[rant] teeth are the absolute worst fcuking things in the entire world

[Eventuality]

My mom has terrible teeth, my dad has fabulous teeth. I had horrible baby teeth (multiple fillings, 14 teeth pulled (8 permanent, counting wisdom teeth, an abscess, braces x 2, retainers, headgear, you name it except for gum problems). I'm 28 now and in the last 15 years have had one filling. Knock on wood, the adult teeth seem to be better than the baby teeth so far despite my tremendous dislike of the dentist and only going every 2-3 years.

[WranglerBowman]

I went to the dentist twice a year growing up until college.  In college I went once a year and that's when I got my first cavity, and that was due to falling asleep with gum in my mouth.  I would just tuck it into the back corner of my mouth and go to sleep, this way when i woke up I had delicious fresh mint to chew on.  The dentist would always tell me "you're brushing too hard" because my teeth were worn at the gum line, then they would tell me I'm not brushing enough, doesn't seem to be a happy medium.  I didn't go to the dentist for 4 years after college, and never had a cavity ;).  Then I started going to whatever dentist had free cleanings as a special.  It was very interesting to hear what they had to say, 1 dentist said everything looks fine, another said you should watch these 3 areas, another said I needed 11 fillings and even got the drill out to start before I laughed and ran out.  For the last 4 years my current regular dentist has said I need to have 3 fillings and every time I go in my xrays are not showing any progression on the areas they're concerned about and I don't have any pain so why bother...  I hate teeth so much, no matter what you do there doesn't seem to be a way to avoid expensive dental work and I feel like most of the time dentists make stuff up just to make money.

[MsPeacock]

Completely agree. Have been stuck in a horrible process of implants for my two front lower teeth. One took, one failed and then the jaw was rebuilt, new implant put in - waiting to see if it takes. If it doesn't then both have to be removed and I'll get a bridge or something. Now get panicky every time I go to the dentist. Have had so many head x-rays this year. So expensive! So painful! I've generally taken good care of my teeth - but for some reason have idiopathic issues w/ the bone at the front of my jaw. I've been wearing a awful retainer 24 hours per day to provide fake front teeth and protect the implant screws for something like 6 months now. Hoping to have the implants in place by the end of August. Used my entire FSA health benefit for the year in one trip to the endodontist. >:(

[zygote]

Had to get yet another filling yesterday. I brush and floss every day, but the way my teeth are shaped stuff just gets stuck between them (I never had braces). I didn't have any cavities until I was in my early 20s and all of a sudden they caught up with me, and I've had a lot of fillings in the last decade. I do believe they are necessary and not just a dental scam, because they've cropped up with two different dentists (I moved) and I can see the issues on the X-rays myself.

Luckily I have pretty good dental insurance so the copay for the filling isn't bad, but I decided to pay $75 out of pocket for laughing gas for the first time. 100% worth it, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. In my case, the numbing agent never seems to work well so I end up with multiple shots near the tooth and a jaw block and I can STILL feel the drill and it's generally unpleasant. I never used to mind the dentist but the feel of a drill on a raw tooth is enough to make anyone anxious. The laughing gas made me out of it enough that I didn't feel any pain after one numbing shot near the tooth. Highly recommend to anyone who has a hard time with dental work.

While I was there, my dentist also used this kind of metal sandpaper? between my worst teeth to make it harder for food to stay stuck there. I'm going to start brushing/flossing after lunch too and hopefully that will take care of the problem. I'm glad I discovered the laughing gas, but I don't need to keep getting a filling a year...

[OurTown]

Implant was last week.  I got of those stupid pain meds as soon as possible.  First, they made me itch like crazy.  Second, they stopped me up.  (Gross, I know).  Then after they finally got out of my system, I had a series of dramatic bathroom events.  (Doubly gross).  I'm pretty much back to normal at this point I think.

I get the crown put on in maybe another month.  That is supposed to be an easy procedure.

