“Molar number thirty-one is touching the bone, and you need a root canal to take care of it. But don’t worry, these days we use more machines than our hands to do root canals.” I peered over at the x-ray on the screen, and even took a picture with my cell phone (don’t tell my dentist). I saw the tooth touching the bone deep down. I felt the pain that brought me to the dentist in the first place. That’s it. The anxiety began. A root canal? No wait, ANOTHER root canal? I’ve already had one, two years ago, and I thought I was too young at that time, and that it was just a fluke. But my dentist said it, so it must be true.
I waited some time this year to get my teeth cleaned, get the periodontal charting done, and have my new x-rays taken. Don’t worry, I brush and floss regularly, knowing dental problems are hereditary. (Thanks, Mom and Dad!) So let me step on my soap box for a moment. That scraping sound? That’s my soap box on the ground getting dragged across the room. *Ahem* Good dental hygiene is more than just brushing and flossing. Brushing does more than just freshen your breath, and flossing does more than remove the red meat you should reconsider eating from your teeth. Fruit and veggies are good for your teeth. Fruit actually works between your teeth to clean them. Gross and intriguing. Good dental hygiene means better overall health. (Cue scraping sound again, as I put my soap box back in the corner.)
I called my husband, who didn’t take the news well. It’s not that we had to pay for it all, I mean, the military will cover a large portion of the root canal and the crown, but it’s the holiday season, read: little extra moolah. Bad timing.
For the most part, my radio is always on K-Love radio station. It’s a national company with local stations, and I thank my Lord I live in a “K-Love city”. K-Love plays positive, encouraging music. Perfect for the workplace, or anywhere else.
So I had my radio on as tears streamed from down my cheeks at the thought of the pain of the root canal, and the feeling of it. Raise your hand if you’ve had one before, so I don’t feel so alone. For those of you lucky ducks with hands still on your chin and the computer mouse, let me describe a root canal for you.
Remember the “pipe cleaner” fuzzy things from elementary school? It’s a piece of wire, with an ugly scratchy fuzzy piece of something all over it. I used to bend them into all different shapes, and loop them together to make childhood masterpieces. Well the dentist takes a smaller version of the pipe cleaner, and sticks it in the nerve of your tooth, wiggles it around and then some. Or at least that’s what it feels like. Couple that with blinding light, weird office music, and the incessant drilling and hooping and hollering going on in there, it’s not a fun experience.
Back to the moment with tears streaming down my cheeks. Lucky for me, K-Love is known for playing “the right song at the right time,” and really, it’s God doing it, not just the staffers at K-Love. At that very moment, “Healing Hand of God” by Jeremy Camp came on the radio. I questioned, consulted my friends, and wondered, “Can God heal my tooth?” Silly me, of course he can!
So I pray, and ask you all to pray with me, that next Tuesday when I get the x-rays done at the dentist again, that my tooth will not be touching the bone, and that I will not need a root canal. In fact, the dentist will scratch his head, shove his glasses up on his nose, and say “Hmm.. well wait a minute now, it seems as though we’ve been mistaken. You’re teeth are in perfect condition, and you don’t need a root canal.”
I wrote a list the other night of things I expect God to do for me. Did you know you can do that? I didn’t, until my pastor kept preaching it over and over again. I’m trusting God so much that I expect these things to happen from God. I’m sure the road may be a little bumpy, as most things on the list require me to change first, but as far as my tooth goes, I know that God wants his favor on me. God wants nothing but healing and prosperity and goodness for his children, including me! Tooth be healed.
Isaiah 53:4-5 (NIV)
4 Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.