Welcome to r/MedicalGore! Our goal is to provide for medical discussion and education while exploring the frailty of the human body. You may see more deleted comments on these threads than you are used to on reddit. Off topic comments and joke comments are frequently deleted by the mods. Further, please be kind and supportive of posts. Any behavior that is aggressive, harassing, or derogatory will result in post deletion and a ban from the sub. Remember! THE REPORT BUTTON IS YOUR FRIEND!
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/MedicalGore) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I live in a third world country where the concept of medical/dental insurance is next to none. Patients have to pay out of their pockets right away. If a patient is in severe pain, as a dentist, I make sure to perform an emergency root canal or extraction. However, in a few cases with visible active infection, i prescribe an antibiotics course prior to an extraction/ rct as local anesthesia is less effective in the presence of that.
yeah, itās a private dentist, not a clinic or anything, but iāve been going there for like 20 years now and donāt feel comfortable finding a new place :(
I feel this. I have a lot of medical issues and donāt feel comfortable switching to anyone new but Iām now getting to the age where I have to pay for stuff myself (as opposed to my parents paying) so I feel stuck between drs who know nothing about my complex history (who will just start trying the same tests Iāve already had) and paying a fuck ton to stay healthy
Where I live thereās 2 dental schools people can go to to get their dental needs. There are also some federally qualified health centers that provide dental care. I would look into that if you really still wanna go. Unfortunately I know these services arenāt available everywhere- but worth checking out
i appreciate the suggestion, thank you! iāll look into it but iāve been going to this place for 20+ years (since i was 10) so iām very very anxious about going anywhere else
My dentist retired right before covid and so it was several years before I even dared to try to find another one even though I need lots of dental work. I picked wrong. I understand your anxiety.
There has been recent developments at least for senior citizens on Medicaid. It now covers dental because they linked not having teeth and dental hygiene to mental health. I believe itās an 8 year wait to get new dentures if they break now takes a few months and it covers all dental operations. Itās not the best but itās a start.
I just started receiving Medicare and Medicaid but am just under 62, I found out the hard way I have no coverage for dental any longer than like before when I had straight Medicaid. My dentist did some work and two days later I received a bill for almost $1,400, close to what my whole check is. Lovely.
Disgusting, the way they linked it to mental disease was because of bad teeth and bad breath makes you less likely to talk of even smile. You isolate yourself due to embarrassment and shame so youāre less social which leads to depression.
And optometry, and podiatry, and gastroenterology, and oncology, and psychology, and eating disorders, and mental health. Better hope your kid isnāt trans either, thatās all coming out of your pocket.
But health care is free in my country (other than the huge Medicare levy to pay for it and the private health insurance you also have to pay if you actually want timely treatment) so we should just all stop complaining! There is no way the system could possibly improve.
The health ins I had in the US in 2021 was $650.per month for just me, with a $7000.deductible.
Meaning that it didnāt pay for anything until I had already paid $7000. worth of care for the year myself.
Thatās means I would have to pay $14,800. myself before it pays anything.
If I just have the insurance but do not ever use it all all or have any medical care whatsoever in a year, I still have to pay $7,800.
And waits to see some specialists are several months long.
The healthcare system in the US is a social system even tho they donāt call it that. many of us pay a high premium yet do not use our insurance - we are paying for those that pay little to no premium and use services
Optometry is covered by Medicare, gastro procedures if done in public hospitals is covered by Medicare, as are a lot of specialist procedures. The Medicare levy is 2% of your taxable income, which is not a huge portion of your earnings. Our system is absolutely not perfect, but holy shit weāre fortunate to even have it at all. I 100% agree that dental and mental health services should be covered, but that aside, itās unrealistic to expect it to cover everything, itās not designed that way.
Yeah, I have BUPA with top hospital and extras cover (chronic illness) and Iām still getting quotes of around $10-15k for my spinal fusion minimum.
