….as in ache. I apologise for leaving random off-topic tooth related comments all over the internet – this is very bad form, BUT, in my defence, I have very bad teeth. This is a lie, they are not that bad – and the pain may not even be the tooth’s fault.
Way back in 2011 I wrote about my jaw issues, about how I woke up, aged 11, with my jaw jammed shut. I wrote about how my mum, although possibly delighted with the prospect of having a mute daughter, took me to the doctor, and then to the hospital where X-rays were taken and it was concluded that I had an iffy jaw, and that not a lot could be done for it other than a series of exercises to loosen it up.
The problem is that when I am riddled with anxiety I clench my jaw in my sleep. And this is what happened a week or so ago. I woke up in pain with my jaw clenched like a Staffy clinging on to a piece of prime rump steak. I think I might have broken something, I am not sure. The peculiar thing is that when I eat a specific tooth starts hurting, but half way through a meal it will stop hurting and be fine. It is the oddest thing. Also, there is no swelling and my gums look healthy, but my jaw is very stiff. It is putting me off my food and I have already lost weight. I probably need to see a dentist, as the salt water sloshing isn’t really cutting it. Obviously the thought of going to the dentist during the pandemic is making me anxious, having the knock-on effect of more clenching, and more pain. AARRRGGGHHHHH. I promise to ring a dentist on Monday. I will let you know how it goes because I’m positive that everybody finds my tooth related woes as fascinating as I do.
Meanwhile, here is the pretty view from my bedroom:-
And, for relaxation, I have been doing some of this:-
Who is this???
Yes, a new series of Shakespearian insults beckons…..
Wonky Words 
I *do* find your tooth-related woes fascinating, and I’m especially interested in your visit to the dentist (I hope you can get an appointment soon).
Of course, this might just have something to do with my suspicion that I have cracked a previously root-canaled tooth (so it doesn’t really hurt), and I don’t want it to become expensive if I leave it too long before getting it sorted (thank you, Peenee).
Speaking of Peenee: Perhaps your next calligraphied insult could be Peenee’s “bonehole”?
P.S. Lovely view from your bedroom. And artful use of the mist to obscure the Devon Mud.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mr Devine – I’m not sure they will give me an appointment, we shall see.
Are you sloshing with salt water too? Why do you think you cracked your tooth, are you also a clencher? I left my impacted wisdom tooth 10 years!! I was lucky to get away with that! I don’t think I’m going to get away with whatever is going on now.
Right, I will work on Peenee’s bonehole. He will be chuffed.
Sx
LikeLike
P.S Yes, my chiffon veil of mist comes in handy!
LikeLike
“Iffy Jaw” sounds like a frightful condition afflicting Victorian match girls … it won’t be that, I’m sure, but nonetheless your woes are concerning. Kindly get yourself off to see Painless Parker, soonest. Some sort of x-ray is surely in order by now.
“Heinous Rug-Headed Fashion Monger” ought to be Andy Warhol if you ask me, but it might be Malcolm McLaren.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mr Batarde – Ha ha!! It could be either!!
Yes. Get appointment for the dentist. Hmmm. I will. I have to now because I have blogged about it.
Sx
LikeLike
The year just seems to get better and better. I used to bite my tongue when anxiety riddled. Never amounted to much, when I’m mad, I can still never hold me tongue.
But that view is sublime.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mistress B – That view was a sheet of fog this morning – I love how it’s always changing. On a clear day I can see Dartmoor.
Anxiety has a lot to answer for – it certainly does dire things to our bodily functions!
Sx
LikeLike
I remember the clinch-crunch-claw-thing very well, when i woke up with the whole jaw hurting, even when the payne in the teeth slowly faded through the day, the whole damn bone would hurt for a while. It became better over the day, just until I fell sleep again … terrible.
It only went away, slowly, after a major change in my personal surroundings, I do not hope that you have to go down that road, dearest MsScarlet.
I hope you can ease the payne by tackling the cause, whatever makes you fear and whatever it is that acts this way. Angst, Furcht, anxiety, panick, it all is, sometimes it even helps – but you know, it is just a papermoon. Even the most terrible Angst is a make-believe. And you can un-make it.
Says the man who never goes out without his good-luck-stone in his trousers. (I even return when it is forgotten in another piece of clothing.)
You do make an appointment, yes ?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh my goodness, thank you for this, Mr Mags, it gives me hope that it will go away eventually. I used to look forward to eating and sleeping, but for now these simple things are a bit awkward. I need to do more enjoyable things and stop the pointless worrying.
