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Cody Dawg · Jan 12, 2006, 05:51 PM

I just had a tooth crowned in the back.

I am in the process of getting my teeth taken care in that I want all of the old silver amalgamite fillings removed and new white ones put in and I had one huge filling that they didn't want to refill and wanted to crown instead. I thought, "Sure, no big deal."

I just returned from spending TWO HOURS OF DRILLING ON MY TOOTH...AND THE ANESTHETIC DID NOT NUMB MY TOOTH.

Now I know why people despise going to the dentist.

Yes, my tooth will be beautiful and healthy when they are done (now I have a temporary crown on the tooth while the new one made out of porcelain is made) but what a pain in the @$$.

And it's expensive too, to boot.

Share your dental experiences? Community commiseration is always nice.

tooki · Jan 12, 2006, 05:58 PM

When I had to get fillings as a kid, one time, the doc shot me up with novocaine, and it wasn't enough. So she did once more. Still not enough. I needed a third shot of novocaine to be numbed. The next session, I reminded them that I had needed a lot of novocaine, so the hygienist who was preparing me yelled down the hall to the dentist: "He wants the works!"

So yeah, just complain till they give you more stuff!

tooki

Cody Dawg · Jan 12, 2006, 06:01 PM

(Notice the tooth missing >

)

Anyway, yeah, they shot me up 8 times. My EARS are still numb.

He could've done a face lift too.

But the center of the tooth would not numb up. Bizarre. He called it a "hot spot." Any dental people here? What's a "hot spot?"

Albert Pujols · Jan 12, 2006, 06:07 PM

Next time ask for gas. Gas is the best, you still feel the pain in your mouth but you're too out of it to give a ****.

Cody Dawg · Jan 12, 2006, 06:08 PM

Prosthodontists use that?

f1000 · Jan 12, 2006, 06:08 PM

"Is it safe?"

Cody Dawg · Jan 12, 2006, 06:09 PM

Thanks f1000. That makes me feel better. </flashback>

Eriamjh · Jan 12, 2006, 06:09 PM

You should have left the silver amalgam fillings in. Odds are you would die from something OTHER than any lead leaching into your brain.

deej5871 · Jan 12, 2006, 06:11 PM

That's funny, I just got home from the dentist. Only a simple cleaning though. The cleaning (plus the usual chastising for not flossing) took only about 30 minutes. I think if I had to sit in that chair for 2 hours I would go nuts. Not just because they're working on my teeth, but because all I can do is stare at the ceiling (and try to mumble answers to the questions they ask while they have their hands in my mouth; I'll never understand why they think I can reply when they are in my mouth).

f1000 · Jan 12, 2006, 06:12 PM

Originally Posted by Eriamjh

You should have left the silver amalgam fillings in. Odds are you would die from something OTHER than any lead leaching into your brain.

Don't you mean mercury?

Cody Dawg · Jan 12, 2006, 06:17 PM

Yes, he does, and no, I don't want mercury leaching into my body any longer.

sek929 · Jan 12, 2006, 06:19 PM

Just had a cavity filled yesterday.

I needed "the works" as well, it seems I always do. This one hurt like hell though for a good minute long period, even with three doses. The last three fillings I had were a breeze, I almost laughed at how easy it was. But this tooth had other ideas.

Cody Dawg · Jan 12, 2006, 06:23 PM

Yeah, it does hurt like hell, doesn't it?

I just saw some stupid show with Rosie O'Donnell on it and she was talking about how when she won Star Search way back when for her comedy routine one of the first things she did was to "get all of her teeth crowned." Not capped. CROWNED. Which entails grinding down the tooth to a nub and crowning it. 32 of them.

I'd say she's either lying or she's got a real thing for pain.

nredman · Jan 12, 2006, 06:26 PM

i had a root canal about two years ago - it wasnt as bad as i thought it was going to be - the dentist does suck - but there are alot of worse things in life then having problems with your teeth - so quit bitching

Cody Dawg · Jan 12, 2006, 06:29 PM

Don't post here if you don't like to read/hear what we think, then, will ya?

nredman · Jan 12, 2006, 06:33 PM

okay mom

Monique · Jan 12, 2006, 06:33 PM

You had more than the preparation for the crown; if it hurt that bad you probably had a root canal done or you had an infection.

Once I had an infection in one of my tooth and it was not frozen but she drilled in it anyway and I was complaining because of the pain; she got angry and shot me in the nerve (it took 4 months to heal) and in the end she extracted that tooth.

