Bad tooth - must see the doc again- been a number of years :(

[AllenH]

Well, here I find myself a number of years since I've been to the dentist. I finally have dental insurance, and can go without fear from the pocketbook (too much at least). I appear to have missed some serious tooth decay on the upper left molar that sits beside my wisdom tooth. It appears to have happened starting between the teeth. At first I thought it was from a tooth that I had cracked a number of years ago (when I last saw the dentist) - she did a great job of a larger filling over the cracked portion that has been excellent for quite a while. I suspected an abscess until I saw that previously mentioned tooth nearby. Crazy that I missed it. [Finally got a dental mirror and decided to take a closer look tonight.]

I feel horrible about it all. I'm dreading trying to make contact with the dentist again- not because of anything that she did, in fact I was pleasantly surprised that everything was pain free last time. More because of the judgement. I know it's bad, and it makes me very sad. Worst- I have a letter somewhere here from the dentist that I never opened because I couldn't handle opening it at the time. She sent it after I didn't show up for a checkup-visit a number of months after the initial work. I'd love to go see her again because at least I know a bit more about what to expect (newer docs are scarier for some reason), but this worry about judgement is really getting me down. The work will likely need to happen fairly quickly due to the slowly increasing pain that is finally appearing with the decay. I'm hoping this means that the root etc. is still in good shape, but we'll see. I'd really be happy if the root wasn't involved much yet, and if I was wrong about an rct. Never had a crown or rct or anything other than fillings (4 maybe?) and I'm around 38 yrs old. I feel stupid being this old and fearing this.

Almost to the point of tears, to be honest, and I just don't know where the anxiety comes from.

I hope that I can get this done quickly with her and that she'll forgive me for this. I fear it might need to be in the next few days depending on how fast this ramps up in pain. I guess there'll come a point when any doc will be a good choice for the pain, eh?

ugh.

Thanks for listening and any thoughts you might have!
-Allen

 

[carole]

Hi did you make an appointment, and if you did how did it go?

 

[AllenH]

Hi Carole!

The appointment went really well, actually! I was surprised. The Doc was very understanding, said she was glad to have me back and she took a look at the problem area on the xray. Turns out there is no current cavities and no abscess at all! She mentioned it might be a sinus infection that I was feeling for some reason in my tooth roots as they are very close to the sinuses there! I'm completely astounded that nothing is wrong right now.

I made an appointment for an overall checkup and cleaning for this Wednesday as well - just starting to get a bit of anxiety about that... I expect to find at least one cavity I'm starting to feel abit, but we'll see. It's been a while, so hopefully the cleaning won't be too insane or frustrating for either party involved.

So, really, couldn't have asked for a better quick appointment! Let's hope that the tooth isn't dead and that no rct or abscess happens!

Thanks for asking!! I should have shared earlier!
-Allen

 

[carole]

Thank you for letting us know how it went. I think you can celebrate and jump for joy.

Don't worry about the cleaning if you feel too uncomfortable she can numb your gums a bit. I was terrified about having a clean last year and my dentist said she would numb me if I wanted. I said I would see how it went and it went very well with no numbing. I was also told I might be sensitive after but I wasn't.

Let us know how you get on and GOOD LUCK