I have lucky earrings, and I did have a pair of unlucky knickers, which I threw away. They were perfectly nice, but I became fearful of wearing them and I don’t even recall the reason why. How’s that for irrational?!
Sx
LikeLike
Mr Mags – I will try to make an appointment on Monday.
Sx
LikeLike
I think throwing away the knickers of doom is a perfect start.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Teeth make up half the woes in my life so i get it and i’ve also had a case of pandemic jaw, though it seems a lot milder than yours. I hope things improve soon. Custard and jelly is a pretty nice diet for a day or two!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Kylie – Pandemic Jaw!!! I do like this name for it!! I have started cleaning my teeth nearly as often as I wash my hands – it seems to help. And yes, nothing hard is going in my mouth!!
Sx
LikeLike
Peenee’s Bonehole and Good-luck Stone in Trousers. Dear gods! We’ll have to be careful we don’t get Em-Jayed! Better give Savvy a heads-up in case she has to sort things out!
And that view! What a glorious start to any day!In any weather
Did I tell you…we had a sea fog the other day. Quite unusual for our area, but I was very happy. It vanished and then we had rain.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dinah – So much going on in the trousers these days! Perhaps we should draw a thick veil of fog over it all?
I do enjoy opening the curtains in the morning – the earlier the better at this time of years because those long shadows don’t last.
Sx
LikeLiked by 1 person
I do sympathise, Ms S, and hope all goes well at the dentist’s, whatever the knickers forebode.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mr Auty – I am hoping the tooth will be improved by tomorrow. The threat of the dentist might make the pain go away – live in hope! I will despair later when all my teeth fall out.
Sx
LikeLike
Well with that view I’m surprised you aren’t entertaining in your bedroom a lot more than you ever mention!
I’ve had bruxism if we’re getting technical about it many times but it’s unglamorous cause is amphetamine, which I use when I need excitement and I need it fast. I really hope you get it sorted (at a bit less than two metres away) cos it’s rubbish and you don’t want to be all gummy when you’re old. Have you tried gaping like a fish? Keep us informed!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Looby – I am coating the affected tooth with toothpaste – this seems to be helping. It is Monday tomorrow and I’m hoping to make a miraculous recovery so that I don’t have to make an appointment. You never know!
I’m going to stick a sofa at the end of the bed so that I can gaze towards the south coast to my heart’s content!
Sx
LikeLike
Chaise-longue for a woman of your station, surely? 🙂
Were I the sort to nag, I’d say get thee to the dentist nonetheless rather than relying on your strange Devonian folk rememdies.
LikeLike
Looby – Hmmmm…. I am entering denial mode. I am make believing the tooth doesn’t hurt at all. No worries, that’ll all change when I actually try to eat something!
Yes, of course, you are correct about the chaise-longue, it’s just that my old sofa needs to be put out to pasture, but I don’t want to take it to the tip – that would be cruel. It is probably 70 years old. [A lot older than me!!]
Sx
LikeLike
You could are lacking in magnesium. Have you tried making a banana peel tea high in magnesium and good for anxiety too? I haven’t tried it but I will in due course. In certain conditions, I’m susceptible to having ‘funny turns’ they are rare though and they usually happen in supermarkets, shopping centres and once at the hairdressers when I had an over chatty stylist flitting from one topic of conversation to the next, not once did she pause for breath, she even stopped cutting my hair altogether to show me photos on her mobile phone of ponchos she had knitted for her dogs, that’s when I started to feel the life force drain away from me, the cold sweat on my brow and my bowels had turned to water, it felt as if she was trying to bore me to death and succeeding.
LikeLiked by 2 people
The link isn’t working for banana peel tea, it was from wikihow.com make-banana-peel- tea
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mitzi – I have looked at the tea making process – remember you are talking to the lazy baggage called Scarlet!! But I will check out ways of getting some extra magnesium into my system.
I imagine the hairdresser you mention is suffering now under the weight of PPE and fogged up glasses – I haven’t been to the salon, but I read somewhere that they’re no longer supposed to talk so much.
Ponchos for dogs – surely they would be a trip hazard? For the dog. The dog is already a trip hazard.
Sx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mitzi — I find your accounts of your “funny turns” indeed just that. Very. And I agree, there’s a special place in hell for the over-sharing hairdresser.
LikeLiked by 2 people
So do I!!
SX
LikeLike
Oh, Ms Scarlet… I have suffered from the tooth pain you experience, but not the locking jaw. I too am a jaw clencher (stress) and for years wore a tooth guard at night, which helped a lot. For a while before getting that, all my upper teeth ached. It was awful! Now, I don’t wear the guard anymore but am very conscious of when I am clenching my jaw and make a point to relax it.
