popo

Yes and no. There are certainly contributing factors to decay and periodontal disease like genetics but they don't cause it. It's like osteoporosis. It doesn't cause a bone fracture but could make you more susceptible to one. The good thing is that while a fall or a hit sometimes isn't preventable, decay and periodontal disease are. Brush, floss, see a dentist, get your teeth cleaned. Be vigilant and no matter what the genetics are, you will keep your teeth.

For your current problem, like always it's tough to say here what's going on. A bad taste is a sign of an infection. You have pain on your 2nd molar and the wisdom tooth is coming in right behind it. So yes, all of this could be caused by the wisdom tooth.

I get that cost is n issue and I hate to advise you to just find a cheap clinic. It's just like medicine or even your local store. If things are cheap, you bet they make it up in volume. That means less time spent on exam, diagnosis, treatment.

Are you far from UNM? This would be a good place to start looking for advice:

http://hsc.unm.edu/som/dentalhy/

YaWhateva

Thank you very much for the reply. I do take excellent care of my teeth (well as far as I can tell, when I go to get cleanings my dentist says my teeth are fine but for whatever reason I still get cavities). I will definitely be vigilant. Is there anything else that I can do besides what I already am (brushing multiple times a day, flossing daily, staying away from cokes and candies, and getting routine cleanings) that would help?

My tooth doesn't hurt at all but I have that taste which like you said is a sign of an infection. Speaking of UNM, I will know by next week if I have a job with them that will give me Health benefits including dental. If I do not get that job, however, I will definitely look into the clinics.

Thank you again for the reply

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surferlove007

I have a question...I have been having a lot of problems with my teeth.
I brush them twice a day, floss nightly and I still have cavaties.
I have very weak enamel so my dentist set me up with some prescription toothpaste..yay.
Anyway, they're saying an old filling was retarded to do by my previous dentist and they should of just crowned it.
I just had a crown last month...$1000 later. I am 19. I should not have 2 crowns by this point in my life.
Anyway, they're saying I need like 8 fillings, wisdom teeth out, braces(again), and another crown.
It's very frustrating, I brush my teeth so much and take care of them as much as possible and my new dentist is still saying I need all this work.
It took them 3 different visit to get my crown setting right, my bite was horrific...they had to grind it down significantly so I could close my mouth.
Do you think I should get a second opinion?
Also, the braces. I have a tongue thrust and they want me to go through braces again...I'm not that concerned about my bite to go through another adolescence thank you.
I know it's a lot of random information, but please some advice.

alicat

Hey Popo, kudos for all the energy you've put into this over the years. I read the entire thread recently but I don't have the energy right now to go back through and check for an answer. Thanks in advance for any advice you may be able to offer me.

Have I read a bunch of BS or should I be concerned about getting gas with (controlled) high blood pressure? I take Cardizem CD 240 MG, Atenolol 100 MG and Lisinopril 20/25 tab's, all once a day.

I have a left front tooth (incisor (sp?), the third back from my top front tooth) that has died and I have to get it pulled as soon as hubby and I can afford the extraction and retainer/temp tooth. I'd love an implant but we absolutly cannot afford it so it will be the less destructive bridge (vs traditional) of a fake tooth bonded to the anchor teeth eventually.

One further question beyond the HBP one, some back-story first. The dentist I recently saw after about 5 yrs. w/out employment or insurance (whom told me I need what I said above, among alot of other work), had her office person say she charges more than others (after she excused herself when money came into the equation). That furthered my discomfort, but what first started it was that she said she could extract my tooth and "install" the bridge on the same day. I should mention she's a "sedation" dentist if it matter's.

When I had all four wisdom teeth out long ago, it took a couple of weeks as I recall for my gums to heal (maybe much more). Finally my question, is that true that you can install a permanant bridge immediately after an extraction without allowing for healing time, or am I correct in thinking that's crazy talk?

Thanks again Popo for addressing my post and questions, you rock!

Ali

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Looie

Hi Popo,

Love your advice! I have a 10 year old son, after skipping the dentist for 18-24 months, I took him in and found that, in spite of sealants, he has 4-5 cavities (they won't know for sure until they get in between the teeth). They're all in baby teeth molars. His 4 permanent molars that have erupted and show in the x-ray look good.

Here's the thing - the baby molars have flattened surfaces and deep pits (the dentist says it's definitely from acid reflux). Since the 4 permanent molars show no damage, I'm wondering/hoping the acid reflux has stopped. The dentist has given us a proposed treatment plan of $921.00. ($246 each for 2 surface fillings and $183.00 for the composite 1 surface posterior)

Also, she said she thought he needed crowns because he will keep these teeth a while, but we could go with fillings with the knowledge that they may not last.

Should I get a 2nd opinion, and does that price seem reasonable?

PS - Not sure, but I think the reflux may have been from a year with a mean 4th grade teacher.

Beyond_Borders

Hey. I had a bunch of fillings done back in June. It's no November, and they hurt to chew on. I used to normally chew on my left side, and that was fine, but when i got the fillings done on my left i started to chew on my right, then when i got my fillings on the right i had to start chewing on the left again, only it hurt. Alot. And now if i chew on a certain spot on both my 36 and 46 ( i worked at a dental clinic for a while..) It hurts. Not a sharp pain but a dull ache that kind of makes me want to rip them out.

Its not jut after filling sensetivity becuase it was months ago..

Any ideas?

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Bear Cub

All of my wisdom teeth are well under way of being completely through. I've had no pain to date because of them, but did have braces when younger, as I have a crowded mouth.

Am I to expect that they will have to be removed at some point, or is it possible that they will happily reside in the back of my mouth unscathed over time?

Thanks in advance.

Ustwo

I don't know if popo is still answering so here is some advice.

While that sort of look can come from acid reflux, I've seen a lot of kids with that sort of damage on baby teeth with no damage at all on permanent, and as such either the acid reflux would be gone or something else is causing it. TBH I don't know for sure, its not something I've spent a lot of time on but I would not worry about it.

As for the crowns, fillings, it really depends on how deep they are. As a rule I'd go with fillings over crowns at that age (those teeth should be gone in 2 years or so) and if you are having a 'bad vibe' from the dentist get a second opinion. Sometimes I think dentists are way over aggressive in treating cavities.

BTW at 10 he should have all of his permanent front incisor teeth and should have had those back molars since age 6 or so. If they show no 'acid' damage then dont' worry about it.

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Dillah

Well, My dentist just took a quick look at my mouth & said N.A.D what does that mean??

Oh and i have this Huggge cavity and it has this awful tingly pain when i get food stuck in it and chew or press down on the food.
For some weird reason a year ago my dentist said it wasnt a whole that i just had ingrown teeth! i didnt understand...

????
thanks

thespian86

So this is very gross. I have two back molars, both on the bottom, one left one right, that are practically shells after being chipped and general decay; although it isn't lack of care. I chipped one while playing football (i'm not sure how it happened but I hit the ground hard and it cut my mouth up something nasty), and the other was drilled and filled with a temporary filling (also not sure why but at the time seemed important to the dentist).

The football one cracked again before I could get it fixed and now it's simply an empty cavity. It doesn't hurt so I think I must of done either a) significant nerve damage, or b) its dead.

The second (drilled), the filling came out and cracked in the process. The dentist, who gave me the filling (temporary) refused to fix the damage unless I payed to have it filled again as well as the first one (even though it was his suggestion that he fill it that way). This one is sensitive to hot/cold, and to being brushed, but is much better then it used to be.

They aren't a huge problem but I'm wondering, aside from having them surgically removed, if there are any other options.

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