The good news is that I don't have an infection in the jaw, or even in my sinuses. The bad news is that I seem to have started to grind my teeth again ... "bruxism" ... back in my 20's I had a "bruxism guard" that I wore at night that let me grind on the plastic rather than the tooth surfaces, and the dentist recommended this again. Unfortunately, following the full x-ray series (all those nasty sharp-edged film things they position in your mouth) and the cleaning, my mouth was pretty cut up and my gag reflex was in hyper mode, so when they tried to do the molding of my teeth it was no fun at all, and was (due to my gagging, which I could not get under control) ultimately unsuccessful. I have an appointment in 3 weeks to come in again (it was supposed to be to pick up the guard, but I guess we'll try the molding again then) ... oh bliss, oh joy ... not.
As has been the case nearly my entire adult life "my teeth look good", "there was almost no plaque" but my "gums bleed at the slightest touch" so I "really should be flossing". Hell, if my tooth-spacing wasn't so damn tight and my gums didn't bleed so readily, I would be fucking flossing regularly ... but see how you like going around for an hour after brushing/flossing with a mouth that is more suited to Dracula's post-prandial repose! Grrrrr.