Kid Robot

I am very excited to post that as of 9/22/11, I officially no longer wear braces!! It was two days before my birthday, so it was the ultimate birthday present. I had them for six days shy of two full years, and it's amazing to see and feel them so straight and smooth. When I went in for the appointment, I wasn't sure if they were coming off that day because a space had opened up, but my orthodontist took one look at my retainer mold, saw no space on that, said the retainer would take care of it and that they were coming off! Before I knew it he had them off, and everyone was right...they feel so huge, slippery and weird at first. It feels great to eat popcorn again and be able to floss more quickly, and to have straight teeth. (Something I never thought I'd have.) I could write forever and a day about what that means to me and how amazing it feels to see such a long, expensive, and oftentimes uncomfortable/painful journey come to a welcomed end.

However...my time basking in perfection was short lived when I went to my regular dentist a week later for my scheduled cleaning and exam. On the x-rays from the orthodontist, my dentist found a shadowy area below my gumline on the bottom front teeth that concerned him. He took his own x-ray, couldn't tell what to make of it (not knowing sucked for a while), then referred me to a specialist, an endodontist. I now have three doctors for my teeth. My teeth dreams are also kicked into high gear.

Last weekend I went for the consultation at the endodontist and was pretty worried not knowing how serious it was. She did a few tests, and upon the cold sensitivity test, informed me that the nerve on one of my bottom front teeth is slowly dying that that I will need a root canal. I was glad to know what it is, but I've never had a root canal and am pretty upset that one of my teeth was seemingly killed as a result of having braces. I've never had any trauma to my mouth, and the doctor told me that sometimes with adults, the teeth are not as resilient after being moved and die.

I never heard anything like this going in, and I'm really upset. One family member suggested a second opinion, but I know for sure that the nerve is dying because I couldn't feel the cold, but now I'm wondering if I really need a root canal...especially on such a small, exposed tooth that's one of the big functional ones in the front, and why that happened.

Can anyone tell me if this is common? Or if root canals are really the answer to the nerve dying? They told me my tooth would discolor after the nerve is dead. I also have a coworker that had two root canals on the same tooth because the nerve had died, and they couldn't find it because her body has pretty much gotten over it and took care of itself. I'm so frustrated and concerned now, and am wondering if this is really best and necessary. Arrrgh. Can anyone tell me if this has happened before? Any advice is appreciated.