Quote:
Originally posted by Garic
Popo, if you're still answering questions, I have one. Yesterday, I twisted my tooth (bottom row, one of the center four, furthest to my left, not sure what to call it) on the lip of a bottle. Hurt like hell, but the pain subsided. Later on, the pain came back. It came in waves for a bit, it would stop and start again if pressure was applied to it, just to give you an idea. I checked it out in the mirror and there was a little black line running down the center of the tooth.
I made an appointment with my dentist to see what the problem is and what would be done, but I was wondering what your take on the problem is and what the treatment would probably be?
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Damn, Garic. That doesn't sound good. It sounds as if you have a cracked tooth but the fact that you get waves of pain from it makes me think that the crack went into the pulp (nerve space) of the tooth. If it did, and the crack continues down below the bone, the tooth is gone. As in it's gotta come out.
If the pulp is involved but the crack stops there, you'd need a root canal but you'd get to keep the tooth. That's really the best case scenario from what I suspect is going on.
Losing a tooth sucks but there are ways to replace it. Run from any dentist proposing a standard bridge in that area if nothing is wrong with the teeth nextdoor. Something called a "Maryland Bridge", though, is a decent idea. Another reat alternative is to get an implant to replace the tooth. It actually is the best way to go IMO but your finances will let you know which way to go. The reason the implant is better is because you would not have to touch the adjacent teeth and drilling teeth that have nothing wrong with them is not the best thing to do. It will likely lead to pmore drilling down the road.
Let me know what your doc says.