In my view not all toothache is caused by what your dental surgeon would call decay. Things that drive you mad, stuff you put up with because it seems like the best thing to do at the time all seems to have an effect. And what's the point of having an Xray, paying for a checkup, having your nice enamel that you've spent years polishing, flossing & rinsing drilled away at high speed, plus enduring anaesthesia and a numb mouth that you can't drink properly with for hours after, if what you really need is to lie down in a darkened room under a cosy duvet with your favorite music, and drift off into oblivion till tomorrow morning?
This morning I was on a train with an aching upper jaw wondering how much worse it was going to get, then got off in Bexhill (no, don't knock Bexhill, the English seaside in November is interestingly melancholy), experienced a strange video and experimental music installation, took a bracing walk by the grim autumn waves and got my aching jaws around some lemon drizzle cake. That's a blog in itself, lemon drizzle.