Your Teeth, or lack thereof?
02-12-2019, 09:37 AM
#21
Thread Starter
Well, I have 3! All required bone grafts which made the elapsed time about a year for each after the tooth was extracted. I always have them use local anesthetic, since I don’t like to be “out.” The last one was the most pain free, since the dental surgeon had both MD and DDS degrees. I am scheduled to see her Thursday for release to get the crown. All implants are results of tooth fractures.
And, of course, my dental insurance paid next to nothing!
This problem root canal has been an issue for about 6 years. I went to an endodontist my dentist recommended and the endo went by normal x-rays instead of a panoramic x-ray so she really had no true idea of the roots on the bottom back molar. It kept hurting after it was done, and I saw a different ednodontist who did do a panoramic x-ray. He clearly saw that she missed the two curling roots toward the inside of the mouth and perforated the center. She had a high and mighty opinion of herself. During the root canal, I kept telling her I felt the drilling and she said, "Why didn't you tell me you needed extra novocaine?" I replied that I did, as I had mentioned when I first came in for the consultation, and that it took my regular dentist 3 hours to do a root canal because he kept having to stop and give me more novocaine. I thought he didn't know what he was doing but his root canal looks fine on the panoramic x-rays.
In any case, I feel like her mistake is making me have to have a tooth pulled. All this happened in California and I want to be certain I get a good oral surgeon here in Colorado. I already like my new dentist here. I looked at lots of online reviews and then asked the people who live here, on Nextdoor.com , for good and bad oral surgeons. It's funny how one will love a certain man and others will say he's a butcher only out for the money. Some were said to have great bedside manners and others were men of few words. In the end, the one everyone loved ended up being one of the two my dentist recommended. He was said to spend as much time explaining your options as you need, would call you at home to check on you, and also had the best online reviews. I went with him, Dr. Mark Auble DDS, MD. My consultation appointment was 2 1/2 months out, in March, but I ended up only having to wait 1 1/2 weeks because I got in on someone else's cancelation. I scheduled the pull for when my sister can be my chauffeur/baby sitter as she is driving up from Colorado Springs.
I chose to be put out because I want to be. I could wait for the hole to heal 3 months and then get the cadaver graft put in, but if I do it at the same time, the Dr. said it heals better since it's stitched closed with something inside the hole. He said it takes 6 months in any case to heal. He said that since it's a back tooth I can't get a bridge and if I don't get an implant the molar above it will eventually have problems with nothing to push against.
I asked Dr. Auble if he thought the endodontist who did the root canal did malpractice. He wouldn't go that far but said she definitely missed the roots and created a hole that is now infected. He also said I have odd tooth roots in that there was four on that molar and they curved a lot. I've learned from all this the hard way. Never again will I get a root canal based on an x-ray and not a panoramic x-ray. BTW, I DID go back to her after the second endodontist told me she had botched it, and he talked to her on the phone. She knows she screwed up. Her response, about a year ago, was just wait until it bothers you. It did bother me, a lot, in January. I'm looking forward to putting this behind me. The dull ache in the bottom right jaw has become my norm.
Last edited by Kyras; 02-12-2019 at 09:51 AM.
02-12-2019, 09:43 AM
#22
Thread Starter
Ah, Dr. Salisbury. The dentist who lived down the street and was stingy with the Novacaine. In fact he would often skip it if he thought the cavity wasn't too deep. His opinion of need and mine were very different but I was a kid so my opinion didn't count. I've been lucky with my teeth. Plenty of fillings but I'm only down one wisdom tooth. And it came out fairly easily with only a dull ache for a few hours after the Novocaine wore off.
When I lived in the Mississippi Delta (oh, those were the years
) a coworker suggested a very inexpensive and, in her opinion, excellent dentist in a nearby small town. It turned out he practiced out of his barn. He had quite a setup including a "dentist chair", possibly from a failed hair salon and a spot light and lots of dental tools, He was dressed in a heavily stained t-shirt and jeans and had hands like baseball mitts. He poked around in my mouth for a while and pronounced me good to go, which I did as quickly as possible with much relief. The bill was ten bucks..
When I lived in the Mississippi Delta (oh, those were the years
) a coworker suggested a very inexpensive and, in her opinion, excellent dentist in a nearby small town. It turned out he practiced out of his barn. He had quite a setup including a "dentist chair", possibly from a failed hair salon and a spot light and lots of dental tools, He was dressed in a heavily stained t-shirt and jeans and had hands like baseball mitts. He poked around in my mouth for a while and pronounced me good to go, which I did as quickly as possible with much relief. The bill was ten bucks..
