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Philip Newton ([personal profile] pne) wrote2006-06-02 10:33 am
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Tooth woes

This morning, I broke off the side of a tooth while eating breakfast.

I tried to get an appointment with my dentist, but she said she was completely full for today but offered me an appointment first thing Tuesday morning (Monday being a public holiday).

I wasn't sure whether the tooth would stay stable over the three-day week-end (perhaps the now-exposed filling might fall out, for one), so I tried another dentist or two but got only answering machines.

It was just after eight so I thought I'd wait until nine, when my previous dentist opened; Stella thought she remembered that their practice was never very busy. And indeed, the receptionist told me I could come in anytime before half-past ten, so I went there.

Apparently, the filling is fine (for the short term) and will probably stay put, and since that's a tooth that had a root canal, there shouldn't be any pain, either. However, he recommended getting a crown over that tooth (he said it was pretty much inevitable) and also recommended one for another tooth on the other side of the mouth where a hole was starting to develop—since that one had also had a root canal, he said he probably wouldn't take out the filling, treat the tooth, and put another one in but would go straight for the crown, since the tooth would only get more porous with age, or something.

So anyway, I'll hopefully be fine over the week-end, and will show up at the other dentist's on Tuesday morning to see what she thinks. If she concurs, I'll probably get the work done there. (The dentist I went to today won't be back until the 21st anyway, since they're on holiday until then.)

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[identity profile] opal1159.livejournal.com 2006-06-02 01:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Yikes! My sister had a similar problem a while ago, except she fell and cracked it on the floor. My mom tracked down a dentist within a couple hours, they removed the broken part, and then later she had a...fake piece attached. In a few years she's going to get a more permanent thing, I think.

[identity profile] allegrox.livejournal.com 2006-06-04 06:46 am (UTC)(link)
I got in a fight a few years back and my top left incisor got chipped. It wasn't enough to be a serious problem, but when I finally got a prosthesis attached, it felt good to have a whole tooth again.
It's acrylic, I think, and started out as a whole tooth, which he cut down to fit mine.
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