[HAPPYINAZ]

What's even worse than teeth that develop their own problems are unscrupulous dentists that ruin them for you.  I ended up with one of these in my teens (in my late 50's now) and apparently I "needed" all of my molars filled.  Not all at once, but each time I went in, I "had another cavity."  As a teenager, what did I know?  I believed him.  He also ruined my parents' teeth, telling them many needed extracting.  As a result, I've had to have countless fillings redone over the years, and ended up with a crown and an extraction, because there was so little tooth material left in them, they basically crumbled.  I've always had very good oral hygiene, never needed a new filling until recently (one small one) and every new dentist says, "Your front teeth are beautiful," but don't say anything when I tell them why the back ones aren't too.  Don't want to criticize their own, I guess.
That dentist was later in the newspaper several times, with people suing him for unnecessary work, and being sent for "retraining."  I think he knew exactly what he was doing.  I hope there's a special place in hell for people like him!

that is terrible!  I am sorry you went through that!  I feel fortunate that I have had good dentist throughout my childhood.  I am 52 and never had a cavity.  I don't go to the dentist regularly.  I went maybe 4 years ago and the dentist there suggested I had some soft spots that needed filling.  I didn't feel it was necessary and never followed through.  So far so good.  I did get a mouth rinse that says it helps remineralize soft spots.  I don't know if it helped or if there were never any soft spots to start with.  I got the feeling the dentist just wanted to do something that wasn't necessary to keep me coming back.  That was the only time I went to a dentist in maybe the last 20 years.  And the only time before that was for a root canal needed for a tooth I damaged when I was a kid playing on a slide.  That went really well, but the dentist was creepy and when he asked if I wanted to see the stump of my tooth he created for the crown I said no.  But he forced me to look at it anyway!  Weirdo!

[SunnyDays]

Thanks for the sympathy, HAPPYINZ.  Funny this thread should pop up again just now, as I had another 2 appointments for refillings recently.  My previous dentist just retired , so I had a new one.  The first filling went fine, the second has left that tooth sensitive to pressure.  So now the dentist says the R word (root canal).  Here we go again!  Why didn't I just leave well enough alone????????  Sob.

[Helvegen]

I used to have lots of dental problems. Then they disappeared. I can only think of two reasons.

1) I dropped 100 something lbs and am at a normal BMI.
2) I replaced 90% of the sugar in my diet with stevia/erythritol.

Last time I had a root canal was right before I got serious about losing the weight and seriously curbed eating real sugar. I haven't had a cavity in 4 years now and my last checkup/cleaning about a month ago, I was still 100% problem free.

[MrsCoolCat]

I'm going to say this lightly but, "You know what they say about teeth? They're the first to rot when you're alive and the last to rot when you're dead." Ironic.

[zygote]

Uuuuugh the tooth that I just got filled is really sensitive at the gum line now. No idea if it's an issue with the filling itself or if the gum got irritated.

I already had to go back earlier this month because he didn't make the edge of the tooth smooth. Now something's up AGAIN.

I have generally been happy with my dental care at this new practice, but now I'm not so sure. I've never had so many issues with a filling before, at my old dentist or at the new place. I wonder if I just got unlucky and the filling didn't work. Is that a thing?

I kind of want a second opinion, but...$$$. I'll pay for it if this dentist wants to start doing something drastic like a root canal, but at least for now he has been doing the follow up adjustments for free.

[FindingFI]

Thanks for the sympathy, HAPPYINZ.  Funny this thread should pop up again just now, as I had another 2 appointments for refillings recently.  My previous dentist just retired , so I had a new one.  The first filling went fine, the second has left that tooth sensitive to pressure.  So now the dentist says the R word (root canal).  Here we go again!  Why didn't I just leave well enough alone????????  Sob.

I'm in the same boat.  Mentioned a bit of cold sensitivity during a regular cleaning and the dentist recommended a refilling, but now I'm sensitive to pressure and heat and have been referred to an endodontist for a root canal.  And this was the year I took a gamble and didn't elect dental coverage since I have gone so many years with nothing beyond regular cleanings that are covered under my medical plan.  You win some, you lose some.

[SunnyDays]

@FindingFI, do you use a toothpaste for sensitive teeth?  It really does help as a rule, but maybe not for this issue.  I've decided to see a different dentist for another opinion, and maybe even get him to try refilling it before going the root canal route (no pun intended). 

