Tooth worries - causing extreme anxiety. Please tell me I can get through this

Hi all,


I'm quite new here but my anxiety at the moment is fuelled by a problem I have with one of my teeth. (if you see my introduction post - you'll see how much this has affected me from waking up in the morning shaking and feeling sick)


In october last year I went to my dentist as I had a pain in one of my back top teeth on biting down. Not all the time but just every so often, I would catch it in an awkward way. He did an x-ray, got me to bite on a stick (tooth sleuth) in different places and couldn't find anything. I went back again in November as it was still happening but he said he would have to leave it for now as he thought it might be cracked, but couldn't diagnose / see a crack anywhere.


So over Christmas, I just totally forgot about it. I really didn't think any more of it. Then it comes to January - and I started googling. This is where my severe state of anxiety kicked in and it's been over a week now feeling like that every day.


So when I googled - apparently a cracked tooth can mean it could crack all the way, and then you lose the tooth!!! (I am only 35...) And what I also didn't know is that you have to replace missing teeth! (as it's near the back I thought it would be OK to just leave it) I had 4 wisdom teeth out a few years ago - and obviously they didn't replace them.


So I'm really scared of losing my tooth. I went back to the dentist again last week and this time saw the head of the practice. She also couldn't diagnose the tooth, or even be sure on which tooth is causing the problem. She also said that cracked teeth are a "nightmare" as they are very hard to diagnose!! (great word to use with an anxious person...) She also said she has had the same problem - for 3 years!!!


Cue me spinning out about nice meals out being ruined because of tooth pain, and holidays, etc. (even though the pain really isn't that bad, it's a short sharp shock then it's gone but my negative brain wanted to make it sound as bad as possible to feed my anxiety more. Why aren't our brains kind to us?)


So I've asked for advice on reddit and quora and had some dentists reply. They said to try going to an Endodontist, who is a specialist at diagnosing tooth pain. My dentist is away until next week but they have put a note in the system to ask for a referral to an Endodontist as soon as he's back.


I just don't know if the endodontist will be able to diagnose it? What if they can't still? What if they do and it's cracked at the root and I lose my tooth? I'm really scared at the idea of having a bridge or an implant. I know this is my anxiety running away with itself and I'm getting ahead of myself but when your anxiety is fuelled by an actual real thing, it's really hard to keep a positive perspective.


Any help, advice or experience with a similar problem really appreciated.



:weep:

For what it's worth, I've had this occasionally and worried myself sick about it. It's never stuck around that long, though, or at least long enough to get me past my morbid terror of the dentist.

Thus far, nothing dreadful has happened.

I hope this resolves for you relatively quickly and easily.

So yesterday I went to the dentist for the exact same thing! He did an X-ray and couldn’t see a problem. I also bit down on the stick thing. He suggests I see the hygienist as my teeth need a clean (I’ve been putting it off for a couple of years). He said he could see some calcification or something.

So have you seen the hygienist?

He also gave me some special sensitive toothpaste to massage into the affected tooth every night for a while.


You’re going to have to trust the dentists you have seen. They are trained to look into this kind of thing and they haven’t seen anything that concerns them.


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Thanks both. I guess I'm freaking out about it because they do think it's cracked, from the symptom I told them. They said come back in March to reassess it. However, I don't want to just wait and wait until it gets worse, as then they might not be able to save the tooth.


When I spoke to the receptionist she said she thought the dentist would probably refer me to an Endodontist straight away no problem. As he hadn't been able to diagnose the tooth and neither had the practice head.


Scass - I did see the hygenist a couple of months ago, she didn't find any issues. I've had sensitive teeth in a general sense for years so I already use sensodyne toothpaste. I wouldn't be able to eat sugary things without it I don't think!


I wasn't worried at all until I googled! :doh: But then I'm kind of glad I did as I didn't know the consequences of having a cracked tooth. It was only on my third visit that the dentist admitted yes, you could end up losing the tooth IF it cracks in a certain way / too deep.

Sorry I misread, but not sure how they can diagnose something they can’t see.

Either way, I hope the referral will help, and that they can give you some reassurance about treatment.


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Thank you Scass

Who told you that back teeth have to be replaced because that’s not true at all? I was a dental nurse for 13 years and that’s the first I’ve heard of it.

Hi Mojo61, it's not the very back molar. It's second to back. From what I've been reading online, if I had to have that tooth extracted, I should get it replaced with something as the far back molar would start to move into the gap and cause issues in general?