Toothache

[Veronica]

I went for my regular dental cleaning and exam the first week of January. My dentist was a little concerned about one of my back teeth that has a huge filling that's got to be at least 30 years old. But it wasn't hurting me, so we left it alone.

Two weeks later it started bugging me a little bit, but was quite tolerable. I did eventually make an appointment to see my dentist(tomorrow) but today, it's no longer tolerable. It's my first toothache and it is no fun. And the salivary gland on that side is not very happy either.

I was going to do a long ride today, but there is no way I can eat on the bike. :(

Maybe a video...

Veronica

[OakLeaf]

Ow. Hope you can get it fixed ASAP. And that you don't need a root canal.

[Wahine]

That sucks. Mouth pain is horrible. I hope you feel better soon.

[snapdragen]

Tooth pain is one of the worst. Take the day off and try to rest, if you have painkillers, use them.

[emily_in_nc]

Sounds like it's infected, so prepare yourself for a root canal.

Sorry. :(

I've had two, and with conscious sedation, they were no big deal. Except in the wallet. :eek:

[solobiker]

Sounds like it's infected, so prepare yourself for a root canal.

Sorry. :(

I've had two, and with conscious sedation, they were no big deal. Except in the wallet. :eek:

This happened to me too. My dentist first gave me anitbiotics and vicodin for the first few days to get rid of the infection and help with the pain ( didn't help the pain at all ) I then went back and had the RC done. Not too bad at all. The worst pain was before I went to the dentist. I feel for you V...:( I can honestly say I have not been in that kind of pain ever. If you can try to take the day off. It was hard for me to find coverage as I am one of the very few OTs for the company so I had to deal with it. No fun..:( Good luck tomorrow.

[goride]

Oh - that sounds painful. My dad just went through something similar and he was on antibiotics for almost a week before the dentist would begin the work. He said, though, that the pain was much improved after just two days on the antibiotics.

[Veronica]

It's weird because the pain definitely comes and goes. It was really bad after I ate breakfast and first posted. Lunch didn't bother me nearly as much. Difference between hot and cold food maybe?

I am hoping it will just be a new filling or a crown. At least when you go back for the crown, it's pretty quick. I don't have time for multiple trips to the dentist. Yeah, of course I'll make the time, but it does not fit well with my life plans...

I've got Thom's parents visiting next weekend, work stuff to do, training... You know, my life! :D

My dentist is also a triathlete, so that makes visits a little better.

Veronica

[pll]

I don't have time for multiple trips to the dentist. Yeah, of course I'll make the time, but it does not fit well with my life plans...


You made me laugh! It's never a good time for the dentist or for getting sick... And if you had some spare time, the dentist would not be your choice, anyway.

Tooth ache is one of the worst pains. I am guessing you will get a crown, as fillings in back teeth seem to be 'out of fashion' these days, so to speak.

If a root canal is necessary, sedation is not, though. Why go there, unless you have some major phobia? A dentist won't have an anesthesiologist on call, so I'd view that as too risky. I have been unfortunate enough to have 3 root canals. Not particularly pleasant (your mouth is open for a loooong time), but I would not go for sedation except in a hospital. Take some music or podcasts instead.

[emily_in_nc]

If a root canal is necessary, sedation is not, though. Why go there, unless you have some major phobia? A dentist won't have an anesthesiologist on call, so I'd view that as too risky. I have been unfortunate enough to have 3 root canals. Not particularly pleasant (your mouth is open for a loooong time), but I would not go for sedation except in a hospital. Take some music or podcasts instead.

Conscious sedation is a little bit different from IV sedation (or general anesthesia) used in hospitals. It's just a sleeping pill and a Valium (or similar). My dentist had to receive special training and has a certification for monitoring patients under conscious sedation, and all dentists that use this procedure should also be certified. Yes, there's always a risk with any form of sedation, but to me, there's nothing like almost sleeping through a dental procedure and having almost no memory of it afterwards. To me it's really no different than having a colonoscopy, which I wouldn't do without sedation either (and I did that in an outpatient setting with IV sedation and an anesthesiologist).

Yes, I am a dental-phobe, and it's one of the very most common phobias. Conscious sedation has gotten many folks into a dentist's office that had been avoiding having necessary work done (some, even cleanings!) for years or even decades. For those folks, it is a wonderful thing and well worth the slight risk that comes with being sedated. There's also a big health risk in letting dental care slide.

