The Dentist

About 6 weeks ago, I had a toothache. I headed off to the dentist for the first time in about 4 years. It turned out I had decay tracking under an already very large filling. After 4 weeks of an antibiotic/sedative treatment and a temporary filling, I had it filled properly a couple of weeks ago, very narrowly escaping a root canal. Phew!!!

Today I had an appointment for my clean and scale, instead I’ve come away with a temporary filling (with the antibiotic/sedative lining for the roots) again, and need to have the proper filling in a month if this tooth settles down. Thankfully the term root canal was not bandied about this time.

Three or four days ago, I developed pain on the right side of my mouth. It was as though the bones were trying to explode my teeth right out of the gums and Brufen + Panadeine only brought it back to a dull ache. Its kept me awake at night. I could not pinpoint which tooth was the culprit, or whether it was coming from the top or the bottom (apparently all the nerves mingle and this is quite common). At least, I already had a booked appointment.

I assumed the culprit was probably the tooth that narrowly escaped root canal, but I was wrong! It turns out the tooth directly underneath was completely cracked across (in fact I could see it in a mirror), it has whats called pulpitis (infection/inflammation of the root pulp) which is the cause of the pain. Thankfully the pain should be less with the antibiotic/sedative lining and hopefully will settle within a week. Of course as soon as the anaesthetic wore off the dull ache set in but seems to have settled with Brufen alone (prescription anti-inflammatories are a perk of my job)

On the plus side, I now only have one grey amalgam filling left in my mouth. I wonder if that might self destruct before my next clean and scale appointment???