the tooth saga continues

I've figured out what's wrong in my mouth.

Before this year, I hadn't gone to the dentist for several years. Like... four. So I needed a few things done. Unfortunately, all the things were on the upper right side of my mouth. One root canal and crown and two fillings. One of the fillings is in the tooth right next to the crown, the other is the farthest back molar. For the most part, after the crown and fillings were done, everything was fine. I had some sensitivity on the tooth with the filling next to the crown. Mostly to cold. I went in and it was adjusted (ground down) a bit and I was told that it was normal for awhile and it should go away in a few weeks.

Nearly two months passed and I still had quite a lot of sensitivity, especially to cold. So I returned and they tapped around and found that I had some pain in the root canal tooth. So they decided that one was a bit too high and ground it down a bit. This was last week. The sensitivity did not diminish, In fact, it began to grow exponentially until on Sunday and Monday, I was in loads of pain and pretty much unable to eat or drink. Monday being the holiday, I called the dentist first thing on Tuesday and got in. Again, the dentist ground down the crown a bit more, thinking that's the problem, even though with a cold test, it was obvious the sensitivity was still from the filling. I was told that if that didn't help, they would likely have to redo the filling, and in the meantime I was given a prescription for painkillers. I immediately filled it. Over the next 24 hours, the pain only increased. Making it impossible to eat, drink or sleep, even with a moderate amount of narcotics. But I was told it should be better in a few days, or to call back, so I muddled through most of Wednesday at work in a fog of pain and/or painkillers. Finally, I told my supervisor that I could get a dental appointment that afternoon, if they could spare me at work. I was sure to let them know that I'd been next to useless all day. It was granted and I got a ride from work to my dentist.

This time, it was the head dentist and he determined that there was nothing wrong with my filling except that it was still too high. So he ground it down a lot, as well as a bit more on the crown. immediately afterward, the pain hit me so hard, I nearly started crying. I got cold sweat and gripped the chair. The dental assistant said I went white. The dentist decided he could numb me up really quickly with lidocaine/novocaine. That was a relief for sure.

Wednesday night was a bit rough, as the tooth was still quite sore. I woke up in the wee hours, but was hesitant to take the painkillers, as I had to drive to work. The pain wore off during the day. So that's awesome.

However, it's been replaced by an uncomfortable dull ache from the back molar filling. Which I am assuming is now too high, after the other things have been ground down. Here's hoping it will work itself out instead of turning to incapacitating pain.

Or, you know, I guess I could return to the dentist and eight time this year.