Dentist Woes!

[Bushman]

I do not loathe the dentist, as I've not had the bad experiences. I'm 53 years old and have never had a cavity (knock on wood). I had my wisdom teeth out, which is when I discovered how great codeine is (does it take away the pain? Nope, but you don't care...stab you in the eye with a fork? Don't care...). My dad has terrible teeth and was on full dentures by the time he was 50, wondering why he hadn't done that 20 years earlier. My mom's are pretty good though, and I had a great-great aunt on her side who was once got a root canal when she was about 90. I asked why on earth she was going through that at her age, why not just pull the tooth, and she said believe it or not, she still had all of her original teeth. She didn't have a lot of long-term goals left in life, but dying with all her teeth was one. I guess I got that tooth gene.

I'm in the same boat: 28, no cavities (knock on wood!). I also have only one wisdom tooth, and it's thankfully wedged against my back molar where it's not a nuisance. My parents have awful teeth with plenty of fillings on both sides (my dad got full dentures a few years ago), and my dentist has in fact told me that he doesn't know where I get my dental health from, but to be thankful it's not from my parents.

 

[Anishacorn]

My parents and brother have very good teeth.

 

[Turnip]

My dad too, he even bit into the grass with them...

 

[Anishacorn]

My parents and brother have very good teeth. They're straight, white with no cavities and they also go extremely rare to the dentist. And then, there's me, with my bad teeth. Since I was little I always had problems with my teeth. My baby teeth had black lines on them and after they fell out my teeth became very crooked. I had to wear braces for about three years. I don't even mention cavities. I had so many, I can't even count them. Luckily, I take better care of my teeth now and I go to this clinic to look after them and get them whitened https://smileworkshop.com/dental-services/whitening/.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Had my second PTC, yesterday. Misses doc was very happy. My gum does so well now, that I actually don't neet periodontal treatment and with succeeding this care, "we're on a very good way", she said!
Next PTC end of November.

 

[Bugguy]

Just came back from the dentist today for 'deep cleaning'. I procrastinated as long as possible till my wife just made an appointment and guilted me into going. I had a choice of novocaine vs. something topical. I went with the topical - the needle hurts more than the procedure - and it was a breeze.

Growing up the family dentist had to pull all my baby teeth (molars) and didn't believe in novocaine. I had a jar of teeth with roots and fillings that I kept... why?? We didn't have money for braces, so now I'm a semi-crooked mess. I went years without seeing a dentist and I guess I was lucky there was no adverse outcome. Now I live with an oral hygiene fanatic and other than pre-dentist anxiety, so far so good.

BTW... I'm probably the only one that buys those hard toothbrushes.

 

[Zombie_61]

Root canals are not as bad as they used to be if your dentist sends you to a specialist who does them (forget what that dentist is called)...

An Endodontist. I've had so many root canals performed on me over the years that I now have more "post and crown" teeth than natural.

 

[Edward]

UPDATE!

The surgery was a success. Took out four teeth, and put in two implants. The implant process takes a few months as you have to put in the screw thingy first, and then wait until the bone grafts to it, and then get the abutment, and then the crown. Quite the ordeal.

ANYWAY. They put me in a sort of twilight IV sedation so I was kind of awake and kind of not, but didn't feel anything. The pain has been pretty manageable, which astonished me, and I've been eating soft foods. It's hard because I had extractions on both sides of my mouth, so I can't just eat on one side.

I've been in bed all day, watching a few classic movies, and will likely do the same tomorrow.

Three of the teeth had all had root canals done, and they *still* went bad. That is just frustrating. My mom has bad teeth, despite going to the dentist constantly, and flossing and doing everything right. Just the luck of the draw, I guess.

Anyway, I survived, and am now $5k poorer.

Ouch on the financial side, but good to hear all went well! I've avoided significant expense myself - by the time I was able to get a dental appointment to have them seen too, two of my my broken teeth were too far gone to be crowned. One still has healthy roots so they're leaving it alone for now, it's just a fair bit shorter than once it was. The other two broken to the point they can't be crowned; one has been pulled already, the other is due to be pulled next week. The remaining surface level chunk fell off last week ,so they'll just have to hoke out the roots.