You may in fact have temporomandibular joint disorder. I can’t do links here but if you copy and paste this in your browser, it will give you more information. I hope you can get treatment very soon. Definitely see your dentist, or even your doctor, as this is something that needs addressing right away. Try this: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/tmj/symptoms-causes/syc-20350941
Wishing you relief asap! xoxo
LikeLike
Ponita – The tooth is feeling a bit better today thanks to some impressive toothpaste, but my jaw is another story – it feels very achey. Yes, you’re right, I think I do have TMD. I really don’t like going to the dentist because I have difficulty opening my mouth wide enough – it puts so much strain on the joints – and then the dentist can sometimes get impatient with me.
I’m not sure how I’d get on with a mouth guard, but I am willing to try, because the ache is awful. I’ve also become very aware of when I’m clenching and I wake up now if I’m doing it – this makes me very tired during the day.
I’ve got to find a way to stop fretting about everything!
Sxx
LikeLike
“Tooth guard” – bloody luxury. In Franconia you bite a piece of wood, hey !
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mr Mags – Everything tooth related is a little expensive!
Sx
LikeLike
Sorry to hear of your dental woes. Yes, get thee to a dentist ASAP, before the pain gets worse or your tooth falls out – assuming they’re willing to be up close and personal, that is. Luckily I haven’t needed any dental attention during the lockdown. I’ve read horrific stories of people pulling their own teeth out to end toothache.
I like your bedroom view. It looks wonderfully tranquil (until the combine harvesters arrive, maybe).
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nick – The tooth feels a bit better today, and the ache is more jaw bound. Hopefully if I can get the clenching under control all will come right. Cross fingers. I don’t fancy going to the dentist during the pandemic unless I really have to. But we shall see.
Thunderstorms and power cuts this morning, that kind of distracted me from calling the dentist. I know, I am very silly. I will ring if it gets worse again.
Sc
LikeLike
Excuses, excuses : Thunderstorms, power cuts, alien invasion, a miraculous toothpaste concocted by Getafix himself – let’s hope that it all works …
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mr Mags – I am putting off the inevitable! BUT…..
Sx
LikeLike
I see the BBC have commissioned a six-part TV version of “The Knickers of Doom”, starring Saoirse Ronan as Ms Scarlet Blue and Paul Mescal as the exorcist. Fame and fortune coming your way!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Nick – Excellent!!! Paul Mescal, eh? Now I’m going a bit silly, which is unseemly for a lady of my age.
Sx
LikeLike
Not sure about your dental chaps, but since the AIDS scare dentists AND their nurses here now wear goggles, gloves, a mouth-and-nose mask and a plastic apron. In ye olden days we all went in bare-handed for drilling work and hid in the next room for X rays!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dinah – I’m not sure I’ve been to the dentist since the olden days, and by the time I go again the dentist will have been replaced by a robot!
Sx
LikeLike
I hope your dentist has given you an appointment and next we’ll be hearing about your miraculous recovery! I need to make an appointment, but I’m too COVID-19 paranoid! Besides, this elder lockdown has me convinced that if I go anywhere, I’ll shrivel up and die! xoxo
LOVE that view, sweetpea!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Savvy – Well, yes, I am doing well today and the tooth feels a lot better. I bought some Sensodyne Relief and Repair toothpaste and it seems to have worked wonders. Hopefully I will keep improving. To be honest I’m also under the impression that I’ll shrivel up and die if I go anywhere – so the idea of going to the dentist gives me that ‘damned if I do, damned if I don’t’ feeling. This Covid thing is like playing Russian roulette… and I don’t want to take my turn.
Sx
LikeLike
Nothing wrong about sharing what is giving you pain. Sensodyne toothpaste has worked for both my wife and I. I understand it covers/repairs the tooth enamel that goes thin. Also, I agree with you that TMD is your problem. My dentist noticed my jaw pops and told me about future problems I might have with TMD. He stressed that gum chewing was forbidden for me. Fortunately I was not a big gum chewer.
The view from your window is wonderful. Probably takes your mind off the pain. I noticed that if you stare at the picture a certain way the large cloud starts to look like a molar.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Same here, Bill, at the age of eleven I was told to never chew gum. Who wants to chew gum anyway?!
That toothpaste should be in everyone’s emergency medical kit!
Sx
LikeLike
“Sensodyne toothpaste has worked for both my wife and I”. What sort of relief were you seeking with your wife?
LikeLiked by 2 people
Looby – Tsk!
Sx
LikeLike
P.S Tsk = A wry smile and an affectionate roll of the eyes.
