On Sunday, a piece of what looked like a rock fell out of my mouth when i was flossing. bottom front teeth, came from inside, by the tongue.

everyone at work who i showed, asking opinions, said, it really looks like my tooth is falling apart. my boyfriend said no, it's tartar that is breaking off.

my question is...how would i know if it's tartar/calculus or my tooth?

my friend at work said, if it was my tooth, i wouldn't feel anything. i looked in the mirror and it was kinda red on the gum. i can't really see anything, but i do see the hole, near the gum line.

so, i'm scaried. i'm going for my cleaning on april 14th, but i'm really scaried now and don't know what to think?

i'd love any ideas, advice, anything.

It may just be tarter. When you look inside your mouth do you see build up around the other teeth?

Do you still have the piece that broke off? Try taking something and (Like the back of a spoon) and pressing down on it. If it breaks apart easily it is probably just tarter. Maybe you should go for your cleaning earlier than the 14th, just in case.

i did call my dentist, but the 14th was the earliest. i'm not in pain, i can eat normal, talk normal, and my tooth isn't loose. it's just odd having a hole back there.

all my bottom front teeth are full of tartar, but not the rest of my mouth?

If there's a hole and the gum is kinda red, then it's probably just plaque. The best way to tell is to scrape the tooth with something sharp. If it's plaque then more chunks will fall out. There are special plaque picking tools you can buy in any drugstore -- I use one called Oropik.

The bottom teeth is the worst for me too, but I always thought it was because I have a small gap at the gumline between them. I remove the plaque in there at least once a month as it builds so much that the gap is sealed solid!

hmmm yeah seems more like plaque to me, wouldn't there actually be pain if it were your tooth? Well I guess not unless it was close enough to the nerve line.... the tooth I am currently worried about in one of my threads I had described has some red around the gum, and a large ragged black hole...but there is some pain w/ eating and chewing, not like a tooth ache but that burning mad feeling your gum gets when it's irritated. If it is like that then I dont' know, but if it seems you've got no pain at all like you said, i would think it's just tartar