Cracked tooth again! (part 1)
I was so unlucky that the same tooth that was treated more than a year ago cracked once more. Haiz. This time, it was so unexpected: on a piece of roti planta. So strange, right? There was this part of the roti that was quite hard. I suspect that there was a concentration of sugar at that part.
This happened while I was at Butterworth. Fortunately I had already planned to drive back to KL the very next day and so I made an appointment to see Dr Mah @iSmile the day I arrived back in KL.
Using a jet of air and a small mirror, not only did she check the suspected tooth but all other teeth around the same area. Then she used a digital camera to take a photo of the cracked tooth and showed me a zoomed-in version of the photo. Oh yes, I could see the crack very clearly.
She highlighted her concern that since this tooth cracked before and this new crack was on the other side of the tooth, it could later crack and split in half @@.
I had 3 options:
(1) She could attempt to fill up the crack like what she did previously but the "survival" chance of the tooth was not good i.e. it could split in half especially if I accidentally bite on hard food again.
(2) Crown the tooth but this would need to be removed in future if need to perform root canal. (RM 1,200)
(3) Root canal + crowning. (RM2,000)
Fortunately, my toothache (extreme sensitivity) subsided substantially and so that gave me time to observe and consider my options. Total time spent at the clinic = 1 hour, including waiting time.
During the 1-week observation, the sensitivity decreased even further but was not back to normal i.e. any warm of cool drinks would still trigger the sensitivity although not as intense as it was at the start of this ordeal. In addition, I had to chew food on one side of my mouth to avoid aggravating the pain.
So when I was back for the 2nd appointment, after going through the pros and cons of each option with Dr Mah, I chose option (2).
(to be continued)
This happened while I was at Butterworth. Fortunately I had already planned to drive back to KL the very next day and so I made an appointment to see Dr Mah @iSmile the day I arrived back in KL.
Using a jet of air and a small mirror, not only did she check the suspected tooth but all other teeth around the same area. Then she used a digital camera to take a photo of the cracked tooth and showed me a zoomed-in version of the photo. Oh yes, I could see the crack very clearly.
She highlighted her concern that since this tooth cracked before and this new crack was on the other side of the tooth, it could later crack and split in half @@.
I had 3 options:
(1) She could attempt to fill up the crack like what she did previously but the "survival" chance of the tooth was not good i.e. it could split in half especially if I accidentally bite on hard food again.
(2) Crown the tooth but this would need to be removed in future if need to perform root canal. (RM 1,200)
(3) Root canal + crowning. (RM2,000)
Fortunately, my toothache (extreme sensitivity) subsided substantially and so that gave me time to observe and consider my options. Total time spent at the clinic = 1 hour, including waiting time.
During the 1-week observation, the sensitivity decreased even further but was not back to normal i.e. any warm of cool drinks would still trigger the sensitivity although not as intense as it was at the start of this ordeal. In addition, I had to chew food on one side of my mouth to avoid aggravating the pain.
So when I was back for the 2nd appointment, after going through the pros and cons of each option with Dr Mah, I chose option (2).
(to be continued)
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