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Originally Posted by kurty[B]
Thanks so much for this thread popo. This is simply spectacular. I'm sure this has already been addressed, and I'm sorry for that.
I'm having all four wisdom teeth pulled next month (waiting till after the holiday rush). I'm wondering what to expect on the recovery time, and also what to expect for the diet immediately afterwards. I imagine lots of milkshakes and puree'd food. I plan to take a day or two afterwards off work, but if 4 days later I plan to go snowboarding is this a problem? Obviously, if I'm still taking pain killers I will not bother.
The other question I have, my front tooth (I believe 9) was severely chipped as a child. Because of insurance reasons they normally only replace it with a filling. After a few years it gets discoloured, and after a few more years it will fall out (it's extremely sensitive when it falls out). I'll have another filling put on. I've wanted to put a cap on it, something permanent to avoid that visit, but this is considered "cosmetic" by the insurance companies. Is there anyway around this? The other front tooth (8) has stress fractures all through it from the same incident that chipped (9) is there anything I should do about that one, or just let it be, it does not bother me; just every dentist I go to points it out.
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1) cool soft foods. no straws, no smoking, no, um, sucking motion. i wouldn't recommend snowboarding 4 days later as this is the prime dry socket period. while exerting yourself you could dislodge a blood clot and end up on a lot of pain.
2) it sounds like you will need at least one crown, it's just a matter of when. i would delay it as much as possible since a crown preparation removes far more tooth structure than a filling preparation. with a crown lasting on average 12 or so years, think of how many times it'll have to get replaced with each time the doc needing to remove a bit more tooth. same with the other tooth.
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Originally Posted by HoneyPot
All of my wisdom teeth are grown in and I have room for all of them except for one. Its been killing me! I can't tell if theres not enough room for it or that its just the actual growing in part thats making my mouth hurt so bad. Its finals week for me at college and I really need some quick fixes for pain until I can get to a dentist or at least afford one! Ugh.  |
if it really hurts, you need to see someone. there could be a flap of skin over it allowing for bugs to get under. this could cause a pretty good infection. no quick fix unfortunately.
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Originally Posted by ktspktsp
Hi popo,
I just got some fillings done today. I have a couple of questions about this:
1) It took only a bit of novocaine to numb the upper part of my mouth, but it took a lot more to numb the bottom. I had to make the dentist stop and use more novocaine twice. So, why does it take so much more for the bottom?
2) Despite hitting the limit for the novocaine, I was still feeling some pain, so the dentist used a lower speed drill which was not as painful. Why are higher velocity drills more painful?
Thanks!  |
1) blame god.
it's much easier to get at the nerves around top teeth than it is for bottom teeth. the bone in the bottom jaw is much denser so while for the top teeth we can just let the anesthetic seep into the bone for bottom teeth we have to get the nerve at the source way back there. it's not a big deal (medically-i'm sure it is a big deal to the patient
) to have to give a couple.
2) the limit is pretty up there, ~11 full carpules for an average male. the slower one could be considered less painful because it doesn't spray water. but it can only be used a bit at a time (it doesn't drill much and it's not cooled by the water).
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Originally Posted by Average_Joe
Popo,
I just read something scary. I read that the silver amalgam for fillings may contain toxic amounts of mercury. A study was done that links Mercury poisoning from fillings to autism in children (from the parent) and other potential health issues. I just had 10 fillings replaced over the last year and a half. How worried should I be? Should I have replaced the silver with porcelain?
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i'd like to read that study if you have the reference. as far as i know, there has NEVER been a study linking the mercury in amalgam to anything. and it has been studied ad nauseum. even if worried, i would not recommend that you replace the fillings since drilling them out releases far more mercury than leaving them alone.
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Originally Posted by Philangicality
Dear PoPo,
I was reading about wholistic dental care.
This one dentist recommends making a paste of 3Parts Baking Soda, 1Part table salt. Then pour a tiny bit of hydrogen peroxide into your hand with the mixture. Mix it up to make a paste. Then getting a soft bristle tooth brush and take the paste and work it into your where the top of your gums overlaps the bottom of the tooth. There is a name for that part, I just forget, you probably know. 
This is suppoused to strenghten the gums and make sensitivity on teeth less painful.
He also says to use a rubber triangle pick thing once the gums have grown a bit and flossing.
I have not tried it yet, but am interested and was wondering what you thought about this.  |
baking soda has been studied extensively and was popular in the 70's. the research shows that it does nothing. the one thing that has been shown in each and every study to make a difference is....... guess.... brushing. if you live in a fluoridated water area then the tooth paste is only there for flavor. brushing alone (with floss) will cure gingivitis (unfortunately not periodontitis). get rid of the plaque, period. if you like baking soda, ok. if you like toothpaste, ok. but brush.
i'm curious, one of my old instructors still was adamant about using this technique. and he's in california.... where was this? private practice or university? you can give his initials if you like.