PICTURELESS POST AND A BIG SMILE!

It is difficult for me to post pictures at our home computer set up. I decided to do a quick post on a most unusual subject--a root canal--without pictures! Aren't you glad!?

I was scheduled this week to have a root canal. I have wonderful teeth for a woman of almost 50. I never had a cavity until I was over 40 and that really made me disgusted when it happened! I tend to be a little feisty when it comes to my health, believing I (or any Christian) have been given the privileges of divine health according to scripture (Isaiah 53, 1 Peter 2:24, Psalm 103 and many, many more!). So I am not a happy camper or patient patient when something goes wrong.

Almost a year ago a little sore appeared on my gum, but kept going away. Because I am so healthy, I am often ignorant of the little disturbances that signal something that others would automatically understand and recognize. I let it go for months and months because it disappeared three times. Finally I got disgusted and went to the dentist. He x-rayed and found nothing. By now the sore had gotten bigger and looked weird. He sent me to the oral surgeon. It took a month to get an appointment and I was not happy about it to boot! He kindly agreed to a consultation and procedure all in the same appointment. (I think the medical profession just wants to get me out of their offices quickly!)

After he removed this "thing," it came back within days. I called the dentist. They told me to call the surgeon. I called the surgeon, he told me to call the dentist and get another x-ray. They conferred and I was sent for another look at the closest tooth. By now almost two months had passed. This time the dentist saw the culprit. Two months made all the difference in the development of enough to show on an xray. I had a problem at the base of the tooth. The tooth was otherwise healthy and they believe the root situation was caused from years and years of a bad bite. I had braces in junior high, but the bite correction lasted for only a short time and for a number of reasons, the teeth (jaws or bite) actually never remained correct. The dentist believes that the constant incorrect biting pressure of almost 50 years had put stress on the nerve at the base of this tooth. Root canal. Turns out the little sore was an abscess.

I dreaded this more than you can know. I felt almost grieved for a tooth that has served me well for 50 years and now has to be "fixed." Well, I am so thankful for my very capable dentist and his staff. I was in an out today in less than an hour and had no pain whatsoever during the procedure or after the anesthetic wore off today. I am praising the Lord! They even said they doubt I need the crown that usually follows these procedures!

I had to think about something I've learned about divine healing. There is a scriptural principle that can be applied to a lot of situations. Many verses in the Bible, especially Proverbs, talk about the tongue, the words of your mouth, your speech, your confessions, etc. The woman that touched Jesus' garment and received healing from a 12 year issue of blood, "said" or "kept saying," what she believed. She said something like this...."if only I may touch His garment, I'll be healed." I noticed that after the consultation for the root canal, the dental staff told me it would be no big deal. I kept saying that to everyone. I told everyone that I talked to that I wasn't sure how I'd feel, but that I believed and expected that it would be no big deal. I kept saying I didn't think it would stop me from anything or be a problem at all. The only possible indication that I had that anything was wrong was the sore itself and some pressure that I am still not sure wasn't just sinus from our constantly changing weather.

I am so thankful today for the way the Lord has kept me during this long, drawn out deal and I am thankful for my really good and efficient dentist. I am thankful for a restored tooth that doesn't show one bit of the filling. I am thankful my smile is unaffected since this was a front tooth. I am thankful I live in a country where I can get good efficient help. I am thankful this didn't alter my day one bit. I am thankful for so much. Most of all, I'm thankful to the Lord that this turned out the way it did and I can once again be encouraged by the truth of scripture. May you be blessed with divine health as well and hope and faith as you read and rely on the word of God! Keep saying the truth of scripture and watch yourself receive its promises. Blessings, LORI