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02/22/2007: "more dental fun"
So, you know that last dentist visit I had? My tooth was fine for about 48 hours, and now it's back to exactly where it was before. I'm obviously just thrilled with this. I made another appointment with the dentist yesterday, and was sort of looking forward to doing more origami while having the tooth re-fixed.
Today, the tooth is the same. Nothing got fixed. And I may be in for some rather unpleasant dental work.
The last time, the diagnosis was that my tooth was cracked. As I now have the exact same symptoms, I have to assume that part of the crack is still there, and has possibly even grown. The problem is, the dentist can't see any crack, and doesn't want to just start drilling into my tooth willy-nilly to find it. Frankly, he's stumped. That is not what I wanted to hear from him.
My options at this point aren't very numerous. I could tell him to just start drilling, or take one side of my tooth entirely off, as we can tell in what area of the tooth the crack is at least. That would likely be a pretty expensive route to take, and may not necessarily solve anything. The dentist also didn't actually mention this as an option, but if I pressed him I'm sure he'd do it. I don't necessarily think it's a good thing to do, but it is an option. The dentist-recommended options I have really kind of suck; root canal, or extraction.
You've heard of a root canal, but until yesterday I didn't actually know what having one meant. I can't say knowing makes me feel any better. The only reservation about doing the root canal is that if the tooth is indeed cracked (which I believe it is), there's a chance the tooth may simply crack off during the root canal. Then they would have to finish the root canal, and rebuild the tooth.
The other option, extraction, doesn't sound too bad. My wisdom tooth would move in and almost close the gap that would be left, so eating wouldn't be an issue. Due once again to the crack in the tooth, the extraction may be tricky. I've got good bone density and great roots, so it's possible that the crack will simply mean the top of the tooth cracks off instead of the whole thing being extracted.
I left without having had anything done, and was given a referral to an endodontist. Hopefully a definitive course of action for my tooth will be formed, and it will be fixed (or removed) once and for all. Meanwhile, I'll practice my origami.
