TexasCHLforum.com

Vol Texan wrote:Two words: Sedation Dentistry

I have never used this, but when I had a wisdom tooth problem (a crack that I considered an emergency i.e. I was in terrible pain) my dentist, who does NOT use sedation, gave me a choice: conventional extraction or go to an oral surgeon.

I chose emergency oral surgery at Austin Oral on Wm Cannon Drive (Dr. Grant) and what a happy choice that was! Was completely under for the entire procedure and no after-ills at all, didn't even need the full pain meds he'd prescribed for me.

Yeah I'm a wuss and could afford to pay, but honestly if/when any of my other 3 wisdom teeth act-up I'm gonna go the Oral Surgeon route again and pay the big bucks...

I can't get it to work.

A year and a half ago I had a lower partial that I had been using for about four years. It was not removable, but was anchored on both sides by the two 'canine' teeth. (not an official term).

My dentist said that one of them was beginning to have root problems, and would have to be removed. His suggestion was that I have it, and the remaining five teeth (three on one side, two on the other) removed. His further suggestion was that because lower dentures are very difficult to keep it place, to have dental retention implants. This would consist of two implants (posts) on each side for a total of eight. After allowing some time to pass, a lower denture would be made with locking sockets to accept the posts. This would be a 'snap in, snap out' denture.

After getting a second and third opinion, this seemed to be the best advice available.

So, go in, have the remaining lower teeth removed, jawbone drilled and tapped for posts. A temporary denture was made with oversize pockets to allow the posts to not have any pressure on them, and give them time to 'grow' into the bone. Was informed that this should take just over a month.

Ten days later, one of the posts came out on its own. A couple of days later, another one. Overall, in about 20 days all four implants failed. So, have to wait an additional thirty days for the previously drilled holes to 'heal', then do it all over again.

Sorry, too late to make a long story short...

Then we do it all over again. This time the implants started failing just as the first set had done. Now I have a small pill bottle on my dresser with eight pieces of titanium in it.

Then it was time to change dentists. The 'new' guy said that the first dentist had apparently used the wrong size implants, and he could place the needed four with the correct sizes. As an aside, the second dentist gave me what could be considered to be a very large discount for the procedures as he knew how much I had invested.

Went through the whole thing again. Drilling/tapping/inserting posts/lower denture with relief holes, now wait another 30 days for them to properly solidify.

This set of four started falling out within the first ten days, all gone within two weeks. Now I have twelve failures in my small bottle.

The second guy refunded every cent. Told me that he was writing it off as research, and would be conferring with other dentists and well as implant manufactures to determine what the problem could be. He was planning to attend a dentist convention soon, and would see what could be found out about this problem. He said he would keep in contact, and if he felt he could overcome the problem, he would perform it all over again at no charge.

This concluded a couple of months ago, and I did not think I would hear of it again. His nurse called me yesterday to tell me that he was still concerned with the problem, and was determined to get an answer. She is to call again when he gets some additional information he needs.

I think it is time to give the whole process up. Just buy dental adhesive by the barrel, re-glue four or five times a day.

TomsTXCHL wrote:

Vol Texan wrote:Two words: Sedation Dentistry

I have never used this, but when I had a wisdom tooth problem (a crack that I considered an emergency i.e. I was in terrible pain) my dentist, who does NOT use sedation, gave me a choice: conventional extraction or go to an oral surgeon.

I chose emergency oral surgery at Austin Oral on Wm Cannon Drive (Dr. Grant) and what a happy choice that was! Was completely under for the entire procedure and no after-ills at all, didn't even need the full pain meds he'd prescribed for me.

Yeah I'm a wuss and could afford to pay, but honestly if/when any of my other 3 wisdom teeth act-up I'm gonna go the Oral Surgeon route again and pay the big bucks...

Better living through modern chemistry!

Be careful with NOS...I had a root canal/crown in my 20's...and had NOS...a dentist friend referred me to her friend Dr. Bruce for the procedure...let's say that Dr. Bruce was not what I envisioned...there I am gassed up and a vision of loveliness aka Dr. Bruce walks in...I had some troubled roots...she had to get pretty physical with the root, to that point, she was literally sitting on my lap with the hand root files...remember the gas? I think I proposed to her at least 5 times...LOL

PUCKER wrote:Be careful with NOS...I had a root canal/crown in my 20's...and had NOS...a dentist friend referred me to her friend Dr. Bruce for the procedure...let's say that Dr. Bruce was not what I envisioned...there I am gassed up and a vision of loveliness aka Dr. Bruce walks in...I had some troubled roots...she had to get pretty physical with the root, to that point, she was literally sitting on my lap with the hand root files...remember the gas? I think I proposed to her at least 5 times...LOL

That's why I go to a male dentist; I won't have that issue. LOL

I never went to dentist regularly until I got married and my wife made me. Needless to say, I had a lot of catching up which = pain x $$$.

