morning

So I slept okay but not great. I can't wear the bite guard that goes over my bottom teeth, but I guess I've found I do better with the old bite guard, the one that goes over my top teeth, than with nothing - it doesn't stop me clenching my teeth, of course, but I suppose it's a little bit psychologically reassuring in a way that I'm not troubled by fear that I'm going to crack something else, which may interfere with my calm when I try to go to sleep with no bite guard at all.

This morning it does feel a lot better than last night. It's a dull ache that hasn't gone completely away, but it's just that I can tell the right side feels different than the left. There hasn't been a lot, so far, of the sudden shocking stabby pain that's unlike anything else. sanj reminded me that there's a nerve right where I pointed out the pain goes, which oddly does make me feel a little better - not that I'm excited about the idea of whichever branch of the 7th [eta: 5th!, apparently - the mental nerve "provides sensation to the anterior aspects of the chin and lower lip as well as the buccal gingivae of the mandibular anterior teeth and the premolars. It is a branch of the posterior trunk of the inferior alveolar nerve, which is itself a branch of the mandibular division of the trigeminal nerve (CN V)."] cranial nerve that is acting up at random intervals for the rest of my life, but anything that doesn't tend to suggest that they're going to have to extract the tooth and do whatever they do next makes me a little happier. (I don't know why the idea of losing the tooth completely upsets me so much, but it really does.)

sunday, sunday, sunday

The man finally came and replaced my kitchen overhead light. So that's good. I'm making decent headway on my part of the group presentation that's due Thursday. I also have a short paper due Thursday, which is worth more of my final grade, but I'm the only one counting on me for that, so my priorities go in this order. Am waiting until it's dark out and cools off a little before doing laundry. And, the more I think about the fifth cranial nerve, the better I feel - not that the pain is going away, oh no, but the less scared I am that they're going to remove the tooth and leave me with an implant or a bridge. (And you know the moment they even begin to use the word "extract", I'll be calling for a second opinion.)

Of course I'd also like some solution that will make the shooting pain stop. Sigh.