Sx
LikeLike
Don’t worry my lovely eye-rolling blogpal. I come from a place where “cunt” can mean “good friend”,
Anyway, having lowered the tone of the thread sufficiently for one evening I will bid you adieu, and wish you Relief and Oral Satisfaction, or whatever that toothpaste is called.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The heat has reduced me to eye rolling, I’m too hot to do anything other than eat ice cream and tut. You see! My tooth can tolerate ice cream. But not crisps. And I have been bitten by a horse fly.
Do you know, I swear like a trooper offline, and call people all sorts of things, like: you daft bugger/sod etc, but I don’t swear in my head, so it doesn’t enter my blog, because typing comes from my head. Isn’t that peculiar. I am rambling now!
Sx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Looby you made coming back to check comments worthwhile. The magic of toothpaste. I shall go brush my teeth now.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Awww…lisleman, thank you!
LikeLiked by 2 people
I’m obviously upset to be very late for this conversation, especially as it has involved so much magic stones/toothpastes/unicorns – and fear of dentistry. As Dinah so accurately responded, they’re all kitted out like extras in the video for Kylie’s Can’t Get You Out Of My Head video these days, you can hardly recognise them! I went and had a tooth pulled just before we went off to Amsterdam, and there was nothing to be scared about – they are health professionals and know what they’re doing… Go for it, Miss S! It may be the end to your mandibular problems, after all. Jx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Jon – You missed The Knickers of Doom from your list 🙂
I am a cowardly creature – plus, I will hold my hand up to say that I don’t want to waste the dentist’s time or get in the way of someone who is more of an emergency than I am. I seem to be coping fairly well with the toothpaste, but I will ring tomorrow for further advice *smiles weakly to prevent teeth falling out*. Anyhow, the tooth issue has now been suppressed by the Horse Fly bite issue. I now have a very large swelling on my arm. Don’t you just love Summer?!!
Sx
LikeLike
I adore summer! We managed to avoid the fearsome mozzies that inevitably arrive in Amsterdam – a city that is mainly water – in this type of heatwave, only for both of us to get bitten… in Braintree! Jx
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like Autumn best, I think, when everything calms down and becomes manageable. I also like jumpers and coats and boots. All this sweaty weather is toooo much for me, and the biting creatures – Ugh. There seems to be an epidemic of them this year.
Sx
LikeLike
Well you’ve obviously touched a nerve here. I had my first day for ages back at work yesterday and I noticed I was clenching my jaw at several points through the day. So it happens to the worse of us love.
LikeLiked by 1 person
When did you write this Looby?! Apologies for my late reply – I didn’t see the notification.
I have had barely any sleep due to the heat and the clenching BUT, I have discovered that I like gin!
God, the clenching is awful, and I have had One Of Those Days.
Sx
LikeLike
Gin is good for all manner of ailments. Well, probably not, actually, but it makes you forget you have them! Jx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Jon – Too right!!
I am still too hot, even though it rained and rained.
Sc
LikeLike
At a guess I’d say I wroite it on 20th August at about 10.07pm. I haven’t been sleeping great either, despite being only flimsily covered at night now.
Oh dear…it’s come to discussing our ailments.
LikeLike
Looby – I know! I was thinking that the other day – all I talk about is my ailments. I remember listening to my mum on the phone and her saying things such as: Oh no; really; that sounds nasty. And then, after she’d finished the call she’d tell us all about the family ailments. I resolved never to go on about my own medical issues, not realising that they actually become fascinating and more relevant with age.
Sx
LikeLike
Dearest – either the rotten tooth already fell out, or your toothpaste medication worked, and it miraculously became a healthy, shiny gnasher again – oor you made the hard & right decision to visit Dr. Eisenbarth – and now you are recovering, sipping vegetable puree … without a doubt looking out over the countryside enjoying the view.
I hope for the best, dearest MsScarlet !
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have toothy news. I might provide a full report tomorrow, but action has been taken.
Sx
LikeLike
I’m really sad to read this. Once again I have nothing useful to say apart from wondering if waving a slice of carrot cake under your nose might make your taste buds water and ease your jaw open in a determined effort to enjoy a slice of Paradise. Seriously though, it must be horrid to be stuck with something like this and I do hope you find a way round it’s current recurrence. I see action has been taken and I really hope it was successful. Needless to say I love the view xx
LikeLike
Did someone mention CAKE?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Only in a whisper !
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hellooo, Mr Ducks!
I have just published a brief update! Not brilliant news, I’m afraid.
Sx
LikeLike
Mistress MJ – I think I’d better leave the cake for now!
Sx
LikeLike