Trying to get a picture of the external resorption. The camera doesn't like to focus so closely. The shadow on the front part of the tooth shows where a sort-of tunnel was forming. It wasn't a cavity from tooth decay. It was a cavity from tooth death - external resorption. Trying to image that tunnel with X-Rays caused issues last week. They took about ten X-rays. I got about five years of hard radiation in five minutes, just to be sure they understood what they were seeing.
"Are you feeling pain?" I nodded yes. Can you feel your lips?" I nodded yes again. The contract dentist, a slight Asian woman who wasn't part of the usual staff but an itinerant tooth puller who came on Mondays, and her assistant, both looked perplexed. After all, they had shot my jaw full of Novocaine. Theoretically, I shouldn't be feeling much pain at all. Theoretically.
Interesting how tooth pulling is now a sub-specialty. The regular dentists, all women in this practice, are needed more for glad-handed interactions with the clients. Arranging for implants and inlays and the other expensive high-flying dental stuff. The nice part. The brutal parts of dentistry are reserved for others.
I told a familiar story: how I challenged my reluctant four-year-old sister to a boxing match when I was six years old (playing 'Fight of the Week', a program that used to be on TV when we were kids). She popped me in the jaw, and that's how I lost my first tooth. They liked that story.
So, it was a bit of an ordeal. Nice cracking sounds towards the end. Like eating a crab. Fortunately, there wasn't much post-operative pain at all. Because the contract dentist and her assistant knew what they were doing. They do it all the time and get lots of practice.
I likely won't get an implant. I don't sense the need - the molar isn't needed for cosmetic purposes - and it's quite expensive. But there is still a risk. The other teeth on the bottom may shift towards the void over time, and the molar above may grow into the void below because it no longer has opposition. But life is full of risks.
Despite good care, teeth aren't forever, especially when you are a 'bruxer', and grind your teeth at night.
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