My Teeth

After tolerating an increasingly painful toothache for four days, I finally went in to the dentist yesterday afternoon. It ended up that I had a raging infection in a far-back molar. The tooth had an old root canal and crown on it, so I didn't feel any discomfort until it was seriously decayed. The dentist lamented that the tooth had to come out, and she made me an appointment with an oral surgeon for 7:15 a.m. today. (What is it about the medical field and such early hours, anyway?)

When I arrived at the oral surgeon's office this morning, he showed me an x-ray of my molar. The abscess was so close to my maxillary sinus that it had begun to spread into it. The extraction went smoothly and I had very little bleeding afterwards. I dutifully filled my prescriptions today and iced my cheek regularly to reduce swelling. The pain from the surgery has been minimal - so far, so good.

Besides my scheduled root canal next month on my broken tooth, I also have a new cavity in yet a different molar. It has just recently begun to hurt occasionally, so I hope that fixing that tooth can wait until we return from our upcoming trip to Texas. Please dental gods, give me a break!