Also, now I need to have done 3 crowns and 2 extractions and no insurance, hope my teeth will hold until I do or I don't know what I will be able to do. A crown cost $900. minimum.

Cody Dawg · Jan 12, 2006, 06:36 PM

Yes, my crown was $1926.

Part of it was paid by my insurance ($890) so it was almost $3K. Gold/porcelain crown, that is, though.

wdlove · Jan 12, 2006, 07:10 PM

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

Yes, my crown was $1926.

Part of it was paid by my insurance ($890) so it was almost $3K. Gold/porcelain crown, that is, though.

Hi Cody,

Sorry to hear about you bad experience at the dentist.

My experiences have been positive. On the cost front it is very expensive. I have been going to the Harvard Dental school.

Eriamjh · Jan 12, 2006, 07:10 PM

Yeah. Mercury. Leeching. Whatever.

ambush · Jan 12, 2006, 07:16 PM

count your self lucky to have enough money to actually afford dental care. I sometimes see poor people with rotten teeth everywhere in the subway..

nerd · Jan 12, 2006, 07:30 PM

I always got one shot and would have pain. I always figured novocaine didn't work to block 100% of the pain. Then just last year getting a filling I didn't feel a thing, not one thing. I asked him why and he looked at me like I was crazy. He's basically said if I feel anything at all to tell him and they'd give me more.

Anyways, so when I got my first crown last year it was painless. I was expecting major pain but nothing.

Cody Dawg · Jan 12, 2006, 07:30 PM

Harvard Dental School?

WOW, WDLove!

Yes, I am fortunate to have dental care. I paid for my own dental work with savings from baling hay and working at a restaurant bussing tables when I was a teenager - that's when I started taking care of my teeth.

Ratm · Jan 12, 2006, 07:35 PM

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

Yes, my crown was $1926.

Part of it was paid by my insurance ($890) so it was almost $3K. Gold/porcelain crown, that is, though.

You got ripped. My mother's a dental lab technician—owns the lab— and something like that would cost no more than $600-800, for a gold crown. She has been a lab tech for over twenty years. One of the best in FL.

nerd · Jan 12, 2006, 07:49 PM

Holly cow, I hate to say it but I only paid $900 for mine as well. It was a gold one.

Ratm · Jan 12, 2006, 08:05 PM

I paid 600... it was gold, with only the best materials used. She told them what I wanted and she knew how much it all cost so there was no chance of getting over charged.

Dentist are evil ****ers. Sorry WD but it's true. Maybe you'll be different tho.

My mothers lab creates beautiful works of art. She spend many, many hours working on a case. Yet these f**king dentist get most of the money. Assholes. Even tho she's well off today I can only imagine how much more if the split would have been more fair.

Doofy · 09:22 PM

My dentist rubs her boobs in my face all the time (well, obviously not all the time, like when I'm at the grocery store and not actually at the dentist's). Kind of removes the boredom a little.

Kevin · Jan 12, 2006, 09:12 PM

My old dentist used Nitros. He retired.

JoshuaZ · Jan 12, 2006, 09:16 PM

I once had 8 teeth pulled as a kid. Oddly the didn`t pull the one tooth that really NEEDED to be pulled at the time.

Last week I spent $400 at the dentist while in Milwaukee. No insurence. Suckage.

Atomic Rooster · Jan 12, 2006, 09:17 PM

Originally Posted by deej5871

That's funny, I just got home from the dentist. Only a simple cleaning though. The cleaning (plus the usual chastising for not flossing) took only about 30 minutes. I think if I had to sit in that chair for 2 hours I would go nuts. Not just because they're working on my teeth, but because all I can do is stare at the ceiling (and try to mumble answers to the questions they ask while they have their hands in my mouth; I'll never understand why they think I can reply when they are in my mouth).

They are trained in mumbling as MDs are trained in writing chicken scratches on paper which the pharmacists are trained to read.

Kevin · Jan 12, 2006, 09:17 PM

BTW Cody, get any good narcotics out of the deal?

KeriVit · Jan 12, 2006, 09:28 PM

i have an infection, but i'm so afraid of the dentist, i suffer....

Cody Dawg · Jan 12, 2006, 10:32 PM

Awwww...

You should still go, Kerivit.

Kevin, should I get some? ???

I'm doing okay without 'em, actually.

