Week 25: Dental agony

I never knew toothaches could be sooooooo bad. 

I don't proclaim to have good teeth - I have fillings everywhere, but until this week, I have never had such a terrible toothache. Well yeah okay I was in agony for a few days in 2005 because my wisdom tooth had nowhere to sprout but that was just a persistent dull, sore ache which resolved after my dentist pulled out my tooth. 

But this pain was something else. It started suddenly a few weeks ago, after I chewed on some gum. And then it just got progressively worse, until one day I could not let anything touch that tooth (air, water, food, spoon, everything) because it was throbbing with pain and I had my head buried in my hands. 

I thought at that point what they said was true. Pregnancy could really cost you a tooth. I had no choice but to go to the dentist because I could not get past one day without painkillers stronger than paracetamol and I shouldn't really be taking them when I am pregnant. 

The dentist gave me a jab in my gum to numb me because he wanted to drill into my temporary filling to see what the problem was. The jab really hurt but wasn't very effective so he had to give me another one to block my nerves. So I sat and waited with a swollen, numb mouth for the anasthetic to take full effect before going back into the room. This time I felt absolutely no pain so he drilled away and said there was a crack in the tooth but he had got rid of it and filled the hole with more white temporary filling. 

I was glad R came with me because it was really quite a traumatic experience. With my mouth still numb, I couldn't talk properly but I could finally eat a proper meal in days as the anasthetic was still in effect. I had a bowl of noodles. 

When the numbness wore off, the tooth still felt sore but it was nowhere near anything as painful as what I had experienced before. Gradually the tooth got better and although it has almost recovered 100% now, I am still cautious when biting and chewing. 

The dentist's plan is for me to get a permanent mercury filling once I've had the baby because the temporary filling will only last a couple of months. I'm just hoping this is all the dental nightmare I'm going to get while I am pregnant. Nothing is more terrible than experiencing discomfort and pain but not being able to do anything for fear of harming the baby. 

I guess the only consolation is dental work is free for pregnant women and up to 12 months after they've had the baby. The pregnancy and losing a tooth thing must hold some truth to it then.