I had a sensitive tooth on the left upper side of* my mouth. The dentist used a device to test if the tooth’s nerve was still viable. She touched my tooth with a probe from the device. Once the probe was in contact with my tooth, the device started GIVING OFF** electric currents. The higher the reading is before I feel pain, the less viable my tooth is.

*Should I say ‘in my mouth’ or ‘of my mouth’?
** Does ‘give off’ make sense here? How would you say this in casual conversations?

Thank you and good morning. :)

Question

I had a sensitive tooth on the left upper side of* my mouth. The dentist used a device to test if the tooth’s nerve was still viable. She touched my tooth with a probe from the device. Once the probe was in contact with my tooth, the device started GIVING OFF** electric currents. The higher the reading is before I feel pain, the less viable my tooth is.

*Should I say ‘in my mouth’ or ‘of my mouth’?
** Does ‘give off’ make sense here? How would you say this in casual conversations?

Thank you and good morning. :)

Answer

‘Of my mouth’ is correct and it is how we would say it in Australia.

‘Giving off’ is a term mostly reserved for when a person or situation makes you feel uneasy…ie ‘he is giving off bad vibes or he is giving me bad vibes’. I would use the words ‘emitting’ or ‘producing’ instead.

I hope this helps!