I’m having trouble chewing
If someone asked me or said they reported that they have pain chewing, I start out by having an intake sheet that’s two pages that’s probing all the clinical variables on that so that when they show up, I already know what tooth is there lingering? I know all the clinical data and then I can, because I have that full sheet already done, because my staff can get that information, the patient feels heard on the phone, then I’m thinking of all the different things that can be going on.
Starting with—our responsibility is really to rule out dangerous infection. Let’s see, so we’re listening for lingering sensitivity to hot, cold, sweets, and pressure. The lingering nature of it is more indicative of what’s going on. Small problem goes away in less than 10 seconds, is reversible, hyperemia. If it lingers over 20 seconds, we’ve got a vascularity problem that can’t handle that inflammation in there. We just start unpacking the technical parts of it. We have to go through the classic ways of evaluating it, and then you move down through the diagnostic evaluation of it towards the lighter stuff.