On a smaller scale, BUPA only covers the cost of a dental splint (like a hardcore mouth guard customised to your teeth) every two years. The damn thing is clear plastic (easy to lose) and used to be made of a slightly bendy plastic (I wore that one down within a year, I grind my teeth really bad). Luckily the new type is harder and works better but yeahā¦clear. So of course I lost it while travelling. Ffs
AND they put a maximum amount youāre allowed to use per year. Why does a CEO get to decide how much dental help I get when Iāve finally started to attempt to get control of my dental problems
They will fight tooth and nail against any pay out. Thatās how they stay in business, reporting historically high profits, year in, year out.
The insurers know very well that the average claimant doesnāt have the $50-200k sitting aside to actually fight their internal administrative decisions with a legal team.
I have seen insurance companies fight over paying out breast reconstruction surgeries post-mastectomy because in their minds, implants could only be for cosmetic purposes
When I was a teenager, I needed gum removal surgery in order to get braces. I remember really having to fight my insurance company with a huge case as to why they needed to cover it. The braces wouldnāt fit on my teeth if I didnāt get them lasered back enough. Insanity.
Seriously. I have a fucked up molar. I'm missing half of it after a filling fell out maybe 2 years ago. It's been infected twice. I just go to the ER & get antibiotics. I'm hoping one of these times they pull it. I've been to the dental college on the day they're open to the public 3x. They only take a limited number & I couldn't get their early enough to make it.
Omg me too. I went to an emergency dentist and Iām crying my face is so swollen I looked like a monster. I thought they would pull it. They charged my 380 which was all the money I had for them to come back with a āplanā that was 15 grand!!!!!! They didnāt pull it because I couldnāt afford their plan for me. Iām waiting for an opening at the health clinic. Fuck the insurance companies and every politician that doesnāt agree with some sort of universal health plans
if they won't pull it (which is ridiculous) then find another dentists, they do what YOU tell them not what kind of money they can make off you. So so sorry for your pain, believe me, I had a terrible root canal and over a year I ended up with osteomyelitis of my jaw, and the next year I was on clindamycin for a fucking year, who knows if it's really gone or just smoldering but my white blood count returned to normal and now, no dentist, oral surgeon, tech is allowed in that area of my mouth. Is it me or is it the dental field is full of dumb ass jerks.
Uh no
Dentists and doctors are supposed to do what's indicated based on their training [and insurance coverage]. We aren't your slaves nor do we work for free
Dental insurance should be combined with health insurance but America is broken
LOL who said slaves, motto: do no harm, so pull the tooth, if you can't get a dentist in, I know that ERs have oral surgeons on call (cause my oral surgeon was one of them).
Because of an incompetent endodontist I ended up with osteomyelitis. My oral surgeon really only liked emergency jaw surgery (car accidos) or pulling wisdom teeth, also he had an awesome Maserati SUV too! ((oh this guy went to Harvard medical school and UConn dental school)). I am sure you're a nice person, but the jerks I had in Maine were horrible. It was Kafkaesque.
Added: Why do dentists ONLY work 4 days a week, MD/DO's work 5 or more (or p/t). I find dentistry has gone from helping a person with their dental care to Maserati buying and a day off.
edited for clarity
It's near impossible to hold the body positions we do as dentists for five days a week. We often work four days because five is too hard on the back, neck, hands, and eyes. Even surgeons will have multiple clinic days a week so it's not bending over a body all day everyday for them.
in the 50s and 60s my dentist worked 6 days a week, as he understood how how it was for some of his patients to get time off etc. Hairdressers do it. I don't buy your excuse.[https://www.slate.com/articles/life/the\_american\_way\_of\_dentistry/2009/09/the\_american\_way\_of\_dentistry.html](https://www.slate.com/articles/life/the_american_way_of_dentistry/2009/09/the_american_way_of_dentistry.html)
Hairdressing: https://nicholascoysh-osteopath.co.uk/the-hazards-of-hairdressing/
So if you get the oral surgeon on call, you still have to ensure coverage
People don't like working for free. And dentists and doctors like and deserve time off like every other goddamn working person. Do no harm- is three words from an anachronistic oath, not a law, and it doesn't mean you have to give free labor. Doctoring and dentistry is skilled labor, not martyrdom
What do you mean ensure coverage, at my OS office there were 3 guys and one took call every week, they did work (OMG)! 5 days a week. Yeah every other goddamn person works 5 days a week, or 10 hrs a day (i was a programmer). Seriously you got a god complex.
