Today Did Not Get Better

[rowyn]

So the dentist visit was to check on a tooth that has been checked on three times in the last eight months. In November, he filled a cavity in it and warned me that it might be dying. "But I don't think so, because it would hurt a lot more."

It mostly stopped hurting after that, but I went back a week or two later because it'd started again. He filed down a high spot and I left. Five months later, it started hurting again when I chewed on that side. I went in, had the filling filed down again, he warned again that it might be a problem at the root "but it would hurt probably hurt more, so hopefully not." It stopped hurting again.

Last week, it started hurting when chewing on that side again. It still didn't hurt much -- like a 1. It had never risen above a 2.T he top felt sharp, like a broken edge. I made an appointment yesterday for today.

It had fractured down the middle.

So he poked about to see if he could salvage it with a root canal, but nope. Dead tooth. He extracted it. Now I have a giant hole and a mouth full of wet gauze and a dentist convinced I have insane pain tolerance.

I wish I had insane pain tolerance. The giant hole hurts a lot more than the tooth had. It will probably be a week or two healing.

I am at Walmart, waiting for the three different prescriptions to be filled: painkillers, antibiotic pills, antibiotic rinse. Then I guess I'll go back to work. Today is going to be awful anyway. I might as well get paid for some of it.

Comments

Sympathy and Best Wishes

[phierma.livejournal.com]

I've had a lot of teeth extracted over the years, but never for a broken tooth (about half a dozen "deciduous" teeth that were too stubborn to make way for the "permanent" ones*, and five [yes, five] wisdom teeth, all of which were completely impacted and had to be chiseled out in two separate batches [I opted for general anesthesia on both occasions]). The worst of them was the second round of wisdom teeth (the final three). Due to a nearly lawsuit-worthy mishandling of my recovery from the anesthesia, I had torn the stitches out before I reached home. (Don't ask. Really.) In that instance, I was still in pain about five days later (on the day of my marriage to my first wife). The other extractions settled down much more quickly; maybe three or four days for the second worst (the first round of wisdom teeth).

I said all that to say this: you have my understanding and sympathy, as well as my best wishes for a speedy recovery.

And good luck with the bike.

*I still have a primary molar where a bicuspid should be; said bicuspid is believed to have manifested as wisdom tooth number 5.

Re: Sympathy and Best Wishes

[rowyn]

Yowch!

This was nothing like as bad as having my wisdom teeth out (just the usual four). That took, I dunno, a week before I really felt recovered. With the extraction, I was feeling pretty good by Friday, just two days later. Whew. :)