big room with 4 dentist chairs in it. They use a thick fabric like cover that covers your entire face except your mouth. It blocks out the bright light and all the motion going on around you, but not the noise. The first procedure went really well. I was relaxed, not in pain, and content listening to my audio book. I didn't fully understand the whole procedure, but the dentist used a book with pictures and worked carefully to help me understand. I went again two days later with no issues.
However, after my second visit I started to get some swelling and some pain. My second visit was on a Saturday but the following Monday and Tuesday were holidays so I went again on Wednesday. I didn't really have any issues during the procedure. As I was leaving, the dentist who owns the practice but whose English is not as good came to speak to me as I was leaving. I mentioned the swelling to him and he told me to wait. He came back with antibiotics. He seemed slightly concerned and wanted to make sure I was okay. I went again the next Saturday and again didn't have problems. They gave me like two more doses of the antibiotic just for that evening and the next morning. At this point, I was starting to stress because there didn't seem to be an end in sight. The dentist was always very kind but I thought I would be finished and I wasn't. He wasn't clear the tooth color for the cap except that they would do it over a metal camp first. I was avoiding eating on that side of my mouth and I was just getting frustrated.
The fifth visit for the root canal procedure and 6th overall was a nightmare. Everything seemed to start well. I went after work on Monday. But after he did the injection and the hygienist began to remove the temporary camp things went down hill. The inject didn't seem to work and everything was painful. So the dentist came back and gave me another injection. This continued for like an hour. Four injections later and some tears they finally were able to just put the temporary back on. I honestly don't think they moved forward with the procedure at all because I was in so much pain. The dentist who owns the practice actually came to finish the procedure. He felt so bad because I was crying from the pain and because I was incredibly scared. They gave me pain meds and I went home. I just wanted to be done and unfortunately knew I would have to continue to go back because it was incomplete. I wasn't mad at the dentist just scared and so worried because it was taking so long.
From then on, I got more antibiotics and spaced out the visits to about once a week instead of 2-3 a week. Each time I thought I would be finishing and then I wasn't. This continued through the end of June. However, after every procedure from the beginning my dentist would text me either that evening or the next morning to see how I was feeling and if I had any pain. I talked with my dentist more than anyone else in Busan through out the procedure.
Finally he told me I would finish the root canal treatment in the next visit. I was stoked! I thought that meant he would put on the cap and I would go on and be finished with this never-ending dentist visit. For weeks, I had been carrying around cash to pay for the procedure and I felt like I was actually going to pay for and finish this procedure. I was wrong and I was devastated to find out. The dentist wasn't purposefully getting my hopes up. He finished the treatment that day but then they had to continue with the procedure for the cap. I did find out during that visit when I was completely disappointed that the main reason that I had had about 8 visits thus far was because of time. The practice sees around 80 patients a day and they put the root canal procedure into several small steps to complete it. Essentially they do about 20 minutes of work each visit and just slowly go through the procedure so that they can see more patients in a day. I understand its culturally different but it didn't change my frustration through the whole process.
Once we moved onto the capping I again thought it would be one visit and finished. Nope! It was 3 more visits because we finished. In one visit they took a mold of the tooth which I figured would be used to make the cap. Well the next visit I excepted them to put the cap on but instead they took a copy of all of my teeth, top and bottom. That visit they also pulled out samples of the colors they could use so they could match it to my teeth. This was the best thing that had happened in a month! I was so happy because I had originally been told they had 3 colors. One for normal tooth color, one for slightly whiter tooth color, and one for smokers that was a little yellow. At least I knew it really would look like my other teeth. I was constantly disappointed as I went in expecting to me done and then I wasn't. After the copy was made me told me that the next visit they would put on the permanent cap. I could feel it. I was finally going to be finished!
Nope! Again! They did put on the permanent cap but did not cement it on. They wanted me to eat with it and use it so that it could settle more securely. After having it one for about 2 days, I realized the benefit of this. The cap had seem really long but as I ate with it, it settled down and finally seemed to fit perfectly. The next visit truly was the last visit. It was cemented. It looked like all my other teeth and I was mostly happy. I thought I would be esstatic but I wasn't because I'm pretty sure they shaved some of the tooth below because it kept hitting the cap but they couldn't shave the cap because then the metal part underneath would show through. But I was finished.
Finally, on July 5th I was finished.
Yes, this procedure took more than 2 full months. I was one of the most trying experiences here in Korea. Culturally things were different. There was a lot of miscommunication due to language differences. And it sent me into a vast array of emotions with each visit. I was mostly angry or disappointed, but I always knew they were trying hard to make things right for me and to do a great job. It was just so incredibly different. They were also kind with payment since the injections had not worked that one day. They took off quite a bit of the cost. It was much, much cheaper than America to begin with but they took off essentially the price of the root canal procedure and just charged me for the cap. They were really helpful. I was just ecstatic to be finished for now. It really felt like it was never-ending.
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