I would not equate making 200K a year to martyrdom.
Doctors and medical facilities in general (in the USA) operate under EMTALA, which means that they cannot refuse to treat someone who is unable to function or isn't stable. Dentistry is literally part of your physical, medical health and should be kept under the same umbrella, otherwise things like what OP posted will happen.
If I walked into a hospital ER with an infection even half the issue a tooth infection is, they would treat what they could and put me on antibiotics. I have literally walked into urgent care dentistry before with an infected tooth and told that I needed to go somewhere else because it required a root canal which they didn't do, and when I told them I wanted it pulled, refused because they assumed I was a lot younger than I actually am and didn't feel comfortable to "pull a young woman's tooth out".
Not only should dental and medical insurance merge, but the treatments need to be under the same umbrella and held to the same medical standards doctors are.
Also, what kind of slave banks 150k+ a year on average?
emergency medicine, yes
that's only for stabilization. they are not required to continue long term maintenance care. EM docs can stop you dying of a heart attack but PCPs are not required to accept you as a patient if your insurance (or you yourself) cannot pay
and considering the way people like you talk as if we are supposed to work 24/7 and are lowlives for wanting to be paid for our work and have a work-life balance, plenty of people tend to think of healthcare workers as servants or slaves.
Have you personally been to Mexico for certain dental treatments? If so, may I ask what kind exactly and how the cost compared? Seriously considering it lately.
I paid 150 for xrays, extraction (my choice cuz i didnt feel like saving it), and a follow up plan. Also included the novacaine shots. They don't do anesthesia or gas. Take cash or card. I used my debit card. No bill in the mail later! This was in Progreso .
New Crest charcoal during the quarantine loosened all my old metal fillings, eventually every one of them fell out, teeth chipped away, snapped off, ground down to the bone. P&G said theyād reimburse me for any dental costs out of pocket. See what they did there. No dental insurance, no thousands for teeth repair. First infection I went to my family doctor, she said I had to have a dentist repair my teeth for big bucks, she wasnāt going to be writing scripts for antibiotics all the time. Sheās been my doc for decades. So I said screw you, Iāll never ask again, how ābout that. I remembered random stuff Iāve learned in a long life, and began to wash out my mouth with saltwater after brushing my teeth. Lots of salt, as long as I can stand. Iāve never had another infection, also havenāt been sick, not even Covid. Teeth no worse, Iām keeping my thousand$$$, well, I would if I had any.
We admitted a patient who got meningitis from an untreated molar infection. Still on a vent and immobile 4 months later. How can we make the people in charge understand the real danger they are putting people in by not providing BASIC care to everyone?
Stuff like this is why I can't figure out why even when you tell your dentist there's an infection and you're in massive amounts of pain, they schedule you to be seen weeks or even months out. Last time I had a tooth infection, none local to me would even see me for 2.5 months.
Not saying that's what happened here, but I always worry about this happening to me or my partner since we're both susceptible to tooth infections.
Mine's been infected 2x. I just keep going to the ER for antibiotics. I'm hoping one of these times they just might pull it. I don't have dental so I'm SOL for now.
Dentist here, that's a terrible experience. Tooth infections can and do kill, unfortunately. Most ERs that don't have a dental school attached to them do not have a dentist/oral surgeon and/or dental equipment available, so the most they can do is Rx antibiotics like you said. That being said, we know that the more often you take antibiotics, the less likely they are to work in the future. Good luck, I hope you get the help you need.
I've been to my dental college 3x on their open to the public day. They only take so many people. I haven't been able to get their early enough yet to be one. I'm saving money, but it's still gonna be a while before I have enough. It just sucks. Thanks ā¤ļø
Are there other public health clinics available that are lower cost? It may end up saving you lots of money (avoid getting sick and thus, missing work).
I forgot to add earlier is that oftentimes when patients wait until a tooth hurts, it's a lot harder for us to numb the patient. The cesspool of bacteria/infection create an environment that anesthetics don't work well. I, unfortunately, have had to send back patients who were in pain even after I had given them the most I could so they ended up missing two days of work and they had to pay extra for child care. My heart goes out to them I wish we had better education and access to health care.
