Back to the ER

I managed to stay away for 3 months but tonight I was back to the ER. I was concerned that the nerve damage might have resulted in an infection. Plus I wanted the pain to stop. I was planning to wait until I saw the dentist on Tuesday but figured I was only hurting myself if I waited... and was in agony. I got there around 8:00 and it was 8:30 before I even saw the triage nurse because 5 ambulances came in at the same time. The sign beside triage indicated that it was 3-4 hour wait. They fast tracked me which was a good thing. But with all the patients and the ambulances the doctor for the fast tracked patients was soemewhere else. 2 people were waiting for their test results and there were 8 people ahead of me. It was not looking promising. But I was actually out of there by 10:00. The doctor said to ice my jaw and neck and gave me naproxen for the pain. He thinks the TMJ was aggravated, possibly by overextending the jaw while the treatment was done, from hitting the nerve, or just from having my mouth open for an hour. I had been wondering about that... since the same thing happened when I had my wisdom teeth out. I had to go on Naproxen then too. Hopefully it does control the pain. And hopefully the cut on my tongue actually heals. I'll be back at the dentists on Tuesday so I can also get his opinion. And hopefully when he fills the next cavities he doesn't inflict any more damage.