Dentist: Do I go or not?

January 15, 2015 11:17 PM

I went to the dentist for an emergency appointment on Tuesday after getting an excruciating toothache, and left with two fillings. That night, the toothache returned. I waited a day in case it was due to the surgery, and yesterday contacted the dentist to ask for an appointment, which I have in 90 minutes. Since then, the toothache has vanished completely aside from some very minor lingering tenderness. Do I still go, or do I cancel?
posted by tracicle to Health & Fitness (9 answers total)

Is this a financial hardship for you? What is the downside of going?
posted by brainmouse at 11:21 PM on January 15, 2015

Response by poster: I live in a country where dental care is *very* expensive, but I can pay if need be. I have some nervousness about dental visits after years of surgeries related to an accident.
posted by tracicle at 11:23 PM on January 15, 2015

In that case, I might call the dentist and ask their advice.
posted by brainmouse at 11:42 PM on January 15, 2015 [5 favorites]

If you decide not to go, please check the cancellation policy your dentist has. In my country at least, if you don't cancel 24 hours in advance for instance, you pay (part of?) the fee anyway.
posted by Ms. Next at 11:55 PM on January 15, 2015 [2 favorites]

And just as an anecdotal note from someone who has gotten plenty of dental work in the past year: over the short term the anesthetic injection sites tended to ache more than whatever they worked on.
posted by rhizome at 12:08 AM on January 16, 2015 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: I did call, and they did say there would be a cancellation fee -- but on the plus side they said if I come in anyway, they'll do the cleaning and x-rays we'd scheduled for next week. So...everyone wins?

Thanks, everyone.
posted by tracicle at 12:15 AM on January 16, 2015 [10 favorites]

Didn't they x-ray you when you went and got the fillings? Why would you get another set of x-rays?? No need to get more radiation than necessary!! I would rethink that part especially since you say it's expensive.

So the fillings you got may not have resolved the root cause of the pain. Get it? root? You may have an infection, which in the worst case could lead to a root canal.
posted by eatcake at 8:41 AM on January 16, 2015

Sometimes, I have found that post-filling tooth pain comes from an improperly-shaped filling, one that needs to be sanded down in various places. It can be an ordeal to get this done right--I have had to go back two or three times, where you are given some carbon paper to bite on, so they can see where your teeth contact when you bite down.
posted by the letter at 9:23 AM on January 16, 2015

Response by poster: eatcake: No, during the initial (emergency) visit it was evident without needing x-rays which teeth were causing the problem. We agreed to work on that part only, and then do the cleaning and x-rays at a follow-up when my toothache had been sorted.

the letter: There was some of that for sure, but in this case it looks like the cavity was too deep and now there's nerve damage (I'm hoping not, but it's a wait-and-see) thing for the next week.

Catch-22! I hate going to the dentist so only go when I have to, and it's always horrible, whereas if I didn't hate it I'd have gone more regularly and it wouldn't be horrible and I wouldn't hate it. That might be my one and only new year's resolution.
posted by tracicle at 12:55 PM on January 16, 2015