First I'll state that I haven't been to the dentist in five years.
Other than that, I have fantastic oral hygiene. I brush 3-7 times per
day. After eating, EVERY time. I floss ery regularly and use mouthwash
to a lesser extent.

The reason I am bringing this up here and not to a live dentist is
because I am uninsured and, presently, unemployed, so I can't really
afford to go to a dentist right now.

The last time I was at the dentist, he poked and prodded at a tooth
with a slight cavity asking if it hurt. It didn't. It didn't hurt at
all actually and how much he was poking at it and how hard had me
thinking, "well it DOESN'T hurt, but if you prod at it much hard, it
will when it cracks!"

This tooth is still in that state, obviously. It never gives me pain
or any REAL trouble aside from just having the cavity there as well as
certain foods requiring a good deal of extra brushing to get out of
the cavity. Since I brush immediately following eating, I don't
believe this to be TOO troubling to the tooth, but it's certainly not
a good thing.

My question here is, don't cavities usually, AT TIMES, cause some
degree of pain? If not, it's gotta cause sensitivity, right? I have
none of that, with this tooth, but there is CLEARLY a cavity (???). I
should be able to get this filled when I do get to the dentist without
a big deal from the DDS, since there's no sensitivty, correct?

As for the graying tooth, it's the one located right behind the one
with a cavity. It causes, not really pain, but not really just the
nothing feeling that exists with the other teeth that are "just there"
and don't "draw attention to themselves" so to speak. I didn't even
realize it was graying until tonight. There looks like there may be a
cavity or something similar as there appears to be a slit in the
middle of the eating surface of this tooth.

What could this problem be? I've seen some items about bleeding pulp
or something. I don't know if that's anything to do with it or not.
What would be the probable procedure for this tooth, considering you
can come up with what the problem likely is?

I'm not asking for medical advice or anything, I'd just like a better
idea of what's going on than "the tooth is graying."

Thank you