Glad all is OK katsclaws. At my last check up a couple months ago, I mentioned to the dentist that although my teeth aren't pretty, they've never given me any trouble and I'd never even had toothache. Well I jinxed myself there as a couple of weeks later I had some discomfort in an upper back tooth that wouldn't go away so I made an appointment but couldn't see my own dentist as it was booked as an emergency.
He said he couldn't see anything wrong but took an x-ray and we looked at it together. At first he still saw nothing wrong but after tweaking the contrast said there was a problem after all and showed me a shaded area above the gumline which he said was a cavity "but not a normal cavity" He said it was a resorbant cavity where your body starts to absorb the tooth and it cannot be stopped and would require extraction. He gave me antibiotics as he said there was some infection there and asked me to see my own dentist the following week.
My dentist repeated what I'd been told but pointed out that due to the shape of my tooth, (wider at the root end than the bottom) it would be a complex extraction requiring IV sedation and the removal of some bone to allow the extraction.
Well that was a shock- as was the cost ( private but just the very basic one covering checks ups and hygienist ) although he said I could go on the hospital waiting list if I chose to. He said I would need someone with me as I would be groggy and feel drunk afterwards and would need a couple of days off work.
I worried over it for a week but as I'd had no return of the discomfort after finishing the antibiotics, told him that I would go on the hospital waiting list but if the pain returned before I was given a hospital appointment, I would have it done by him.
I told him I was worried all my teeth could be doing the same but he said there was more chance of winning the lottery! He also said it's usually front teeth that suffer this problem so at least I don't have that added worry.
Ariadne xx
