Question for Dentists/Tooth experts...

CT, 77, Kanona and I aren't just whistling Dixie.

Until I got the T.N. that abscess was the worst pain I had ever felt. So far above whacking my 'nads on a wooden fence you couldn't even find it on a pain chart.

If you want an approximation of the experience, sharpen the tines of a fork, hook it up to a car battery and jam it into your jaw all the way to the bone. Then have someone wiggle it in time with your heartbeat. Leave it that way for a couple days, with no letup and then add another, poking this one in from the inside.

After 48 hours or so, you're allowed to start taking pain pills and gradually pulling out the forks, to simulate the effect of the antibiotics you'll have to take before the dentist will touch your tooth. For added realism, make sure the specific type of pill makes you really, really nauseous. After another 3-4 days you can finish removing the forks, but keep taking the barf-inducing pain pills. Continue on the pain meds for another week before ending the experiment.

At some point during Day Three, have someone ask you if you'd pay $500.00 for this whole thing never to have happened. Record your response and play it back in your car as you drive to your root canal appointment.