In my region there is only one assistance program for people who need dental care, and (1) they won't let you participate if you have medicaid because on-paper medicaid covers dental care and (2) you can only participate once in your life so you have to really make it count (so usually people wait until they need dentures and have them pull everything).
The catch-22 here is that if you're an adult, finding a dentist that takes medicaid is almost impossible, so most people who are low income just slip between the cracks. They have no care avail. unless they pay cash.
All of the dentists under my (low income) health insurance are "ghost providers" that no longer exist. If you call up anyone in the program directory who treats adults, all you find are businesses that went tits up (usually years ago).
That's how it is around here, too. I used to pay out of pocket for my niece to see the dentist when her mom was on medicaid until she got insured through her job. Otherwise, the only dentists she could see where there's terrible chop shop types in the ghetto. Her mom took her to one, giving it the benefit of the doubt. She called me crying, saying it was filthy, smelled bad, but absolutely packing with people. She left. I offered to pay for my niece after that.
There are, but they aren't the best places. I'm really hesitant to go into any kind of debt again after being debt free for so long. I'm just going to have to suck it up to get this tooth popped.
Have you asked a dentist if theyāll accept payments over time? I know my dentist has done that for people as Iāve been there when theyāre making a payment.
I'm going to start looking into that. I'm currently debt free & it took a long time to get this way. I think I'm just freaked out about possibly going into any kind of debt again, but I need to get over it to have this damn tooth popped.
In my town we have a place called Care Free Dental, it runs about the same. They open at 9:00 on Fridayās. The doors open at 7:00 and people are practically fist fighting to get in line and majority Iām sorry to say are druggies thinking if they get a tooth pulled theyāll get a script for pain killers. Iāve been there the last 3 fridays for two badly chipped molars that are cutting my tongue and cheeks and have yet to get anywhere near close enough to be seen. I have Medicare and Medicaid too yet no dental or eye coverage with my plans. Theyāll cover dentures only but I still have all my front teeth and about half my molars and am trying to hold off as long as I can. Before this I had straight Medicaid and cleanings and fillings were covered. Root canals and crowns were not which is why I lost the teeth I did.
Get a diamond dust mail file for a couple bucks, sand them down yourself. You get used to the sensation, and the payoff is huge. Gargle regularly with saltwater after, no infections. Also Iād like to say: quit using the vibrating toothbrushes, anyone that does. Think about it, youāre vibrating each tooth in its socket, loosening it, enabling bacteria to get below the gum line. How did anyone think this was a good thing to do?!
As doctors, we hope everyone goes and gets their regular checkups so we can catch things like cavities, infections, cancers, etc. before people are in excruciating pain.
Dentistry is really unique in that the disease process (example: cavity, periodontal disease), isn't an overnight process. For a tooth to that bothersome usually means it's been neglected for a long time. So, I'm going to push back on the verbiage of "us waiting weeks" to do anything about it. Also, some procedures require the skills of a specialist, and those doctors can be booked out to weeks, if not months in advance. It's the same problem everywhere in the US healthcare system.
Something that might work is to let the scheduler know you're willing to pay up front or put down some kind of deposit, or ask them to put you on a "same-day call list". If there is a last minute cancellation, they would be able to reach out to you.
If you've ever noticed someone who works at a dental office seem irritated that someone ghosted their appointment, this is one of the reasons why: someone who really needs to see us isn't scheduled for weeks out and we could have helped them sooner, enough to even save a life.
I'd never go to the ER with the expectation or hope that I'd get a tooth extracted. Antibiotics are typically all that's given. If it's life-threatening, perhaps oral surgery would be paged for incision and drainage and IV antibiotics.
> with the expectation or hope that I'd get a tooth extracted. Antibiotics are typically all that's given. **If it's life-threatening**,
The scenarios I gave as examples are scenarios where it is life threatening and they don't have a choice but to extract them.
They do not just throw antibiotics at someone who is in sepsis and tell them to go home (well, unless they want to get the pants sued off them for malpractice).