I made it my mission to take care of my teeth due to the cost and potential health problems associated with poor dental care. The worse experience lately is a heavy handed hygienist. We take our son religiously because I don't want him to suffer the way I did. Plus, I have a couple Colt Customs & Browning O/U's worth of work in my mouth not counting the braces I got a few years ago, so that's another motivation.

anygunanywhere wrote:

CHLLady wrote:I know! I hate the dentist. I would rather give birth. Seriously. I had a bad experience with a needle into my nerve and now every time I go, I leave handprints on the chair.

I'll tell you a trick my great grandma used on me once as a kid. Take a cotton ball and soak a little or a lot of whiskey on it and put it on the throbbing tooth, it really does numb the pain!

Hey, you're not alone.

Bourbon helps a bit.

Anygunanywhere

If you drink enough of it.

Cracked tooth can cause misery and be very hard to detect. Usually after they pull it they say "oh, it was a cracked tooth". I just had two implants done by a periodontist. Did a great job but it took many months from the time of extraction to the time of implant to make sure they wouldn't fail. Cost was unbelieveable.
Final thing is dental sedation. I personally would not let a dentist put me to sleep for dental work. I want to wake up with as many brain cells as I started with. Joan Rivers would probably concur. These types of sedation can be very dangerous and dentists in general do not know how to resuscitate people when things go wrong. If I needed sedation I would have it done by an anesthesiologist or CRNA.

When I was in high school, I had a tooth literally crumble like an eggshell. The dentist was not able to get me numb and had given me all the novocaine he could. I finally had to just grip the chair while he pulled out each piece of that tooth. So began a lifelong hatred of the dental chair.

Then came 22 years of military dentistry where they use a 1/4" drill bit and stuff the filling in with a trowel. I did have a root canal incident similar to AndyC's, but it had no effect on my overall view.

For the next 15 years I mostly lived out of a suitcase, always working on the road. Of course, I only saw a dentist when necessary (read: I was in pain). Finally my teeth were in such bad shape that something had to be done. Time for an overhaul.

I got into the Baylor College of Dentistry program. Because I needed so much work, they sent me up to the 6th floor AEGD (Advanced Education in General Dentistry). These are dentists who have already graduated from dental college, but come to Baylor to do an optional one year residency. These people go through an interview process just like getting a job. Only the cream of the crop is accepted, so they are all very talented.

It took over 2 years and several root canals, extractions, bone grafts, and dental implants to get it all done. Even with the heavily discounted prices, I probably have more money invested in my mouth than in my gun safe.

I'm still very difficult for them to get numb, but once they do, it's all good. Still hate that needle. The only time I've ever yelled in the dentist's chair, it was while getting a shot.

anygunanywhere wrote:I
He did find another one he wants to replace the crown on though for 700 bucks.
Anygunanywhere

Thats about half what my dentist wants -- $1479 for porcelain, $1265 for gold.

CHLLady wrote: I had a bad experience with a needle into my nerve and now every time I go, I leave handprints on the chair.

I had a dentist hit a nerve with the needle once -- like being hit in the mouth with a lightning bolt. I swear I had a flash-image of the entire nerve layout of my head. Weird! AND it remained somewhat numb for over a month.

I brushed my teeth 2-3 times a day as a child/young teen and then at 16 I had to get braces.

They had to pull 6 perfectly good baby teeth before they could then slap metal on my teeth and every month go in and tighten some wires so my teeth hurt for the next 30 days.

Then I got to the Air Force where every year the dentist wanted to pull my wisdom teeth for no reason (still have them, still cause no issues) for practice for his impending days as a private practicing dentist.



I still brush my teeth, but I don't put alot of stock in what dentists say anymore :P

anygunanywhere wrote:After the exam he told me that he could not find anything wrong. He could not tell me why my tooth hurts.

This is why I don't like doctors or dentists; my mechanic has the decency to not charge me if he can't find the problem, but doctors just look for more ways to jack up the bill.

A mechanic would be out of business pretty quick if he just told people to drive slowly for a week or two and see if it fixes itself, too.

Frankly, I don't care how much you paid for your education if it doesn't include fixing my problem.

I've had very good fortune with all the dentists I've ever seen.

Over the years, I've had a lot of crown and inlay work done to the point now that if I have to get a numbing shot, it's barely even noticable as far as pain is concerned.

However, as a 20 something youngster, I had to have my impacted wisdom chiseled out while full awake. While I was numbed up adequately, it was a long and very creepy process as each tooth had to be broken up into about a dozen pieces each. Once the numbing wore off, I felt nauseous and was in a great deal of pain.

Other than that, dentists have helped me mostly pain free keep all the rest of choppers.

My late wife had very soft teeth and as a teenager a center front lower incisor was removed without a spacer being placed. The end result was that over the years her teeth moved into the space and it caused all sort of problems.

Fast forward - she was one of the first to have the screw in implants, our coverage wouldn't pay because it was experimental, so about $18,000 out of pocket to repair the grievous damage that years of neglect when she was younger and a single mom, followed by just not being able to catch up.

Unfortunately we will never know the eventual outcome as too short a time later she succumbed to cancer, but she did have a couple of years of a pain free and good looking mouth. The implants screwed in and held quite well from the start.