i cracked a tooth yesterday and i went to the dentist today. i was able to schedule an emergency visit to see what was wrong and it was worse than i had expected. i’ve had pain ever since i cracked the tooth, so i knew it was bad.
but it’s real bad. it turns out that one of my fillings is pretty old and i’ve been told that over the years the fillings (because they are made out of some kind of metal) will expand and contract with heat or cold temperatures. over time this will cause the filling to lose its seal and worse yet it can cause microfractures in the tooth walls if the filling is particularly large (as was the case for me).
so finally the tooth gave way and it revealed a pretty bad cavity. the nerve is exposed and it hurts to drink hot or cold fluids…and it just hurts in general now. so i have to get a root canal. ugh. it’s due later this week and i’m drugging myself to deal with the pain for now.
i wonder what cavemen did when they had toothaches.
cindy
Cavemen didn’t live long enough to have toothaches. Cavemen also didn’t eat as many Krispy Kremes.
My roommate is going thru exactly this right now and she’s been on Vicodin. They’re replacing 2 of her filling on 2 molars and she just explained ot me last nite what you wrote about metal fillings needing to be replaced every 10 yrs or so. I never knew that before.
Jordan
I just went to the dentist and I asked her if I should get the metal fillings replaced with the white (tooth colored) ones… she said NAH, no need for that. Uhm… wouldn’t you think they would do it simply because I asked? I don’t want to have to go through what you are about to go through…. now I’m scared.
cindy
Jordan - the white ones don’t last as long and they’re not covered by insurance because they’re considered cosmetic.
Jordan
So this would be why the silver fillings are ‘free’ and the white ones are $50 per tooth? But the silver ones are so noticeable… well, if you’re looking at the back of my mouth on a couple of my back teeth…. uh, you didn’t notice them, did you?
cindy
They were all anyone was talking about on the cruise.