[OakLeaf]

What Emily said - although there is IV conscious sedation too. It's what I had as a teenager when I had all four impacted wisdom teeth out at once, and it's what my very phobic DH's dentist uses. You're awake for the whole procedure but you have no memory of it afterward. The dentist is specially trained and certified in anaesthesia, and there's an EKG and probably other monitoring (I only know about the EKG because they had to shave DH's chest ;)). Is it as safe as being in a hospital, probably not, but (1) I doubt if there even are any hospitals that do routine periodontal work, and (2) as Emily said, the risk of letting your teeth go is much greater.

[bmccasland]

For temporary relief from tooth aches - try clove oil. I think you can buy it at a pharmacy.

Learned about it after I had dry sockets from having my wisdom teeth removed. Oral surgeon packed the holes with strips of gauze soaked in clove oil. Numbed the pain, and after a few dressing changes the holes healed. Food tasted strange though :rolleyes:

[maillotpois]

I've had 4 root canals (one had to be re-done!) and they're sucky, but the improvement in the pain makes it SO worth it. I also have mostly crowns in the back now - super expensive, but also worth it (as opposed to the old fillings that fall apart and necessitate the root canals).

My last root canal came right after El Tour several years ago - I was head coach for TNT for the event and I was utterly miserable before and during the century. Alleve helped a little.

Good luck!

[SadieKate]

Hope they can solve the pain once and for all today, V. Tooth pain just wears me down faster than almost any other pain.

I've only had one root canal. It was done on a tooth that had a new crown but couldn't be saved anyway. The pain was so intense afer 3 days of vicodin not working (other than to keep me awake at night) that I was sweating and close to vomiting. The endodontist was being very nice explaining each step of the procedure but once he drilled through the crown the pressure was off and the anesthesia finally worked. So I asked him to please be quiet and let me sleep while he finished. :p

Now, let talk about a crown that breaks 3 times. Get zirconia for a bionic tooth!

[maillotpois]

My dentist is doing those crowns he makes in house now. I forget what they're called, but it's so much better leaving the office after one visit with a real tooth instead of that cardboard temporary tooth they would put in before. Were you being serious about zirconia? Sounds like something you'd get from Zales. :p

Speaking of vicodin and root canals, my family will never let me live down the Thanksgiving that I missed. I had a RC the day before Thanksgiving (the re-do one so it was way worse than the rest of the ones I had), I couldn't eat anything and was on only pain killers and wine. I slept through dinner.

[Veronica]

Wow - my pain is nothing like that. So far Motrin has been good. It's only really intense when I eat something hot or cold. When my mouth gets back to it's regular temperature, it's just a dull ache. My morning run made it hurt, but otherwise the run was good. :D

I've got a sub for the afternoon - my kiddos better behave. The sub pool has gotten scary.

Veronica

[maillotpois]

Sounds like maybe you might not need a RC, but just a crown. Will keep fingers crossed.

The pain before the RCs I have had the pain was truly comparable to childbirth. Something about it being in your head also makes it harder to dissociate from it.

[SadieKate]

V - I keep straws in the house for really cold drinks. I don't know why but I also tend to hydrate better when I use straws. Maybe just unsciously slurp in more? Dunnoh.

Yeah, zirconia - great stuff for those with jaw muscles of steel. And it comes from Jared's so I know my dentist loves me. :rolleyes:

[OakLeaf]

Now, let talk about a crown that breaks 3 times. Get zirconia for a bionic tooth!

That's why my dentist told me it wasn't even worth it for me to try porcelain. I've just got all the gold shining out the sides of my grin. Did you have your premolars removed when you were a kid? Many dentists I've seen as an adult have told me this was a big fad among dentists when people our age were kids. It totally ruined our bite and put the entire force of our jaws onto eight teeth. No wonder our molars crumble. Five crowns down, three more to go. :rolleyes:

Plus, gold is supposed to be easier on your gums than porcelain.

I don't mind the feel of the temporary crown, but the offgassing makes me so sick I can't wait to get the stupid things out.

I'm going to have to get another one done pretty soon ... hope the tooth lasts until I get home or I'm going to have to find another dentist. :(

[maillotpois]

Oak - I have had to have a couple rear ones in gold because of low clearance. And how about the gold crown that had to be replaced?? :mad: I was so mad about that.

