God no, he’s not Tom Hanks in Castaway. Just go see a damn dentist. Good lord.
How many molars do you need, especially later in life?
I’m fine missing one, and I have a big expanse back in my mouth that I don’t have to floss!
Yeah, way too many potential complications with an already damaged tooth (might well break, leaving pieces to try to get out, etc.)
FWIW, my dentist called back (after we’d played some phone tag.) The state says his office can now reopen for normal care IF they have N95 or KN95 masks, which of course they don’t. He has had an order in for 500 of the (Chinese made) KN95’s for some time, hopes to have them in by May 6 or so, and has a considerable list patients with non-emergency but “priority” problems. (Priority over cleanings, routine exams, etc.) Hopefully the masks will meet the specifications.
So... If it starts getting cold sensitive*, etc., I patch this thing with dental cement (hope it holds), and in the meantime brush more often and hit it with antiseptic mouthwash a few times a day (followed by water rinse to help keep things from drying out too much.) If pain begins he’ll get me a script for an antibiotic and try to see me if that doesn’t do the trick. Hopefully, further damage will be limited, and I’m chewing only on the other side of my mouth for now. That’s not great as that’s the side missing a couple molars (old damage from impacted wisdom teeth that damaged the adjacent molars, but I guess I’ll survive!)
*Gotta be careful there - I think this tooth may be the molar I got a root canal in MANY moons ago, so if so the tooth would not have any nerves to signal a problem...
Anyway, the mask problem for the dentist is common, he says. I’m not sure - I think they are allowed to do emergency work using surgical masks. We REALLY need to get domestic production of N95’s ramped WAY up. I still say a billion a month is not too many.