02-12-2019, 01:39 PM
#23
Ah, Dr. Salisbury. The dentist who lived down the street and was stingy with the Novacaine. In fact he would often skip it if he thought the cavity wasn't too deep. His opinion of need and mine were very different but I was a kid so my opinion didn't count. I've been lucky with my teeth. Plenty of fillings but I'm only down one wisdom tooth. And it came out fairly easily with only a dull ache for a few hours after the Novocaine wore off.
When I lived in the Mississippi Delta (oh, those were the years) a coworker suggested a very inexpensive and, in her opinion, excellent dentist in a nearby small town. It turned out he practiced out of his barn. He had quite a setup including a "dentist chair", possibly from a failed hair salon and a spot light and lots of dental tools, He was dressed in a heavily stained t-shirt and jeans and had hands like baseball mitts. He poked around in my mouth for a while and pronounced me good to go, which I did as quickly as possible with much relief. The bill was ten bucks..
When I lived in the Mississippi Delta (oh, those were the years
) a coworker suggested a very inexpensive and, in her opinion, excellent dentist in a nearby small town. It turned out he practiced out of his barn. He had quite a setup including a "dentist chair", possibly from a failed hair salon and a spot light and lots of dental tools, He was dressed in a heavily stained t-shirt and jeans and had hands like baseball mitts. He poked around in my mouth for a while and pronounced me good to go, which I did as quickly as possible with much relief. The bill was ten bucks..
02-12-2019, 01:55 PM
#24
Registered User
While in the army I had three wisdom teeth pulled. I also had a root canal, over three sessions, with NO Novocaine. Hurt like a SOB but he (the dentist) was a captain and I was a private. When I got out, I went to my regular dentist, who asked me why they pulled three and not all four wisdom teeth? He said there was no tooth for the lone remaining one to chew against, so it was dumb to leave it in. He pulled it. He also gave me four veneers on my top front teeth which looked 100X's better than my original teeth. Said they would last 15 years. That was about 25-30 years ago and still look great.
I haven't had a problem with the root canal and that was 50+ years ago.
I haven't had a problem with the root canal and that was 50+ years ago.
02-12-2019, 03:38 PM
#25
My wisdom teeth are gone.
02-12-2019, 04:25 PM
#26
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Foothills East of Sacramento
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Have all the teeth (including Wisdom) that God designed me to have. Avoided having the Navy file down my teeth to survive the tropics in a survival situation like they performed on my uncle (Wildcats in the Pacific WWII) and ruined his teeth.
I take pretty good care of the things; I had such unhappy experiences with my childhood dentist. He meant well (gave my mercury in a matchbox to take home and play with) but the slow speed drills, my sensitive teeth and the smell of burning protein set me on a course to avoid dental procedures (from good maintenance) at all costs. Always did the cleaning twice a year.
We immortal vampires need good teeth.
I take pretty good care of the things; I had such unhappy experiences with my childhood dentist. He meant well (gave my mercury in a matchbox to take home and play with) but the slow speed drills, my sensitive teeth and the smell of burning protein set me on a course to avoid dental procedures (from good maintenance) at all costs. Always did the cleaning twice a year.
We immortal vampires need good teeth.
02-12-2019, 04:36 PM
#27
Filing down of teeth? What was that about?
My teeth were crowded. Wisdom teeth would have made them worse. I had all four removed (they were impacted), along with two others prior to having braces put on my teeth at age 25. I was among one of the early adopters to have braces as an adult.
My teeth were crowded. Wisdom teeth would have made them worse. I had all four removed (they were impacted), along with two others prior to having braces put on my teeth at age 25. I was among one of the early adopters to have braces as an adult.
02-12-2019, 05:48 PM
#28
My earliest memories of childhood are those of my mother taking me to the Board of Health building in downtown Brooklyn to have my teeth x-rayed. They had a special x-ray machine that the dentists needed to view my teeth. The problem began early. My baby teeth grew in without the enamel. Back then the dentists though the cure for this was to just let the teeth rot as they would be replaced by the permanent teeth. What they didn't know at the time was that the decay would somehow go through to the permanent teeth and cause decay. Today they have a way of treating the problem, but in the early 1950s they didn't.
By the time I was in my early teens, some of my permanent teeth had to be capped, some had to be pulled. By the time I was twenty I had full mouth reconstruction and by the time I was 35 it had to be done again. Over the years I've lost some of the teeth and I have about 7 or 8 implants. I had one done about three months ago and in another month that tooth will be completed. Just yesterday my periodontist had to do some skin grafts. The gums around three of my teeth had receeded so badly that he insisted that it be done without waiting. Right now I'm in a bit of pain, but my periodontist is one of the best in New Jersey and all of the work he's done in the last 5 years is solid.
