"If I lived in Ireland, if they had an American day, I certainly wouldn't run around the city acting like an ass on that day." - John, on St. Patrick's Day
I have a pain in my mouth. It's not a toothache, but the tissue surrounding the last molar on the lower left side of my mouth is inflamed, and I've had a nagging ache there since about 7:30am. Since then, I've taken a couple of Aleve tablets, and that eased the pain, but it wore off, and the ache returned more intense than before. More recently, I swabbed it with some benzocaine, and then had a couple of beers, and that alleviated it sufficiently for at least a couple of hours. But now, that effect is wearing off, so I've just began the benzocaine/beer treatment over again. If anyone in my area has an extra Vicodin, Percocet, or maybe a loaded gun, I'd appreciate it. I have an appointment to see a dentist Wednesday -- for another reason, actually -- but I don't know if I can last that long. This is ruining my weekend.
john [email] said at 2:39 AM 06-04-2006: I had that before. It got so bad that I had to go to the emergency room in the middle of the night because the pain was just completely unbearable. Turns out it was a cavity that had developed under a previous filling in a molar that I had no idea about. It went on to the point where I developed an abccess on the gum area next to my tooth wich could be what you're having. Basically, your tooth does not expand when it needs to swell, so the pressure inside of it eventually comes out through the root and causes your gum area around that tooth to swell. I had a root canal and it fixed the problem. No more pain.
john [email] said at 2:41 AM 06-04-2006: Oh yeah, and it didn't really feel like a toothache that much, in fact, I couldn't even pin point exactly where the pain was coming from until my gum started to get inflamed around that tooth. My whole head would hurt from it.
brad [email] said at 3:09 AM 06-04-2006: Well, my whole head isn't hurting, but the swelling is right next to one of the two fillings in my mouth. I really can't afford a root canal - hope it's nothing that serious.
john [email] said at 3:14 AM 06-04-2006: yeah, I have no dental insurance, so I had to fork over the cash. Killed me, but I couldn't stand the pain any longer. Luckily, they let me finance it, so I'm paying it off a little bit each month. If you do need a root canal and need to finance it, I can give you the name of the company that I went through to finance it. They only require a minimum payment of $15 a month and ZERO interest. It's a pretty good deal if you have no insurance. I send them more than the minimum each month, but if I'm really broke, the minimun ain't too shabby.
brad [email] said at 3:15 AM 06-04-2006: In fact, if it is a root canal, FUCK my current denist. I just had the tooth filled last year, and I've been brushing twice a day since then, and flossing every night. So that would probably mean he didn't clear all of the decay before he filled it.
john [email] said at 3:18 AM 06-04-2006: I clearly remember my dentist at the time of my original filling in that particular tooth, saying, "boy this thing is like the energizer bunny, it just keeps on going!", as he was refering to the size of the cavity that he was drilling. It was fine for about a year after that, but then the cavity started to grow again because I guess he didn't get all of the decay out. I went to a new dentist after that for the root canal. Hopefully it's something else for you though. Good luck.
brad [email] said at 3:30 AM 06-04-2006: Yeah, I was a little leery of this guy on my first visit, and I'm starting to wonder about him again. He's probably been WAITING to perform a root canal. This guy just looks shady: hair slicked back, bad facial hair, his shirt buttoned down to reveal his gold necklace. Maybe I shouldn't be putting my trust in a dentist who looks like an 80s porn star.
john [email] said at 3:27 AM 06-04-2006: And also, all the emergency room did was give me a perscription for 800mg Motrin. It worked pretty good for the pain. So just pop how ever many motrins you need to make up 800mg and you'll be fine.