I like to keep my liver sane and healthy.

Kevin · Jan 12, 2006, 10:38 PM

It's not the small amount of opiates that kill the liver. It's the stuff they mix with it.

Bandit240 · Jan 12, 2006, 10:43 PM

One of my co workers has had a bad toothache all week. Today he deceided to remove it himself. He took a pair of pliers(not clean at all) and just yanked that sucker out. Root and all came out, he left a few minutes early to drink a bottle of wiskey.

Cody Dawg · Jan 12, 2006, 10:59 PM

Yeah.

Okay.

Ratm · Jan 12, 2006, 11:17 PM

Originally Posted by KeriVit

i have an infection, but i'm so afraid of the dentist, i suffer....

Dude, the anesthetic they use is amazing. I've had wisdom teeth extracted, a root-canal and I never felt a thing. They even numb the area BEFORE they insert the needle. David Letterman showed a man getting a root-canal live on air and he never felt a thing. Go to the dentist, it's not as bad as you think it going to be and afterward you'll feel alot better. The infection could spread and infect the surrounding teeth. Don't play around with this kind of thing. GO!

Cody Dawg · Jan 12, 2006, 11:24 PM

Yeah, I agree.

I know that normally people don't feel anything - don't take this thread as an example of the average experience.

Seriously, you can even choose to go to sleep if you want - a nice light sleep.

Your teeth and their care is EXTREMELY important.

Please just go to the dentist, okay?

Andy8 · Jan 13, 2006, 12:18 AM

I had all 4 wisdom teeth pulled at once under a LOCAL, not general anesthetic - big mistake.

I was in the chair for 5 hours while he tried to pull them out, he had to inject the anesthetic more than 4 times to keep the pain down to a manageable level.

Actually I think the recovery time was more painful, once the anesthetic wore off.

Rates way up there as one of the most painful things I have experienced to date.

I kept the extracted teeth a reminder of my lack of wisdom on that day!

Cody Dawg · Jan 13, 2006, 12:38 AM

That's bad, Andy8. Don't know how you did it. I sat through 2 and 1/2 hours and 8 injections and it still felt bad.

I had my wisdom teeth removed. They were impacted and in the roots of the other molars by them. I went under for that.

Afterwards I developed something called "dry sockets" and had to keep going back in to get the holes packed with gauze. My head hurt so bad - I thought my eyes were going to fall out - and I couldn't move.

Then I got BOILS all over my body at the same time.

I had a terrible fever, ended up in the ER and hooked up to IV antibiotics.

Yeah, the wisdom teeth experience was worse.

I had braces on my teeth twice also. Once during the teen years. Then my wisdom teeth started coming in and they pushed my teeth around and I had to go back, get them removed, then had braces put back on again to correct my teeth that were crooked again. (That was when I was 22.) But, I got the braces that went behind the teeth the second time so that no one could see them.

Come to think of it, I think I've spent about $10,000 on my teeth when I consider orthodontics also.

IceEnclosure · Jan 13, 2006, 12:45 AM

Originally Posted by Andy8

I had all 4 wisdom teeth pulled at once under a LOCAL, not general anesthetic - big mistake.

I was in the chair for 5 hours while he tried to pull them out, he had to inject the anesthetic more than 4 times to keep the pain down to a manageable level.

Actually I think the recovery time was more painful, once the anesthetic wore off.

Rates way up there as one of the most painful things I have experienced to date.

I kept the extracted teeth a reminder of my lack of wisdom on that day!

I turn green and sweat bullets in the dentist's chair. That said, I had all 4 wisdom teeth pulled at once as well and didn't feel a thing. Nitrous. Woke up, drew a few pictures on some piece of paper and then started petting the nurse's face or something.

Went home, ate some Vicodin ES for a week or so. Didn't feel a thing!

rparke1 · Jan 13, 2006, 01:44 AM

when i was younger and had braces, i went in for a wire tightening and it was someone new. well, long story short, she didnt attach the wire fully or something and the wire came free and poked all the way through my cheek to the outside.

hurt more than the time when a horse i was taking care of stomped my foot and split my right big toes nail in half.

im_noahselby · Jan 13, 2006, 01:49 AM

I love going to the dentist, but that's probbably because I take such good care of my teeth.

Noah

nerd · Jan 13, 2006, 02:00 AM

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

Afterwards I developed something called "dry sockets" and had to keep going back in to get the holes packed with gauze.