Needless to say, I dread going to the dentist. I have nightmares the night before an appointment and when I walk into the waiting room my teeth start to hurt. The most horrible sound I've ever heard is that of a dental drill. When I'm in the chair, I grip the armrests so tightly that the dentists tell me if I break the chair I'm going to have to pay for it. If Dante knew about dentists, the lowest, most horrible ring of hell would be a dentist's office.
Still, I have to admit, that at the age of 68 if the worst problem that I have is my teeth, I'm pretty lucky. When you hear about the diseases and troubles that people have, my teeth don't seem to be that big of a problem. That said, I wish I had better teeth.
I am very glad for modern technology. If not for implants and some of the other procedures I'd be gumming my food instead of chewing it.
By the time I was in my early teens, some of my permanent teeth had to be capped, some had to be pulled. By the time I was twenty I had full mouth reconstruction and by the time I was 35 it had to be done again. Over the years I've lost some of the teeth and I have about 7 or 8 implants. I had one done about three months ago and in another month that tooth will be completed. Just yesterday my periodontist had to do some skin grafts. The gums around three of my teeth had receeded so badly that he insisted that it be done without waiting. Right now I'm in a bit of pain, but my periodontist is one of the best in New Jersey and all of the work he's done in the last 5 years is solid.
Needless to say, I dread going to the dentist. I have nightmares the night before an appointment and when I walk into the waiting room my teeth start to hurt. The most horrible sound I've ever heard is that of a dental drill. When I'm in the chair, I grip the armrests so tightly that the dentists tell me if I break the chair I'm going to have to pay for it. If Dante knew about dentists, the lowest, most horrible ring of hell would be a dentist's office.
Still, I have to admit, that at the age of 68 if the worst problem that I have is my teeth, I'm pretty lucky. When you hear about the diseases and troubles that people have, my teeth don't seem to be that big of a problem. That said, I wish I had better teeth.
I am very glad for modern technology. If not for implants and some of the other procedures I'd be gumming my food instead of chewing it.
02-13-2019, 04:16 AM
#29
Ouch, Rob!
As kids we took turns going to the dentist. There were six of us and Dad always had a running bill.
I think genetics plays a strong role in the health of our teeth. As a young child, my son had some fillings in his baby teeth. They have long come from the school of thought that says to leave cavities alone in baby teeth. As his permanent teeth came in, we had the sealants put on the molars. Not sure if that made the difference, but he has only ONE tooth that has had a filling. My ex didn't have a lot of fillings in his teeth, maybe that played a part? My granddaughter has never had a cavity, baby teeth or permanent teeth. Meanwhile my grandson has had more than his share in his baby teeth, and I think a couple in his permanent teeth. My daughter in law has plenty of fillings......perhaps my granddaughter got my son's "teeth gene" while the grandson got his Mom's.
Thankfully they can keep people more comfortable during dental procedures. Too bad dental insurance pays for so little of the expenses. That's why many people still opt for extractions vs root canals, caps, or implants.
As kids we took turns going to the dentist. There were six of us and Dad always had a running bill.
I think genetics plays a strong role in the health of our teeth. As a young child, my son had some fillings in his baby teeth. They have long come from the school of thought that says to leave cavities alone in baby teeth. As his permanent teeth came in, we had the sealants put on the molars. Not sure if that made the difference, but he has only ONE tooth that has had a filling. My ex didn't have a lot of fillings in his teeth, maybe that played a part? My granddaughter has never had a cavity, baby teeth or permanent teeth. Meanwhile my grandson has had more than his share in his baby teeth, and I think a couple in his permanent teeth. My daughter in law has plenty of fillings......perhaps my granddaughter got my son's "teeth gene" while the grandson got his Mom's.
Thankfully they can keep people more comfortable during dental procedures. Too bad dental insurance pays for so little of the expenses. That's why many people still opt for extractions vs root canals, caps, or implants.
02-13-2019, 08:26 AM
#30
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Foothills East of Sacramento
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According to my uncle, Navy dentists thought that filing of the teeth would make them a bit more suitable to take on the indigenous fruits, nuts, plants, and other natural food sources. They attempted to tailor the approach to the theatre where each aviator was operating.
Today it makes no sense but that was the "sounds like a good idea" at that time!
Today it makes no sense but that was the "sounds like a good idea" at that time!