Hi Everyone,
I guess I"m just looking for some comfort
. I am quite worried. I have basically not been to a dentist in almost 30 years. At the time, I had about 4 root canals done and a few cavities filled – I was about 18 or 19. For most of the years following, I didn't have too many issues (I think I may have gone once to a dentist in 2005 or 2006 to have a cavity filled) and I've tried to be careful with oral health.
About a year or so ago I started to see some fillings fall out from both my right and left side but couldn’t go to a dentist because I had no insurance and no money to pay out of pocket.
About a few months ago, I did get some insurance (crappy as it is). About a month ago, a back molar (the one next to the wisdom tooth) on the upper left side broke (a piece of it about halfway across the tooth and down near the gum – there isn’t a hole that exposes the gum). I called a dentist closest to me (I don’t have a car and there aren’t many buses in my area so I’m limited with transportation) and made an appointment but they could only get me in on January 20. I was feeling fine, no pain or anything, so I thought it was OK to wait (being very careful with what I eat, no crunchy stuff, etc). On Christmas day (2 days ago), the tooth right next to the broken one began to ache. It’s not excruciating pain and it mainly hurts when I bite down on it so it’s tolerable. I’m taking Advil (which is helping) as well as doing salt water rinses and apple cider vinegar rinses (which also help). I’m now trying to find another dentist that will take me earlier than the 20th, as the other dental office claims they don’t have an earlier appointment and I don’t want to risk the pain getting worse, since it just started.
Here’s the thing, though. About two months ago, I started getting some sinus pressure and pain on the same side of my face. I suffer from chronic migraines so I thought it was related to that. It was like a dull (but persistent) ache around my left cheekbone and across the back near the ear and around the upper jawline (and sometimes the lower jawline also), as well as sometimes pressure on the right side (though much less severe). I went to a doctor and he said I had allergies and gave me a prescription for a nasal spray (which didn’t help) and antibiotics (but I didn’t take them, as he said to only take them if I started to get a fever and feel really bad but that never happened). The sinus pressure/pain went away after about 2 weeks. But earlier this week it returned (though it's more sinus pressure than actual pain and more localized around the upper left hand side under my cheekbone/near my nose and it's on both sides). It was a few days afterwards that the tooth pain started.
I’m really praying that it’s not going to be a big issue and that it’s not an abscess. My gut feeling is that the broken tooth is going to have to be pulled (which I am terrified of) and that maybe the tooth pain I’m getting in the tooth next to it (which, as far as I know, is a healthy tooth – I really don’t know what is or is not healthy anymore since I had all my heavy dental work done 30 years ago) is really coming from the broken tooth, as they lay right next to one another (and there is what feels like a slight crack right on that side that borders the healthy tooth).
The last root canal I had was in 1988 or 1989. Somebody please tell me that procedures have improved in the last 30 years so that it's not as much of an ordeal anymore :-D.
Tam
I guess I"m just looking for some comfort
. I am quite worried. I have basically not been to a dentist in almost 30 years. At the time, I had about 4 root canals done and a few cavities filled – I was about 18 or 19. For most of the years following, I didn't have too many issues (I think I may have gone once to a dentist in 2005 or 2006 to have a cavity filled) and I've tried to be careful with oral health.About a year or so ago I started to see some fillings fall out from both my right and left side but couldn’t go to a dentist because I had no insurance and no money to pay out of pocket.
About a few months ago, I did get some insurance (crappy as it is). About a month ago, a back molar (the one next to the wisdom tooth) on the upper left side broke (a piece of it about halfway across the tooth and down near the gum – there isn’t a hole that exposes the gum). I called a dentist closest to me (I don’t have a car and there aren’t many buses in my area so I’m limited with transportation) and made an appointment but they could only get me in on January 20. I was feeling fine, no pain or anything, so I thought it was OK to wait (being very careful with what I eat, no crunchy stuff, etc). On Christmas day (2 days ago), the tooth right next to the broken one began to ache. It’s not excruciating pain and it mainly hurts when I bite down on it so it’s tolerable. I’m taking Advil (which is helping) as well as doing salt water rinses and apple cider vinegar rinses (which also help). I’m now trying to find another dentist that will take me earlier than the 20th, as the other dental office claims they don’t have an earlier appointment and I don’t want to risk the pain getting worse, since it just started.
Here’s the thing, though. About two months ago, I started getting some sinus pressure and pain on the same side of my face. I suffer from chronic migraines so I thought it was related to that. It was like a dull (but persistent) ache around my left cheekbone and across the back near the ear and around the upper jawline (and sometimes the lower jawline also), as well as sometimes pressure on the right side (though much less severe). I went to a doctor and he said I had allergies and gave me a prescription for a nasal spray (which didn’t help) and antibiotics (but I didn’t take them, as he said to only take them if I started to get a fever and feel really bad but that never happened). The sinus pressure/pain went away after about 2 weeks. But earlier this week it returned (though it's more sinus pressure than actual pain and more localized around the upper left hand side under my cheekbone/near my nose and it's on both sides). It was a few days afterwards that the tooth pain started.
I’m really praying that it’s not going to be a big issue and that it’s not an abscess. My gut feeling is that the broken tooth is going to have to be pulled (which I am terrified of) and that maybe the tooth pain I’m getting in the tooth next to it (which, as far as I know, is a healthy tooth – I really don’t know what is or is not healthy anymore since I had all my heavy dental work done 30 years ago) is really coming from the broken tooth, as they lay right next to one another (and there is what feels like a slight crack right on that side that borders the healthy tooth).
The last root canal I had was in 1988 or 1989. Somebody please tell me that procedures have improved in the last 30 years so that it's not as much of an ordeal anymore :-D.
Tam