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Cavity possible less than two weeks after dental visit?

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blueturtle

Junior member
Joined
Jul 15, 2011
Messages
2
Greeting to everyone since I'm new and thanks in advance for any advice or information that may be provided.

I visited the dentist 15 days ago. Their initial check didn't find anything but during the clean they discovered two tiny holes (around my front teeth and not near this new problem) just forming and fixed them for good measure. Nothing was mentioned about my maxillary second molar (I looked that up on wikipedia so I might have the tooth wrong) of which I shall talk about. Around 5 days ago (10 days after the dentist) while in bed, after brushing, I noticed the side of the tooth in question closest to the cheek felt funny. This immediately raised my suspicions as I had the same feeling before which I learnt was my first cavity when I visited the dentist months after discovery.

I took a photo, however it's not the greatest considering it's the second to last tooth on the roof of my mouth. To my untrained eye it certainly doesn't look good, but I'm finding it hard to believe how such a giant thing could have escaped the dentist eye mere weeks before. I suspect it must have been there before, or at least hidden inside the tooth though I feel no pain. What I'm wondering is what is it? Is it a cavity that was hidden inside my tooth that escaped the probing and jet of air that are meant to reveal them?

Since the dental I've brushed my teeth everyday, haven't drunk sugary drinks (well actually a drink of juice a couple of times but mainly water) or lollies so I fail to see how it could be new. I'm really hoping someone can enlighten me as to the cause and what it is. I'm eager to learn of the answer, though I suspect the solution to the problem might not be what I want to hear. :)

Edit: While I feel awful (so much so I've been trying to ignore my suddenly abnormal feeling tooth in the hopes it'll disappear) at the thought of having to make another appointment at the dentist I don't think it's a phobia. While I probably wont sleep the night before I will still work up enough courage to get it done. Hopefully my post is still alright on this board just this one time as I read the title of "dental fear forum" and missed the "This is a dental phobia only" sticky.
 

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First let me say you did a fine job of capturing that image considering how far back in the mouth the tooth is located.
Yes almost certainly is caries and needs to be treated. Yes it has been there awhile and it was just missed.
 
Thank you very much for the reply. I suppose I'll have to ring up and schedule an appointment before my 6 month checkup.

Is it common for a cavity that size to be missed by the dentist? Or was it somehow able to massively expand after the check in only ten days? I'm really curious as it looks gigantic to be.
 
Just was missed it happens dentist will be embarrassed
 
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