My First Bridge

[ndrosen]

I went to the dentist this morning for a routine examination and cleaning, but he found a non-routine situation, and arranged for me to come back in the afternoon, for, he hoped, a crown and a root canal on one of my lower molars. When I came back, he decided that that wasn’t workable, and that he would have to extract the tooth, and put in a bridge, which he proceeded to do.

After some preliminary work with a drill, he tried several chisel-like devices to remove the bad tooth, periodically putting aside one to try another. It was like struggling to open a tightly sealed jar, or breaking apart some damaged item so that it could be removed and thrown out, except that I wasn’t dealing with a recalcitrant jar lid; the dentist was dealing with one of my teeth. Finally, the dentist was able to pull out the remnant of my tooth, suture the wound, and stuff it with gauze.

He prescribed amoxicillin and Motrin for me. I have started on the antibiotic, but haven’t touched the Motrin. I remember how sore my mouth was after the removal of my wisdom teeth, or after more recent gum surgery, but to my surprise, I’m not in any serious pain.

Comments

[thewayne]

I don't know if your dentist recommended it, and while the antibiotic will pretty much take care of it, I would strongly suggest swishing your mouth with a good amount of warm saltwater once or twice a day. Helps take down the swelling and is also a good anti-bacterial helper. I found it useful with my root canal and when I had my wisdom teeth removed ages ago.

[ndrosen]

Thank you for the suggestion. The dentist provided me with an information sheet which recommends using water with a quarter teaspoon of salt. For some reason, I now have essentially no pain, and no swelling that I’ve noticed. For someone who needed a tooth to come out, I’m very lucky.

[thewayne]

I find warm water to be much more comfortable for the salt rinse.  You're definitely lucky!  I had a root canal a couple of months ago, and while it was fairly pain-free, I had swelling and discomfort for a couple of weeks.  Best of luck to you!

[selenite0]

That sounds unpleasant. I'm glad it's not hurting, and hope it stays that way.