Take care of your teeth

[Gyakuto]

Two years for just a check up? That seems like a lot. We try to get in every 6 months for a routine check.

For a free NHS check up, yes. I think a 12 monthly check up is recommended for healthy people and 6monthly if you have any underlying health conditions such as diabetes.

Some people in the U.K. are unable to access dental care and are resorting to extracting their own teeth…with pliers! The government are supposed to be doing something about this since it was their original contract with dentists that led to this crisis. In the contracts, for example, dentists receive a certain amount of money for, say, a root canal treatment which equates to about 30 minutes of their time. But a root canal often takes more than 40 minutes to complete. Thus they refuse to do them on the NHS and only offer private root canal treatments.

A possible solution is to contractually oblige all new dentists to work exclusively in the NHS for say, 5 years post graduation or modify their contracts to satisfy them.

 

[Gyakuto]

One way of dealing with patient anxiety!

 

[Xue Sheng]

I get a wisdom tooth removed tomorrow.

 

[jks9199]

Had my wisdom teeth removed when I graduated HS. Only had 3 -- but one made up for the missing one. Fortunately, I was awake, because I had to turn my head as hard as I could away while the dentist pulled... and still had to remove it in pieces.

 

[Xue Sheng]

I have all 4, 3 are impacted, one is exposed. It is the exposed one they are removing. the other 3 do not bother me. Although my dentist wanted a lower, impacted one removed, but the surgeon would not remove it due to my age and its proximity to a facial nerve The exposed one is falling apart so it needs to come out.

 

[gyoja]

I knew that my extraction took a turn for the worse when the dentist climbed over me with a hammer and chisel in his hand

 

[Xue Sheng]

I knew that my extraction took a turn for the worse when the dentist climbed over me with a hammer and chisel in his hand

NOT what I need to be reading right now

 

[gyoja]

NOT what I need to be reading right now

You only have to worry if your dentist is Uncle Sam.

 

[Buka]

My dentist always told us “You don’t have to take care of all your teeth. Just the ones you want to keep.”

 

[HighKick]

A long time ago, I ignored advice to have my wisdom teeth removed. I had one taken out when it started hurting, but the others didn't, so I ignored them.

They came in sideways and pushed on my back molars until they exploded. Not all at once, it was a slow motion thing. Still, I ignored it. Little bourbon for the pain and it would pass.

Well, eventually that doesn't work anymore. Just had two molars surgically removed on my left side. Three more on the right in June. Whee. And due to my heart problems, we had to juggle medications, get various doctors to talk to each other, only local anesthetic, plus I wrote a big check.

Don't be stupid like me.

I still remember getting my wisdom teeth removed in my 20's. Three were impacted and had to be cut out. When the dentist was finished, he asked me if I was driving home and I said something to the effect of "hell Doc, I am flying home". I don't know what he gave me, but it was more than just Novocaine.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Had my wisdom teeth removed when I graduated HS. Only had 3 -- but one made up for the missing one. Fortunately, I was awake, because I had to turn my head as hard as I could away while the dentist pulled... and still had to remove it in pieces.

I still have all 4. All are behaving themselves, though I probably should have had them removed ages ago, just because my teeth are crowded. My brother had all his removed at once in his late teens, and was eating chips that afternoon.

 

[Steve]

I read the first post and thought to myself, “I am shocked that they didn’t take them out while Bill was on active duty.” And then I read a little further down and apparently that was my reaction back when this thread was started too. I’m nothing, if not consistent.

I have one root canal and that crown is failing. It’s something my dentist has been keeping an eye on for years now. I think next year I’m going to need to get it fixed… hopefully before it becomes a real problem.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Wisdom tooth out.... home for the day now

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I read the first post and thought to myself, “I am shocked that they didn’t take them out while Bill was on active duty.” And then I read a little further down and apparently that was my reaction back when this thread was started too. I’m nothing, if not consistent.

I have one root canal and that crown is failing. It’s something my dentist has been keeping an eye on for years now. I think next year I’m going to need to get it fixed… hopefully before it becomes a real problem.

I currently have a tooth that lost its crown (for the second time). I really need to go in and see what my options are, but it doesn’t bother me, so I keep ignoring it.

 

[Steve]

I currently have a tooth that lost its crown (for the second time). I really need to go in and see what my options are, but it doesn’t bother me, so I keep ignoring it.

Yeah…. But at some point it will become a problem. It’s like home maintenance. Better to stay on top of it. May not be urgent, but at some point it is a good idea to get it sorted.

 

[Gyakuto]

I currently have a tooth that lost its crown (for the second time). I really need to go in and see what my options are, but it doesn’t bother me, so I keep ignoring it.

At your own peril! The crown helps prevent bacteria getting into the root and causing odontalgia (tooth ache) which I had the unpleasant experience of last summer followed by a failed root canal treatment and, now, the prospect of an extraction!

 

[gyoja]

Teeth are a crutch….

 

[JowGaWolf]

Teeth are a crutch….

I came across a headline that one there is a drub being tested to grow back teeth, but unfortunately I haven't see this same news on the reliable news sources that I usually follow.

 

[Gyakuto]

I came across a headline that one there is a drub being tested to grow back teeth, but unfortunately I haven't see this same news on the reliable news sources that I usually follow.

I know they’re growing teeth from stem cells for reimplantation.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

I know they’re growing teeth from stem cells for reimplantation.

Rather, scientists are at the early stages of theoretical research along that path. I believe there have been a couple of studies that have had some success along those lines in rats. We're probably quite a few years out from clinical trials with humans.