I didn't have any molars removed, but ended up getting cavities that spread so my rear teeth were all fillings.

And to think I never had any cavities til college. :rolleyes: Sound like we've all had a lot of fun with dentists. And paid for their kids' college....

[bmccasland]

... Sound like we've all had a lot of fun with dentists. And paid for their kids' college....

I know I've made boat payments :rolleyes:

[tealtreak]

I know I've made boat payments :rolleyes:
beach houses too.......(:

[entrepreneurwee]

Have you ever suffered from root canal treatment. I am using the word suffer because although it is a treatment but it is so painful and horrible.

[missjean]

Speaking of dentist's boats & beach houses...I had to get an implant last year. As I'm sitting in the chair waiting for the novocaine to kick in, I'm looking at the x-ray of my mouth he has up on his computer. As I'm looking the x-ray goes away and a series of photos starts rotating - pictures of all his wonderful vacations! Pictures of the family skiing in the Alps, tropical beaches, white water rafting, hiking, and a big dinner on a patio.
Great. As I'm sitting there fretting on how I'm going to pay the $3000, I get to see what he does on vacation. :mad:

[Blueberry]

Speaking of dentist's boats & beach houses...I had to get an implant last year. As I'm sitting in the chair waiting for the novocaine to kick in, I'm looking at the x-ray of my mouth he has up on his computer. As I'm looking the x-ray goes away and a series of photos starts rotating - pictures of all his wonderful vacations! Pictures of the family skiing in the Alps, tropical beaches, white water rafting, hiking, and a big dinner on a patio.
Great. As I'm sitting there fretting on how I'm going to pay the $3000, I get to see what he does on vacation. :mad:

That's just in bad taste IMO. Pictures of the places I think are OK, but family vacations - not so much.

I had a dentist (who I dearly loved!) who did scuba photography as a hobby. There were amazing fish/reef photos all over his office. Pretty cool!

[bmccasland]

Speaking of dentist's boats & beach houses...I had to get an implant last year. As I'm sitting in the chair waiting for the novocaine to kick in, I'm looking at the x-ray of my mouth he has up on his computer. As I'm looking the x-ray goes away and a series of photos starts rotating - pictures of all his wonderful vacations! Pictures of the family skiing in the Alps, tropical beaches, white water rafting, hiking, and a big dinner on a patio.
Great. As I'm sitting there fretting on how I'm going to pay the $3000, I get to see what he does on vacation. :mad:

Oh that stinks!
Having had an implant that failed - I hope you have enough bone to support the screw. I had 11 mm of bone for 16 mm of screw (as measured on the digital x-ray). The dental surgeon that removed mine was one of those that publishes on the process, and his comment was: "don't they read my articles?!" I didn't have enough bone to support the screw, so of course it was going to fail, and in essence, I shouldn't have had an implant in the first place. He removed the failed implant, did a bone graft for the hole and then said if I wanted another implant I would need an additional bone graft - to build up the bone. Door #2 was to have a bridge, which is what I picked.
The details of the additional bone graft and healing time was more than I wanted, and I'd already spent enough on that one stinking tooth: root canal & crown, abscess, pull the tooth & bone graft, implant, remove the implant & bone graft #2, and finally a bridge. Insurance paid for treating the abscess (step #2) and pulling the tooth (step #3), everything else was out of pocket.
They got nice vacations, I didn't.

[jessmarimba]

Honestly, part of my fear of dentists comes from all of the unnecessary work they seem to do. Imaging has become very high tech, allowing them to find "blemishes" in your enamel, which in many cases, will never progress to a cavity. They convince you that it will become a cavity and they should fill it now, before it gets worse. One you drill, a cavity will ALWAYS become worse. They eventually leak around the edges of the filling and will rot out from the inside. So once they drill & fill, they provide themselves with years of work fixing something that was not broken to begin with (replacing fillings, then crowns, then root canals.) How else will they make money?

There have been a few recent studies published on the dramatic increase in dental work in the last few decades (exponential, almost). I don't have time to find one now but will try and search later. I'm sure it is partly tied to diet but also has to do with the monetary aspect.

[OakLeaf]

There was a piece in the NYT within the last month, although I never clicked through to the original studies.

Yeah, last crown I got, I let them fill a "pre" cavity sort of thing on another tooth as long as I was there. Probably shouldn't have.