Dental Emergency

Do you see anything that looks like a DENTAL EMERGENCY here?! Look carefully at my bottom left tooth (your bottom right)...see how it is slightly discolored? Read on to find out why that is NOT a good thing...

I don't know if I am brave or stupid to post a picture of my teeth on my blog. :) So here's the story: I am used to going into the doctor's office expecting to hear something bad. I've just gotten used to it. However, when Lincoln & I went into the dentist yesterday I was NOT expecting to hear anything out of the ordinary, except that maybe I had a cavity or that I needed to floss my teeth a little better or something like that. Well, we had a full set of x-rays done on our teeth because we were new patients at that office. I have been going to the same dentist forever & decided to switch & try somebody different...especially because we got a coupon in the mail for a good deal on a new-patient exam. :) So I went in first for x-rays & a cleaning. While getting my teeth cleaned the dentist came in & asked if I have had trauma to my bottom teeth. I said that I hadn't...the only thing I could remember was hitting my chin when I was 5 years old & having to get stitches...but I don't think I really hit my teeth when that happened. He then told me that I have major bone loss & that he is going to have to send me to another doctor, possibly an oral surgeon, within the week. WHAT????!!!!!! I'm not going to lie, I was silently freaking out about it. I started laughing & told him that I have had the worst luck lately. He told me he was leaving to get a special instrument from his other office so that he could see how bad the damage is, & told me to hope that at least one of my bottom teeth are dead. After my cleaning, I went out in the waiting room & told Lincoln...& he just laughed. That's sad that that is our reaction now when we get bad news. :) The dentist came back with this special instrument (I don't know what it's called) that basically sends an electrical current through your tooth to see if the tooth is still alive. I had to raise my hand every time I felt a sensation in the tooth. When I was halfway through the test, Lincoln started telling me from the other room, "Don't worry Anjane', it doesn't hurt!". (He had the same test done in high school when he caught a softball in his mouth.) After that the dentist showed me my x-rays & told me that I am missing ALL of the bone under my bottom four teeth...the only thing that is holding them in place are little pieces of my gums!
See, this picture shows what the tooth is supposed to look like...the whitish area under the gum & surrounding the tooth is bone. In my x-rays that part was completely black...just totally gone. The bone loss went pretty far down too. From what I can understand, something traumatized that discolored tooth & it died. We don't know how many YEARS ago this happened! It started getting infected & the infection surrounded the bottom of the tooth & started eating away at the bone & spread across the whole bottom of my mouth & down towards my chin. I am amazed that those teeth haven't fallen out! Anyway, the dentist said that he has only seen something like this in one of his textbooks. Oh, how nice! I am sure he will show other dentists the picture or tell his patients, "At least yours isn't THIS bad!" Well, he referred me to an endodontist who will see me either Monday or Tuesday morning for an emergency root canal. HOPEFULLY that is all that will have to happen. I was told that the bone can grow back if the infection is stopped. Right now they have me on 4 Penicillin a day & a special medicated mouthwash. This is just to prevent the infection from getting worse. I've noticed that it's starting to take a toll on my stomach & it makes me really tired but it's not too bad...I have to take it for 2 weeks. Lincoln & I spent 3 hours at the dentist's office...it was quite the day! We analyzed the whole situation over dinner. It's so weird...I didn't have any normal signs of infection. We realized though that this is probably why I don't bite into any hard food...I cut corn off the cob & slice up fruit (not even because it hurts...I just thought I didn't like getting food stuck in my teeth or something). Also, if I miss one night of wearing my retainers, my front bottom teeth have moved in the morning...probably because they are loose & there is nothing holding them in place! My front bottom teeth have been sensitive to cold & pressure for as long as I can remember. I have always just thought that everyone has certain teeth that are more sensitive than others, or that ache once in awhile. This is probably why I have an overall sick feeling most of the time...who knows how long my body has been infected! Maybe this is why I have gotten headaches almost every day since junior high. The whole situation is just bizarre! ANYWAY (I know this was like reading a novel!) I will post how everything went when I get back from the endodontist...wish me luck! At least my tooth is completely dead so I won't feel anything, right? Actually, I should consider myself lucky. The dentist told me that if all of my teeth had been alive, that I would have had to get my mouth completely cut open & that I would have probably had to have a bone graft! Hmmm...so I never thought I'd say this, but I am VERY thankful that I have a dead tooth. For now I am not allowed to play sports (not that I really did anyway) & I have to be really careful what I eat & how I chew. He told me that if a kid hit my mouth my teeth could fall out. So don't be offended if I don't get too close to your kids for the next little while! :) We loved this dentist & his staff....they were SO nice & helpful & spent SO much time with us. It's a good thing we went to them!!!!!