 

[Harp]

A broken tooth shard needed extract last year, so an oral sugeon knifed
gumline and removed said bits, thankfully novicaine eased the pain and the
tab came in around $425. All out of pocket because my federal Blue Cross plan
coverage stops at the dentist. Fortunately my teeth are good and I haven't been
in a bar fight since I was a kid.

 

[Edward]

I'm just hoping I win the lottery or it suddenly gets real cheap to have implants. I still want very subtle fangs in place of my incisors... (Old goths never die, an aw that!).

 

[bn1966]

Bit the bullet and went for implant surgery a week ago on a front incisor. Tooth was broken in an accident as a child and had dodgy crowns since until it was eventually pulled and replaced with a partial denture.

Anyway, got fed up buying denture paste & sticking the damn thing in every morning and found a private orthodontist who does implants. UK NHS dentistry only covers quick basic treatments and then still costs though allegedly subsidised thus the private route.

Cost was eye watering at £4000. Gum was cut open, post put into jawbone, bone built up with some desiccated product of horse origin & sewn up again. Gob took a week to settle down pain wise. In 3 months time the new front fang can go in.

 

[GHT]

Cost was eye watering at £4000. Gum was cut open, post put into jawbone, bone built up with some desiccated product of horse origin & sewn up again. Gob took a week to settle down pain wise. In 3 months time the new front fang can go in.

£4K good grief, my hip replacement at the private Nuffield hospital, came in at just under £12K, that included three nights stay and all medical costs. It also included future surgery if any problem arose. (infections can happen even though all care is taken to prevent it.)

 

[Zombie_61]

Bit the bullet and went for implant surgery a week ago on a front incisor. Tooth was broken in an accident as a child and had dodgy crowns since until it was eventually pulled and replaced with a partial denture.

Anyway, got fed up buying denture paste & sticking the damn thing in every morning and found a private orthodontist who does implants. UK NHS dentistry only covers quick basic treatments and then still costs though allegedly subsidised thus the private route.

Cost was eye watering at £4000. Gum was cut open, post put into jawbone, bone built up with some desiccated product of horse origin & sewn up again. Gob took a week to settle down pain wise. In 3 months time the new front fang can go in.

Several years ago I had to have a similar procedure performed to fix the bungled results of a "quack" dentist (long boring story). No horse parts here; after a little light conversation I got the nurse to admit the "donor bone" they used for the graft was indeed donated by a cadaver.

 

[Turnip]

Just spent four hours at the dentist getting four teeth ground down to prepare a bridge and an additional crown…
Temporary crowns got put in and Novocain‘s about to get out…

 

[Turnip]

Back at home, waiting for the Novalgin I just took to do it’s job.

 

[Turnip]

Second session, three teeth to be reshaped. Though less bloodshed than last time it’s way more painful.
Glad still to have some drops of Nolvagin in stock and a bar of 500mg pills, that should make it through the weekend.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Had my fourth PTC, some weeks ago. Still fine status. Still no need for periodontal treatment, because the parodontose isn't proceeding. I had luck. After the first PTC, the gum-recovery happened promptly.

 

[AmateisGal]

Okay, this is a slight pet peeve of mine.

My dentist is the only one of my healthcare providers to GUILT me into making appointments. They send constant reminders for cleanings and I get so upset that I just refuse to go. The language they use is designed to make me feel ashamed that I haven't gone!

 

[Turnip]

Uuuh, not nice!

Dentists here usually recommend to do a cleaning once a year. But of course it’s extra money they can generate, no question.

What really makes sense here, also in a financial respect, is to join the recommended regular half year checkups.
No costs, beside the compulsory health insurance premium you are charged anyway, and the more of those checkups you „collect“ over the years the higher the reimbursement from the insurance in case of necessary dentures, bridges, crowns…

 

[Tiki Tom]

My lingering fear (it has happened to me twice) is that a cap will pop off while I’m having a meal and biting something innocuous, like a piece of bread. It’s a silly fear, but frequently in the back of my mind.