Starting the new year with a visit to the dentist

Happy New Year steemians! as the 2018 calender turned it's last page, I hope you all had a great time welcoming 2019 - at least a better time than me.

What happened was on Sunday, the day before new year's eve, one of my molars started to develop a mild discomfort. It was sensitive to the touch and painful when I chewed food with it. 

On Monday morning, when I thought a visit to the dentist is in order.....lo and behold the pain miraculously went away! Happy that I avoided the dentist's chair, I merrily went about the rest of my day anticipating the new year. Unfortunately, the pain returned with a vengeance right after dinner, this time complete with a splitting headache so bad I had to take painkillers. The worst part was, it was evening when the dental clinic has already closed and the next day was the new year's holiday!

Lucky for me, the pain subsided somewhat on new year's morning so I manage to make my first day of the year not suck, though I spent the whole day dreading the visit to the clinic.

And so that's what I did today. The dentist checked the surface of the teeth but could find no cavities, and an X-ray to look at it's root yielded similiarly inconclusive results. Finally she said if it's not cavities or periodontitis (inflammation of the root), then the most likely cause of my pain is the receding gums under that teeth that may have exposed the nerves. She recommended me to use toothpastes for sensitive teeth and come back to see her in two weeks to see if the condition has improved or worsened. Finally, I had my teeth scaled before I left the clinic.

For now, the toothpastes seem to do the trick, but I'm hoping that's all there is to it. Hopefully the rest of the year will be kinder to me !