Getting a Little Nerve-y

(aka Not All It's Cracked Up To Be)

The last time I was at the dentist (about a month ago) I complained about having a strange overly sensitive feeling in one of my molars. I was informed I had a micro-fracture in the tooth. I was told that I needed to get a crown on the tooth, because the fracture could go one of two ways: 1) simply chip off part of the tooth and you're done; 2) crack off a large portion of the tooth, expose some nerve, and require a root canal-type surgery.

Normally, that would be a no-brainer for me: Fix it. Fix it now.

But upon closer examination of my insurance policy, I found out that they wouldn't pay for anything until after my one year anniversary on the plan. That's November. Since the pain was only sporadic and not all that bad, I figured I could wait. I wouldn't have to worry about anything major, unless it got worse.

Checking with my hometown dentist, I was reassured that, although having it worked on ASAP was good, if the pain wasn't a problem, I decided I could wait.

So I've been waiting. Ignoring the occasional little twinges. Watching the calendar and counting down until November. Until today.

I was eating leftovers from a really great lunch today, and bit down on--of all things--a chunk of chicken, when I felt a crack. I bit on something, which I thought was probably a hard piece of peanut. And then reality set in. A quick probe with my tongue found something sharp.

No problem, right? The little chip had fallen off, and I would be fine. Except... well... my tongue also caused a nerve twinge. Nerve twinge means that I lost more than a little chip. The sharp feeling? Most likely the edge of my now-exposed filling. Which means I'll be calling the dentist first thing in the morning and trying to get in on one of their "emergency" slots.

Ah, well. Best laid plans and all, right?