I have been battling an on and off ache in my mouth since the beginning of March. It’s always been around the same spot – the bottom right in the back.

At first, I thought it was the cavity the dentist mentioned during my checkup in February. I got that fixed. The pain went away for about a week before it returned. It lingered for a few days before it vanished. Last week, it returned again, this time worse than before. I’ve already been to the dentist for this once before and he diagnosed as a case of receding gums.

I assumed that’s what it was when it returned, except the last few times, it went away after a few days. I’ve kept my teeth cleaned as the dentist suggested. Yesterday, I even had to resort to pain reliever. My pain tolerance is typically quite high and if I have to take pain reliever, the pain level is pretty high.

I had my mom take a look later in the day. “That looks just like what I have,” she said, after finding the actual spot that’s hurting. She’s discovered a sore in my mouth.

This sore had kept my mind occupied over the weekend as the word “pain” kept flashing in my brain like a warning sign. “I heard you!” I wanted to shout. I tried to occupy myself with gardening – clearing dandelion weeds from the lawn and putting a fresh layer of new soil on top to loosen the soil below. This kept the pain at bay but when came mealtime, the anxiety and fear of the pain would return instantaneously.

It turned out I have the same gum disease as my mom. It’s triggered by anxiety and stressed. I was very stressed last week because one, I was worried about the sudden spring frost coming through and damaging my garden and two, I was under stress at work.

My mom’s had this problem with her mouth for most of the last two decades, I initially asked if the dentist can do anything, she said, “the most they can do is give you a cleaning. No one knows how to treat this disease.” I asked if the pain will return. She answered yes, the pain will be like an on and off relationship – it will always be there to remind me when I’m not careful.

Great, so this is how it’s going to be?