Aftermath of the Oxtail Incident - Part 1

Monday Morning.  It's been an agonizing night.  My cracked tooth has kept me up most of the night.  Popping Advil is no longer a viable option.  Time to go to the dentist.  I hate going to the dentist!!  A visit to the dentist is never fun.  A dentist appointment in your calendar never has a smiley face next to it.  You never brag to your friends about your upcoming dentist visit!  Ok, so I'm a little stressed but I have to get this taken care of.  I'm off to culinary school in less than two weeks and can't afford to be distracted by a broken tooth.  Which dentist do I go to?  I haven't been to a dentist in over 2 years.
The last guy was a butcher, I still feel violated from my last visit.  I guess I'll have to let my fingers do the walking, Yellow Pages do your stuff. 
I pick a dentist at random and give them a call.  They can see me right away.  Great!  I have a quick shower and head over to their office.  The place is nice enough, flat screen TV, leather couch,  cute reception staff.  After filling out my forms a nice nurse (dental assistant?) takes me to room #5 for x-rays.  So far so good.  They have what seems to be modern equipment, the process was painless.  After about 10 minutes the dentist comes in and looks at my x-rays.  He seems to be a pleasant enough guy.  He asks me a few questions then gets me to open wide.  Then he starts tapping my teeth with what can only be described as a miniature "Ball Peen" hammer!  He starts from the front, tap-tap, does that hurt, no.  Tap-tap, does that hurt, no.  Tap-Tat, F&@K!!!!!!!!!   Deep down I know the sadistic bastard enjoyed that. 
He has one more quick look around then turns to me.  "Looks like you're gonna need a root canal".  What!!  "Yep, you might have some nerve damage so we'll need to scrape that little puppy out".  I figured a little putty to fill in the crack and some codeine to kill the pain and I'd be all set.  Wrong!! 
Ok Doc, if it has to be done, lets do it.  The Dentist leaves and the nurse tell me she can fit me in later the same day.  She can tell that I'm nervous  so she so she says some comforting things, "It won't hurt", "It'll be over quickly", "some people even sleep through the procedure".... wait what!?  Who sleeps through a root canal?  A meth addict after a binge that has been shot with elephant tranquilizer?  Just make the appointment.