My dentist of 20 years has shut down over coronavirus concerns (he's in an area heavily affected). He's canceled all appointments for the next 4 weeks.
I had a filling done maybe 25 years ago on my upper tooth molar (#15 or #2) - it's the right side of my face. The material is cheap, ugly metal (tin?). I may have cracked it and what broke off is from the tooth center but apparently the tooth also cracked (or lost what was holding it together) when the filling portion came off. A small portion of the tooth is a bit loose (that's where pain is coming from - the majority of the tooth is pain-free). It's beginning to smell and since the hole is really a slit & uneven, not easy to get food particles out.
Thinking about waiting it out til my dentist reopens. Or do you think I find another dentist?
I had a filling done maybe 25 years ago on my upper tooth molar (#15 or #2) - it's the right side of my face. The material is cheap, ugly metal (tin?). I may have cracked it and what broke off is from the tooth center but apparently the tooth also cracked (or lost what was holding it together) when the filling portion came off. A small portion of the tooth is a bit loose (that's where pain is coming from - the majority of the tooth is pain-free). It's beginning to smell and since the hole is really a slit & uneven, not easy to get food particles out.
Thinking about waiting it out til my dentist reopens. Or do you think I find another dentist?
- What am I looking at here: a root canal if I wanna save the tooth? It's a big one and I believe I rely on that one to chew most challenging stuff (like steak).
- Can you temporarily fix with Dentemp? I don't see how since a loose tooth piece is involved and this isn't a simple, missing filling problem.
- How about pulling the small loose portion since that's where pain is limited to? Would that aggravate the situation?
- What's the best way to clean/disinfect: so far use tooth picks to clean & then Listerine to rinse.
