i have not been to a dentist in probably 10 years

my housemate once marched into his dentist's and demanded his broken tooth be fixed despite the fact that he had no money or insurance coverage.

it worked an' all.

my new toothbrush tickles the sides of my tongue. it's a little distracting but i've learned to combat it by adopting a 'dog with head out the car window' expression while brushing. now my girlfriend can't watch me brush my teeth without laughing, but that's her problem i guess.

they called and said i could come in today and have the temp put back on, or i could just wait til monday. they did not seem to care. lol!

My temp crown came off too. Just don't eat there.

yeah. i think it is v sensitive bc of nerve exposure after the drilling down and by gum feels a lil swollen. i will power through it, though!

First cleaning in 10 years today, and basically clean bill of health except "floss more." I AM HOV!

My total bill from my 4+ years of no dentist came to $610, w/scaling plus two fillings.

going back next week for the real crown. this temp has stayed on so far!
still getting sporadic jaw/gum pain, though :(

after my last visit to the dentist (first time in almost four years), i resolved to floss every day until my next checkup. i can't wait for my triumphant return in June... unless dude is all "yo, you really need to be flossing" at which point i will lol and then punch him in the nose.

"My total bill from my 4+ years of no dentist came to $610"

amazingly,thats exactly what happend to me today at the dentist :(

I feel incredibly lucky. I do brush extremely thoroughly though.

two fillings on the right side. $258. Face still pretty numb.

I'd like to have all my teeth extracted and replaced with some sort of titanium/polymer non-corrosive, basically indestructible set. I would just give them a daily rinse and not have to worry about setting foot into a dentist's office ever again.

http://www.comicvine.com/evelyn-cream/29-30980/

Urrgh. I havent been to the dentist since 1993 (yeah. I know. Shuddup). My teeth are generally fine - I dont eat sugary foods at all, brush regular, etc etc

Recently: bad bad BAD tinnitus, worse than usual (I always have it but this is shitting me to tears), an ache in the left side of my jaw and shoulder. What feels like a nagging canker sore in the space where my wisdom tooth was that I've realised has come and gone for... ages.

I suppose I should get it seen to but now I'm worried I've got mouth cancer or something horrible.

youve probably got an infection under the gum. all they do is get in there, shove some medicine of some sort in, give you antibiotics and send you on your way

That sounds pretty drama-free. And its a good excuse to go for a general cavity check and clean anyways. Its annoying dental's not covered under medicare, but oh well.

yeah. that would be my guess because ive had it and the pain is so severe you and encompassing that you start to wonder where its really coming from. if its under a tooth youll have to go the root canal route, i think.

-you obv

Christ it better not be a root canal job! I mean it's on a spot where no tooth is (either my wisdom or back molar would have been yanked out back there - I got so many teeth removed when i had braces I've lost track). But yeah I better get it seen to, cos ow.

do go, and go soon, it could be an abscess and they can be dangerous. you might just need antibiotics. but root canals are not nearly as bad as people make out, i've had a couple of them and they were no trouble at all.

I'd like to have all my teeth extracted and replaced with some sort of titanium/polymer non-corrosive, basically indestructible set. I would just give them a daily rinse and not have to worry about setting foot into a dentist's office ever again.

― Imaginary Dead Baseball Players Live in My Cornfield (Pillbox), Friday, April 10, 2009 4:00 PM (6 days ago) Bookmark

did you know that you can already do this, with your own teeth?

All the dentists in my 'hood are crazy shouty russians, they scare me, but I better get it done.

xpost: fuck that. yours and my teeth will eventually rot, within our life-span, regardless of personal maintenance, unless we seek the regular care of a professional. Our teeth have not evolved with us! Yeah, so give me the fake shits then (not dentures, but like badasss teeth)

After last weeks 'deep debridement' (sounds DIRTY don't it?) I was informed that my gums are a little saggy and therefore I should increase my intake of folic acid and vitamin C. So, apparently I have scurvy.

or youre pregnant

I just look pregnant.

Oh I went to the dentist in the end. Despite 15 years since the last visit, and even that one being the first in some years, still no cavities, not a one. Havent had afilling since my early teens. Teeth are fine - only needed cleaning.

This is what you get for never eating any sugary food or soft drink/fruit juice, kids.