[FindingFI]

@FindingFI, do you use a toothpaste for sensitive teeth?  It really does help as a rule, but maybe not for this issue.  I've decided to see a different dentist for another opinion, and maybe even get him to try refilling it before going the root canal route (no pun intended).

@SunnyDays I have used Sensodyne before and it has helped for some other less severe sensitivity, but it couldn't touch what is going on with this tooth.  The temperature sensitivity varies and a second opinion would be wise if that were the only problem, but the pressure sensitivity is really quite terrible.  I can't chew anything on that tooth without significant pain.  The best comparison I can think of is stubbing a toe, and how much that royally sucks for a few minutes before it subsides, every single time I bite down on anything harder than pasta. My dentist suggested that I might be able to get by a bit longer with a second even larger refilling, but that a root canal would still be needed down the road.  So I'm opting to fix the problem now rather than patch it and delay the inevitable.

[zygote]

@SunnyDays @FindingFI I hope you both get relief soon.

I saw the dentist yesterday for the pain, and it turns out the culprit was piece of composite that likely got shaved off when he used the metal sandpaper stuff to make flossing easier. It was fine for several weeks, and then managed to come loose and get lodged into my gum. It was about twice the size and twice the hardness of a popcorn kernel. Ouch! I couldn't get it out flossing on my own.

I'm just grateful that the X-rays showed an intact filling and a healthy tooth behind it. No redoing the filling, no root canal. And even better, no cost!

[SunnyDays]

That's good news, Zygote!  An easy fix.  I had a similar situation, but in reverse.  I'd gotten a piece of shell from an M+M stuck under my gum line and couldn't get it out.  After a week of pain, I finally gave up and went to the dentist, who initially couldn't find it either.  An x-ray showed him there was something there and also revealed a cavity near it, so I ended up having a filling done while I was there.  That was a lucky catch.

[crentist]

Back from rental work in Costa Rica three weeks, you might find the pricing useful:

Fillings 75

Crowns come in Three grades
The lowest is what US dentists commonly use, porcelain 350
Metal fused to porcelain 410
Zirconium 500

Root canal 350

Dentures 695

Actually almost all crowns are made of zirconia in the U.S. The exception is front teeth, which are made of all-porcelain due to esthetics and the lab charges more money for those than zirconia. I've worked with labs that charge myself $350 for an all porcelain crown. Actually that's the lab that I had make my crowns. With dentistry, many times you get what you pay for and usually you're better off getting no work done than crappy work that will be more expensive to fix down the road.

[crentist]

I used to have lots of dental problems. Then they disappeared. I can only think of two reasons.

1) I dropped 100 something lbs and am at a normal BMI.
2) I replaced 90% of the sugar in my diet with stevia/erythritol.

Last time I had a root canal was right before I got serious about losing the weight and seriously curbed eating real sugar. I haven't had a cavity in 4 years now and my last checkup/cleaning about a month ago, I was still 100% problem free.

BINGO! Before the western diet was popular there was very little tooth decay, although periodontal disease was more common due to poor hygiene. I think there should be a sugar for this and many other reasons.

[I'm a red panda]

I used to have lots of dental problems. Then they disappeared. I can only think of two reasons.

1) I dropped 100 something lbs and am at a normal BMI.
2) I replaced 90% of the sugar in my diet with stevia/erythritol.

Last time I had a root canal was right before I got serious about losing the weight and seriously curbed eating real sugar. I haven't had a cavity in 4 years now and my last checkup/cleaning about a month ago, I was still 100% problem free.

BINGO! Before the western diet was popular there was very little tooth decay, although periodontal disease was more common due to poor hygiene. I think there should be a sugar for this and many other reasons.

Citation?  What year are you considering the "western diet" to have started in? 
In the past, many people lost their teeth. I believe it was uncommon to get to old age with all your teeth in place. Many historical figures had dentures, and there was trade in human teeth and ivory among other things for these in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Do you have a resource that states none of this was from tooth decay?


Pregnancy has been the hardest thing on my teeth, and likely historically was for other women as well. There is only so much vomitting and mineral leaching the teeth can take.

[crentist]

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2013/02/24/172688806/ancient-chompers-were-healthier-than-ours

[I'm a red panda]

Thank you for that.