Achey breaky teeth

[shewhomust]

It didn't seem fair that the long-term low-level toothache should resurface when I was already suffering from a cold. But it was going to happen sooner or later, and I'd found a tiny chip of something metallic, and wasn't surprised. I muttered a bit about toothache being an unexpected symptom of a cold, but I didn't really believe it - I just didn't want to take an infectious cold to the dentist with me.

Over the weekend, though, it was painful enough that first thing on Monday morning I called the dentist and explained the situation. Once we had established that this definitely was just a cold (I had done a covid test and it was negative) there was no problem about an appointment for lunchtime the same day.

THe interesting thing is that apparently toothache can indeed be a symptom of a cold: since both colds and teeth put pressure on the sinuses, they can interact in a painful way.

This was not all that was going on in my case, though: a filling had been more than chipped, it had been dislodged, and since the filling was the only thing holding the tooth together, it had broken in two. There was no alternative but extraction, and the good (?) news was that she could do it right now.

I do not remember when I last had a tooth out. It has certainly happened, I have gaps in my mouth as evidence. But I have no memories of it, and perhaps this is just as well. The process was not painful in itself, but it was one of the longer 20-minutes of my life, and the constant reassuring and soothing remarks were alarming. I was sent home with instructions to do nothing but sit on the sofa for the rest of the day, and I wasn't tempted to disobey. (Perfect convalescent book: Diana Wynne Jones Enchanted Glass).

Better today, though still very sore.

Comments

[asakiyume]

Ouch, so sorry. I hope the pain keeps on subsiding.

I feel like the approach of just removing it is probably better (in the sense of: causes less long-term pain and hassles) than the approach here, which can be (in what I've seen happen with family members) to suggest you get an implant to hold a false tooth in the place of the one that's broken. It's a long drawn out process that seems to have a high failure rate... I think if it were me, I'd prefer just removal (though of course it would probably matter where in my mouth the tooth is located).

[shewhomust]

Thanks for the good wishes! And you're right about other things, too, given context, which I won't spell out in detail.

[athenais]

I'm so sorry, but glad it is no longer painful and you can take to your bed or couch like a Victorian lady convalescent. Possibly you should wear something that trails.

[shewhomust]

I wore my big woolly shawl - would that fit the bil?

[athenais]

Certainly, as long as you also sigh faintly now and then. But reading on a sofa is best.

[nineweaving]

Oh, ow! Much sympathy. DWJ is the perfect diversion.

Nine

[shewhomust]

She is indeed!

[anef]

DWJ - sovereign remedy for all ills! Though I'm surprised you didn't choose Wilkins' Tooth. In fact probably chewing a page of that would have cured your toothache immmediately.

[shewhomust]

Oh! Why did I not think of that?

[cmcmck]

Hope you get things sorted out soonest!

[shewhomust]

Thank you!