I developed a dry socket also but I didn't get as bad as you (in the hospital). I started to develop the dry socket they day I went out of town for work. By the time we got to Roswell, NM (50th anniversary for the UFO landing) I was in major pain so I took 2 of the pain killers the dentist gave me. The pain went away so I pigged out for lunch, stuffed my face with the work paid lunch. After lunch the pain started to come back and I was stuck setting up some live TV equipment in the 108 degree Roswell sun. I was so dehydrated from the heat, couldn't drink much water because I ate so much food, in pain, it just sucked. I was afraid to take more pain killers because I had taken the other ones about 3 hours earlier and was still loopy.

I get back to Albuquerque and call the dentist. Go in, he stuffs the gauze in the hole. Things are good, about 3 days later the gauze comes lose, I pull it out. Go for the follow up appointment, dentist asks if the gauze came out, etc. Everything is good. Well about 3 weeks later I feel something in the little hole left where the tooth was and pic at it. There was still some gauze that was packed in the hole. Nasty, it was in there for about 3 weeks.

Anyways that's my memory of getting my wisdom teeth pulled.

Ratm · Jan 13, 2006, 03:03 AM

Originally Posted by im_noahselby

I love going to the dentist, but that's probbably because I take such good care of my teeth.

Noah

Goodie for you....

Andy8 · Jan 13, 2006, 05:42 AM

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

That's bad, Andy8. Don't know how you did it. I sat through 2 and 1/2 hours and 8 injections and it still felt bad.

I had my wisdom teeth removed. They were impacted and in the roots of the other molars by them. I went under for that.

Afterwards I developed something called "dry sockets" and had to keep going back in to get the holes packed with gauze. My head hurt so bad - I thought my eyes were going to fall out - and I couldn't move.

Then I got BOILS all over my body at the same time.

I had a terrible fever, ended up in the ER and hooked up to IV antibiotics.

Yeah, the wisdom teeth experience was worse.

I had braces on my teeth twice also. Once during the teen years. Then my wisdom teeth started coming in and they pushed my teeth around and I had to go back, get them removed, then had braces put back on again to correct my teeth that were crooked again. (That was when I was 22.) But, I got the braces that went behind the teeth the second time so that no one could see them.

Come to think of it, I think I've spent about $10,000 on my teeth when I consider orthodontics also.

I had to have mine removed because I like to scuba dive - technical depths - 50 metres + (150 feet +) and i would get tiny airpockets form in my wisdom teeth (its common in divers) and thus make it very painful to surface (when the air tries to expand). It fixed the diving issue right away

Cody Dawg · Jan 13, 2006, 06:02 AM

Wow! I never knew that, actually.

Did you see the movie The Cave? It's a thriller, but it's also about cave diving. Very interesting. Do you cave dive? I dive also, but only to depths of about 20 feet and when I'm in the Bahamas. I'm a true lightweight.

wallinbl · Jan 13, 2006, 07:34 AM

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

But the center of the tooth would not numb up. Bizarre. He called it a "hot spot." Any dental people here? What's a "hot spot?"

It's basically the spot that the anesthesia isn't getting to. It's not anything really technical.

In some types of anesthesia, the sum total of the pain from all areas can be concentrated into one spot that isn't being numbed. This can happen with epidurals.

The worst part is over, though. The seating of the crown is no big deal. What type did you get (do you know)?

Andy8 · Jan 13, 2006, 11:01 AM

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

Wow! I never knew that, actually.

Did you see the movie The Cave? It's a thriller, but it's also about cave diving. Very interesting. Do you cave dive? I dive also, but only to depths of about 20 feet and when I'm in the Bahamas. I'm a true lightweight.

I do not do any cave diving - it sounds exciting, but it is every dangerous, even for highly trained technical divers.

The funny thing is I do not dive as much as I used before I got my wisdom teeth removed - i guess I did too much diving. But it is like golf in many ways, once you buy the equipement you can pick it up again anytime after a refresher course.

Cody Dawg · Jan 13, 2006, 11:08 AM

Hi wallinbl: As usual, you're one smart cookie.

The type of crown? I know it was expensive.

Joking aside, it was a rear molar and they took the top off and put a brand new complete top on it. Does that help define what type it is?

I hated it yesterday, but today I have to say that my mouth feels fine and I'm happy I did it.

I'd been putting it off for years (getting that tooth worked on) but it was time to do it.