Dentists...

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I'm both lucky and unlucky with my teeth. As a kid they were gappy, but when the wisdom teeth came through they just pushed them together and made them perfect - no need for extractions or braces.
On the minus side, my second teeth came through full of chalky patches, and just crumbled, so I had my first full crown at the age of 12. I have four crowns now, but there isn't a single molar without a filling.
The worst thing that happened to me was getting my tongue drilled - I swallowed, my tongue moved and the dentist caught it. I felt nothing until the anaesthetic wore off, and then I couldn't eat for two days.
Fortunatley I have a really nice dentist now who does excellent injections, whereas dentists I've had in the past have done a good job of numbing my cheek to the point that it feels three inches thick, whilst leaving the tooth as sensitive as ever.
I've had a few trips to the dentist where I'd have confessed to anything if they'd asked!
The downside of that is that she's not NHS so I have to pay through the nose. Bah.

 

It seems I'm due for my next round of dentistry. I broke a wisdom tooth Saturday, so getting them extracted just got moved to the top of the budget list.

 

Wow how'd it break Stefanina? And are you having all four of em out (do you have 4)?

My little sis had to have a filling replaced the other day so I made sure I was the one to take her. The dentist was awesome- I got her to chat about every part of the diagnosis/procedure. I'm looking forward to getting back to uni to get a bit more clinical experience.

 

I've been missing a filling lower right, for about a month, but fortunately painless. Unfortunately this morning I've developed a tooth-ache upper right which is killing me. Still two weeks before my appointment and all...

 

I was eating spaghetti with marinara sauce..... nice soft food.
I do have stress cracks in most of my molars, since I do have a birth defect involving my teeth, leaving them with very thin enamel. Normal chewing will crack my molars.

I still have (most) of all 4 wisdom teeth, and all need to come out. I'd rather get them all done at once. I don't freak out during dental procedures, and I heal quickly.

In the past year-ish, I've had an emergency extraction, an implant, a root canal, and two crowns, all involving teeth #'s 3 and 4. #1 was the one that broke on me, but #'s 16, 17 & 32 are in danger of doing the same thing #1 did.

 

That's awesome - is it a variant of Amelogenesis Imperfecta by any chance? (I'm intrigued, these kind of things aren't common in the slightest)

 

Not that I'm aware of, I haven't heard that term before. Basically, my mother went toxic while pregnant with me, and the major disruption was in the forming of my teeth. The enamel on both my baby and adult bicuspids & molars is very thin. Oh yes, and I grind my teeth at night. So far, every guard I've tried has either caused me to gag, or gotten spit out during the night. This equals a very bad situation, dentally.

Since my dentist(s) figured out while I was young that I was likely to face extensive dental work as an adult, they pretty much groomed me to expect it later in life.
I really wish current tooth sealing technologies were available when I was a kid...LOL Might have circumvented some of this.

 

The surgical evaluation is done, and the wisdoms come out Feb 15th. Can't say I'll miss 'em.
I plan on only getting local anesthesia, since gas adds another $130 to the bill. I don't get nervous about dental procedures, so the extra expense seems unnecessary.

 

Wow - good onya.
All the best for the extractions and let us know how it goes!

 

You're a braver person than me, Stefanina!

 

Desensitized is more like it...

 

Well, the surgery is done. It was a bit brutal on my mouth, with a lot of pressure, and drilling in the bottom two that stank to high heaven, but hey, the teeth are gone. Now to survive the food restrictions...

 

Glad you came through the procedure with your sense o' humor intact, Stefanina. Desensitized or not, to face such a dental procedure with calculated disregard as to account for the cost to discomfort ratio indicates a degree of bravery.

Personally, I like my current dentist very much. She's beautiful and has a natural kindness about her....even when I know her intention is to take my mind off of an unpleasent procedure she succeeds in drawing me in anyway.

My worst experience at the dentist was during administration of a pain killer before a root canal. My mouth is overly vascular and the dentist jabbed me with a syringe of local anesthetic many times just to pull the plunger and realize that she had not penetrated into the tissue but into a blood supply. So many times, in fact, that she ended up with too much blood in the syringe and had to get a new one and start over. I'm not exactly sure what damage was caused by so many stabbings but my jaw hurt for several months afterward.

 

@Stefania - gee good onya, all the best with the recovery, I hope all of my patient's are as good as you!

@nunsbane - gee thats terrible... I think I'm beginning to understand the need for the ridiculous amount of head and neck anatomy they drill into us.

 

I whined several times during the injections, especiall ythe ones on the roof of the mouth. After round 1, I told them I have a bit of a psychological problem with needles. The tech replied "Really? I wouldn't have guessed, people are usually screaming and cursing by now."
Round 2 wasn't bad, since round 1 had started to take effect.

This morning sucked, however. My jaw is so stiff from the abuse it's screaming at me.
Oh well, it'll get better eventually.

 

not a bad decision - in dentistry prevention is always better than the cure, and a hell of a lot cheaper

 

Hmm...since this thread is still going, I might as well toss in an update.

I just got a new dentist so I could take care for a tooth that broke. His office is within a 5 minute walk from our house, which is the main reason I chose him. However, on my first visit, I failed to see a single good looking dental hygienist or receptionist! There were all overly nice however...

The "system" at this new place is odd...they like to turf you off on other people and different chairs. I sat in 4 different dental chairs on my first visit. Every other dentist I've ever gone to, you stay put and everyone else moves around you.

One the other hand, this new place has some of the most high-tech stuff I've ever seen in a denal office...and I used to work for a dental product manufacturer.

I have to get a root canal in two weeks...so depending on how that goes, we'll see if I keep going to that office.

 

Awww no, root canal sucks.

 

I know the feeling. Hang in there, Barmy Army.