If you’ve seen that episode of The West Wing where Ceejay (C.J.?) visits the dentist, you know what’s going on. I got me a root canal today. Well, I got myself a part of one, anwyay: Yeah, baby. Stage 1 of my root canal.

I’m not feeling pain yet, but I know I’m in for some tonight, baby. Stage 1 involved remving the gold filling, drilling down to the roots, and digging out the meat. The meat! I got these little glimpses of the implements used for the latter — they look like miniature pipe cleaners, or like the mouthpiece brushes saxophonists use to clean their gear after a gig.

But I have to report that the experience itself wasn’t anything like as bad as I expected. The dentist did a good job — as I knew he would, he’s the local dental rockstar — and the support staff were cool and helped me relax some. (The younger assistant kept smiling at me, and the older one kept teasing me by spraying me with the air blower and so on, when she noticed I was sweating hard… from unnecessary anxiety.)

The biggest help, though, was my iPod. Here’s to Bollywood music and Japanese electronica — they drown out the sound of having your teeth drilled into. So for now, the only really uncomfortable thing so far is that there’s a gaping chunk of tooth missing and I keep feeling as if I’m going to bite down and break it at any moment. I’m almost tempted to put my night guard on, just so I can relax.

Uh. Just now, felt a tiny twinge of pain. The anaesthetic is wearing off. Hoo boy. And my mouth is pissed off.

Anyway, I’ve got some Tylenol, and I’ve told my friends I’m going to be antisocial for the rest of the day, and tomorrow, but might call to beg some more Tylenol if my supply runs out. I got back on Friday to have the canal disinfected and, if it’s doing very, very well, also get it filled. (Meaning I can get the crown setting measured on Friday, and get it crowned next Wednesday.) Otherwise, I may have to cut a class short on Thursday so it can be done in the afternoon, or hurry after my last class if he’s open late enough, or even wait till next Friday to get the crown put on.

Oh, and funny thing: the one thing I regretted was not bringing my mini-videocam along, to beg one of the assistants to video a bit so I could post it. Good grief, the things people (myself included) desire to blog. Maybe it’s just because I’m so hard, so freaking hard, that I only winced like a baby three times.

Yes, I’m that hard.^1.

^{1. It’s not your fault if you have never seen It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and don’t get the reference. Just know that I am that hard.}