TMJ update

At long last I have the orthotic bite guard that is supposed to Change My Life (by correcting my bite; it's meant to reposition my jaw, at least, and we'll worry later about the fact that with the jaw in the better position, my teeth don't actually touch). Hooray! It feels weird and my tongue has to rest in a different place in my mouth than it always has done and for at least a little while I'm going to sound funny when I speak - I tried to practice talking in the car on the way home, and the bite guard gives me a charming sort of very slight sibilant lisp - but I'm already feeling a lot better, and optimistic about the future.

Not a hundred percent better, alas, because along about last week I started feeling something unpleasantly hurty in both the top and bottom back teeth on the right side, sensitive to cold but not to sweet or hot or sour or salty, so I was pretty sure it wasn't a cavity, but on the top there's been a sort of loose feeling when I pull the floss through, and on the bottom - well, on the bottom the cold hurts more, and I can feel the twinge sort of all the way through my jaw long after the shock fades away. Manageable with advil, but not fun. Anyway, long story a little shorter, the dentist is pretty sure that under an old filling back there, the bottom tooth is cracked. I'm to keep taking advil and be careful to chew on the left side. The bite guard presses against the probably-cracked spot in a way that doesn't hurt but I can certainly feel the pressure.

And I can't get it fixed until Tuesday.

[eta: The CJ mood icon in LJ has never been more apt. Everyone, please, think happy thoughts for me. Big bucks and no root canal.]