I realise that this may be slightly off-topic for the list, but I believe
that any recent changes in my body's responses are likely to be largely the
result of a higher proportion of raw foods in my diet, and I am interested
in exploring the relationships involved. So I hope you will bear with me. :)

About a year ago, one of my back teeth was slightly painful on an
intermittent basis. It didn't ever get to the stage where I felt I needed
to go to the dentist with it. I felt that, even though there was likely to
be some sort of infection present, my diet (probably about 50% raw at the
time; now it is more like 75% raw) seemed to be keeping it under control.

I went for my regular dental check-up a few months later, and the dentist
told me that an old filling in the tooth needed replacing, and that there
was evidence of some decay around it. When he replaced the filling, he
commented that he was surprised the tooth hadn't given me more trouble,
considering the state it was in. (The drilling went through to the nerve.)

The tooth didn't bother me again until recently, except for occasional
slight temperature or pressure sensitivity. Then, about a week before
Christmas, it suddenly became very painful during the course of one day. By
late afternoon, the pain was quite severe, and I was thinking that a visit
to the dentist might be imminent. But it disappeared even more suddenly
than it had come, and was completely gone by the end of the day.

The same sort of thing happened again a few days ago, although on this
occasion the pain took a little bit longer to appear and disappear.

Now, I have some questions about all of this:
(a) Is it reasonable to assume that the recent episodes were part of some
sort of healing process? If so, what could be the mechanism involved that
would result in such intense pain for a short time, and then allow it to
subside without any intervention? OR
(b) Is it likely that they were direct responses to deal with something I
had recently eaten? On the most recent occasion, I was aware that I had
been eating quite a lot of sugary stuff (something I rarely do these days)
not long before I first noticed the pain. OR
(c) Am I being irresponsible in ignoring pain unless it is severe and
prolonged, thereby perhaps setting myself up for more serious problems
later because of some sort of low-level infection that may be present all
the time and that is not being dealt with?

On the two or three previous occasions that I have had similar toothaches
involving other teeth (now some years in the past), the pain has persisted
and resulted in root canal treatment on each occasion. So I feel that
something has changed - presumably my body's ability to deal with waste and
infection because of the change in diet.

I would be interested in any comments on any of the above, particularly the
sorts of mechanisms that may be involved.

Regards,
Barbara