I've made 67 revolutions around the sun and this was my second root canal, but this is the first one by Dr. Young. My first root canal on an upper left rear molar in 2010 (NOT done by Dr. Young) went bad a few months later and I elected not to do an implant as I wasn't convinced the procedure had been perfected yet, and so I had the tooth extracted. The last two years I've lived with an infection in the root of an upper molar on the right side which would only flair up occasionally, curiously it seems soon after I would begin thinking that the infection was gone. Every time I went in for a teeth-cleaning my dentist would take an x-ray and show me the pocket of infection around the tip of the root and he'd say "It's getting bigger". At my last cleaning a few weeks ago he looked me dead in the eye and said "You NEED a root canal and you are fortunate that we have one of the best Endodontists, Dr. Young, right here in Grass Valley." My brother, a local orthodontist who is a perfectionist, agreed that Dr. Young was the best. As I was to learn later, Dr. Young graduated at the top of his Enodontics Residency class at Harvard.
So I went in for my second root canal and all of the staff was exceptionally friendly and professional. I generally have no problems whatsoever with dental work, but I do remember my first root canal (that went bad) was not what i would call a pleasant experience - quite the opposite of my experience with Dr. Young. I can honestly say the whole experience with Dr. Young and his staff was very pleasant, even enjoyable, and the actual procedure was literally painless (just a couple shots of novocaine which he painlessly administered). And to top it off they didn't have typical office music playing, but what I would call 'light-rock' softly playing in the background (thankfully he must not be into country music).
When he first walked into the room and warmly introduced himself, my initial thought was that he kinda looked like your typical all-american quarterback (with a short beard which was a delightful surprise) - and he modestly admitted later he did "play a little quarterback in high school". Before starting he unhurriedly explained everything about the root canal in detail while pointing out things in the state-of-the-art 360º x-ray on a big computer display on the wall (have i mentioned everything in his office is state-of-the-art?). And while actually performing the procedure he would patiently explain at each step what he was doing and why, which made it much more interesting and enjoyable for me.
The teamwork between Dr. Young and his assistant Tricia, as they handed the different instruments back and forth, was like watching Joe Montana hand off the ball to one of his running backs - smooth, quick and seamless - and Tricia was always waiting with the next instrument he would need, as well as frequently and kindly asking me if i was doing ok (I was). On the occasions when he would softly ask Tricia for a special size or type of instrument, he almost always would add "please" at the end - which in my experience is a rarity for a dentist to say to their assistant.
Did I just catch them on a good day or was it perhaps because I was the first patient of the day? I don't know. However, what I perceived was poise, finesse and mutual-respect along with assured-confidence that allowed me to really relax throughout the procedure. Dr. Jeremy Young has created a team that makes having a root canal an amazing experience - it should seriously be on everyone's bucket list. It has now been 8 hours since he was cleaning out and disinfecting the roots of my upper molar, the novocaine has worn off and I have just a little tenderness when i bite down - i won't even be taking an ibuprofen.
When it was all over and he had told me to call him if i had any problems, he asked if I had any questions - and he didn't even roll his eyes (as many people do) when I told him a little about the Mandella Effect. I'm now actually looking forward to my next root canal.
update: it's been about two weeks since Dr. Young cleaned out the roots of my upper right molar and absolutely no problems... it was a little sore the day after and i was being very careful not to chew on the right side, it was a little tender the next day and i was still not chewing on the right side - and i kid you not, on the 3rd day i was eating crusty chewy artisan bread and nuts and chips with no problem (i think i was supposed to wait two weeks before chewing hard, crunchy things)... amazing, amazing, amazing... read more
