Root Canal Reprieve/ More Adventurous Eating

So I didn't get a root canal. The nice endodontist says he can't find anything wrong with the roots and the tooth looks good, so he doesn't want to drill into it until we are positive that there isn't something else going on.

So now, I have seen an ENT, 2 different dentists, my OS, and now the endodontist, all who don't know what is wrong with the tooth, and why it is hurting. I suspect that I will not get anymore answers until these blasted braces come off. The endo did say that it could be the band itself that is irritating my gums and causing sensitivity. I do know that all of this tooth stuff started after my palate expansion. Right about the time my palate expander came out and the new bands were placed. The band itself is pretty close up to the gums so maybe that is what the problem is. He did say that a sinus infection could put pressure on the roots and aggravate the tooth, but he didn't see any issues in there. So...I guess I should be happy. Saved myself $900.00 on the root canal, and the doctor didn't even charge me the $65.00 for the consult. It was all free! (See I told you he was nice)

I will just have to continue waiting to figure out what the issue is. Maybe after the braces come off it will resolve itself! That is my hope anyway! For now, I will just take my antibiotics and hope things clear up quickly, and cross my fingers that the ortho says we are ready to deband me at my next appointment. :)

I decided today that I can't keep pretending this chewing stuff is going to get easier if I don't do it. I can only chew on the right side of my mouth, with the right side of my tongue having full feeling. The left side of my tongue is still numb as is the lower left half of my bottom lip. With that being said maneuvering stuff around my mouth is very challenging. I feel like I don't have control over the food, partly because I can only feel it when it is on the right side of my tongue, and partly because I have so much space in my mouth that I'm not used to. Chewing is no longer painful even with meat, but I find I tend to just sorta gently bite it till I break it down rather then really try and chomp down and cut through it.

Tonight I decided to force myself to work. I made a sandwich our of deli turkey, and ham, baby swiss, lettuce, tomatoe, onion, and 2 pieces of very soft french bread. I wanted to see if I would be able to bite into it, plus I have just been really wanting a sandwich. Well actually I did quite well. I WAS able to bite into it and tear it off. I had to chew it which was rather challenging, messy, and I'm sure very unattractive to watch, but I did it, AND it tasted good! Nice to have something with a little substance and texture rather then the normal soft stuff. I'm going to try and do a bit more "real" eating this next week and see if I can develop some kind of skill, or technique that is a bit more socially acceptable. I'm going to have to force myself to do this (even though I don't enjoy it at all) otherwise I'm never going to learn how to eat again.