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Yesterday I went to the dentist because I had a terrible tootache. I didn't had a appointment but lucky me (duh) they have some spare time for celerity. When I arrived they had to point out which tooth caused the pain. And that wasn't that easy. I couldn't really tell which tooth it was so they run some tests.
- A x-ray
First of all a X-ray to see if there is a infection, but they could'nt see one. This was perhaps caused by the 2-dimmensional view and the infection could have been behind a tooth or somewere else (that's what they said) - Cold cotton ball on the teeth
They kept a cotton ball in liquid nitrogine and kept it against the tooth. Although I felt something on all teeth (it's freezing cold) we couldn't isolate the aching tooth... - Hammer
with a tiny hammer they hit on top and at the side of the tooth.
Same as with the cold cotton ball, not really pointing out to a particular tooth. - bite on a stick
They put a stick in my mouth on which I had to bite really hard, the pressure this generates would have "betray" the hurting tooth. But again with no succes. - Electrical pulses
with a kind of electrical toothbrush (without the brush) they put electrical pulses through my teeth to see which nerve reacted and which not. It looked like they all reacted so there was again no sign of one particular tooth....
So the dentist asked if I had a cold recently because it could be my nasal cavity which pressed on my teeth. She was not sure what caused it. The last test she wanted to do was to drink warm water. If I reacted to that it was at least sure it were my tooth. So the assistent got me a glass of water and when I drank it, it was like I was hit in the face. It hurts like !@#$. So we were pretty sure it were my teeth...
But which one was it?!?! the next step was a root canal treatment so she better be sure which tooth to drill... :)
Because she was still doubting she asked a colleague to have a look. She did quite the same tests and couldn't point it out neither. She was a more experienced (longer on the job) dentist and I thought it was good of them to discuss their findings...
She advised to do nothing, I was a bit suprised but her arguments were good. She said that because it isn't absolute clear which tooth it is, there might be a risk (slightest) that the drill the wrong one. And if that happenend they still have to do the other too... I thought that made sense, I didn't really felt like going twice trough this treatment. I am not a dentist-addict ;) ..
So her advise was to let the infection be because It was quiet good possible that it will vanish by itself (nerves can recover) or, for me the least to looking forward too, it will grow and will gonna hurt more then it does now and it will be more easy to pinpoint the tooth that is the problem..
like I said it did made sense but I wasn't looking forward to it... So when I got home it was like if my teeth knew what the deal was and it started aching like !@@$.... I took some Ibuprofen and it saddled down a bit but it hurted massive...
So this morning I called the dentist again to discuss my findings after the visit yesterday, I am now certain it is the second tooth in the back. And they said I had to come in later this day for the root canal treatment.....
Funny thing now is that the pain is less at the moment, but I do think I will have that root canal because otherwise in a few weeks and it does come back, I am in Greece... Not looking forward to meet a dentist overthere :)
Have a great sunny day
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