As the novacaine wears off...

I just had a root canal this morning -- number 4. My first one, 14 years ago, took 8 hours over the course of 2 visits. By the time I had the procedure the nerves had died, and the tooth had absessed, so the only pain for the procedure was the long sit with my mouth wide open. The second one (I don't remember when that one happened) was pretty much an identical situation, but with a different dentist. Number 3 was a year ago, and with the dentist I went to first -- except it was a vastly different experience. It took an hour, tops. I was stunned -- I'd taken the day off, loaded my MP3 phone with several hours worth of music -- I had prepared for the long haul. Suprise! This time I was prepared, only took a few hours off work, still took the MP3's, but didn't worry about stuffing the card full. But, because I'm getting more willing to do these things, I went in before everything had died -- so he had to spend a little extra effort with the novacaine. Which is now wearing off.

Oh, by the way, the one thing all 4 visits had in common? $800+ bills. OUCH...