£1200 FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK

i would never pay that mnuch for a fuuuuuuuck

but yeah fuuuuck having teeth, they really aren't worth the hassle

Rotting teeth: My friend and I have just parted company because he refuses to do anything about his lower teeth which are brown. They look rotten to me. Molars and others are missing. He has upper dentures. He is a very healthy 81 year old man and says at his age he is absolutely adamant about not doing anything about his lower teeth. Yet he expects kisses which I will not give him, telling him "I am not going to kiss a germ and bacteria laden mouth." Wouldn't my own health be at risk? Anyway his mouth is a complete turn-off under the circumstances. Also, if a man with rotten teeth nibbles on a woman's breast, isn't it possible that the bacteria can travel down the mammary glands and eventually cause cancer? ... Visitor from NJ

I has a rotting, broken tooth.
Pull or crown? I call dental school to set up apt, and apparently there is an initial diagnostic appointment but a crown is $600 (at the dental school!!) so like, should I just get this shit pulled? DIY dentistry tips?

Pliers and a bottle of Jameson.

I avoided the dentist from being 11 til I was 29 and one of my molars finished up like that. My tooth got pulled. If nothing else getting your tooth pulled is cheaper (on NHS rates in the UK I paid something like £45, crowns cost something like £200)... Crowns are only viable if the base and root of your tooth are sound.

ian, i think if you get a tooth pulled it can cause long term problems with the rest of your teeth: the other ones start shifting to fill the gap, which isn't always a good thing.

crown for sure dude, i know $600 is a lot of dough but if you dont youll end up sinking a way more money into your teeth later on

i have a tooth like this, it formed without enamel and was rotting away. had parents' dental insurance so i got it crowned and i'm so glad. it is a lot of money but really really try to work something out. missing a tooth will cause you a load of problems.

A crown is definitely preferable if you have a choice, but then I know people who've had trouble with crowns too. The tooth I had pulled was done 8 years ago and I've neither had any problems (I've had regular checkups and no work done since) and my teeth haven't moved at all.

ok i totally forgot to add i'm going to have to have that tooth pulled eventually and have an implant put in because last christmas i went to the dentist and she drilled a hole in it after i was having serious pain that mysteriously disappeared before i even saw her. then told me the crown isn't permanent because the tooth will continue to deteriorate underneath it. it's the second to last molar on top. i think if i had it pulled it would mess up my face.

so yeah it prob depends on a lot of things and the dentist should let you know the long-term consequences of either option, obv. i just don't want ian to go around without his tooth!

I had my back-most upper molar crowned after a root canal; I kept cracking the crown (lol bruxism) and eventually I got an infection and the tooth had to be extracted. Endodontist was all ready to get me going down the implant route to fill in the space, which was going to cost MAD CASH. However my awesome dentist looked at it and my X-rays and said it was fine to go sans tooth; it wouldn't mess up my other teeth or my bite or anything. He said something about the "32 teeth myth" which I thought was kind of o_O for a dentist. Anyhow I took his advice and am living happily ever after without that back molar.

Advice not likely to apply to anything but a backmost molar, however.

Ow ow ow ow owww.

I have chipped my third canine. So the back of it is now really super-sharp. Now this wouldn't be such a bother if it weren't for the fact that it keeps catching food and also my tongue CAN NOT LEAVE IT ALONE so I keep nearly slicing mine own tongue on the really sharp bit.

Now, really, it needs to come out. No one needs three canines. But I haven't been to a dentist in so long I wouldn't even know where to start. (and I'm sure I have lots else wrong with my teeth, but it's only this tooth that ever bothers me really badly.)

HALP.

Are NHS dentists a myth like the tooth fairy?

Have to sign up to some 'care plan' thesedays.

Well, when I say "have to", who knows...

NHS dentists exist! But you'll probably have to make a hundred calls to find one. Maybe since you're happy / preferring to just have it removed rather than go for something difficult and costly you could visit the nearest dental school. They're generally happy to set nervous students loose on drop-ins.

YES BUT WHAT ABOUT NERVOUS DROP-INS.

There's a reason I haven't been to the dentist in 10 years.

And I would actually like it replaced. With a GOLD canine. That would be expensive.

It's really too bad that my employers don't do cosmetic dentistry, because then I could get it done for free. :-(

Cosmic dentistry!

I'm not sure if that sounds more like a Stereolab song or an Aphex Twin album.

cosmetic dentistry = first full week after my big lotto win

Actually, as much as I slag off cosmetic surgery, if I ever did fall into huge amounts of money, I'd walk across the road to Claudia Schiffer's dentist and open my mouth as wide as I could and say FIX THIS FUCKING MESS.

(I mean, I had some cosmetic dental surgery when I was a small child, when I first moved to the States, otherwise my teeth would be even MORE fucked up Big Book Of British Smiles stylee, but I guess the whole surgery and recovery and having to wear a retainer for years afterwards just traumatised me so much that I stopped going to dentists as soon as I was able.)

((I can still remember quite clearly some of the seriously fucked up hallucinations that I had while under anaesthesia for that surgery, and this was, like, 30 years ago!))

Argh argh argh, now I have seriously scared myself out of going to the dentist and I'm just going to suffer this chipped tooth rather than face that horror again.