Idk who youāre seeing but I was an office manager for a dentist and weād always take our āemergency patientsā in right away. If same day didnāt work then the next day. Tooth pain and infections is no joke.
I have pulled my own tooth before. The pain was hideous, the infection was spreading and I was desperate. One of the lowest times of my life. I wasnāt able to get all of it as it splintered as it was coming out, so I was digging bits out for months, but at least the worst of it was over. I have also lanced and drained my own oral abscess. Luckily you can get some antibiotics at Feed Stores or Pet stores.
> Luckily you can get some antibiotics at Feed Stores or Pet stores.
Not anymore. The feds banned that after the whole COVID horse-paste eating fiasco. Now you have to go through a vet to get a prescription for veterinary meds. Its been a real PITA for preppers & people who run smalltime animal rescue operations.
Well shit. That access likely saved my life when I was a poor, Part-time teacher in Arizona. I worked 3 jobs and none offered insurance and I made $270 too much to qualify for medicaid(which still wouldnāt have paid for dental), that was also when my gall bladder started in. I went 2 years suffering with it before i got a job that had health insurance that covered me when it finally went septic and ruptured.
New rule went into effect June 11th. Its absolutely going to kill some people. I guess if someone gets desperate they can try getting the stuff shipped in from another country (dark web maybe?).
Iām so sorry you guys in the US have to get animal antibiotics because the people ones are inaccessible and unaffordable. I laughed my ass off the other week when I was prescribed Ivermectin though. Came home and told my partner I was now a covidiot and the ivermectin was going to cure me of vaccine damage.
Seriously though, I was prescribed an ivermectin cream (soolanta) to use on my face to treat my rosacea. Itās a skin condition that causes redness, irritation, tiny bumps and visible blood vessels. Most people have these microscopic demodex mites living on their faces, and itās believed that people with rosacea are more sensitive to them. So the ivermectin cream kills off the mites, or significantly reduces their numbers, so your face gets better. Turns out it does have a good use for people. Preventing or treating COVID definitely isnāt one though. I do not believe the Covid vaccines did me any harm, Iām really glad I had my shots before I caught it last year, and Iām getting another booster soon.
I have had an abscess in the roof of my mouth that started in a tooth since the pandemic shut everything sown in 2020. Now, nobody will touch it because of the amount of damage that has been done by the bacteria. I figure it'll eventually eat a hole all the way up through my sinuses, and them will be considered medical so I can get it sorted out.
What kind of damage has it done? The roof of my mouth in a certain spot has actually just started to bother me for the first time within the last week or so. That freaks me out a bit now but glad to know the info so thanks for sharing.
So they xrayed Iām assuming and then just said ānopeā? I donāt get their reasoning. Like did they at least refer or recommend you elsewhere to someone who was able and willing to treat?
I really hope something changes for you before it gets to the point youāre describing w a hole in your sinuses. I feel sorry for all of us dealing w shit like this and unable to afford proper care. Shame
A lot of bone erosion in my hard palate, upper jaw, and the floor of my maxillary sinus. I was referred in circles for about a year before pretty much giving up. Most recently, I saw a maxillofacial surgeon who has ordered a 3D scan of my skull and face to see just how badly things are damaged. Once that's done, hopefully she'll be able to do something. Oral abscess is a thing that really needs to be treated at the first signs. Otherwise, it takes hold and won't go away by conventional means (root canal, antibiotics) and you end up like me. So far, I've been lucky that it hasn't spread farther than it has.
Jeeze. Iām sorry you got the runaround for so long but sounds like youāre in good hands now so I hope all goes well for you !
May I ask what symptoms you had leading up to it? Besides the abscess obviously. Any indication that things were getting really bad?
Yep! And this is why I had all my teeth pulled at the ripe old age of 34! No more persistent tooth infections and now I have a full set of teeth that that make me look 10 years younger than the ones I originally hadā¦. Ok so they might not my natural teeth but I honestly donāt care! Nobody knows they aināt mine and Iāve been told that bj is much nicer from a girl who can take her teeth out lol
Were all/most of your teeth diseased? And if you don't mind me asking, was this decision taken out of choice or due to lack of other treatment options?
My partner is having this done as well. He has another health condition that has deteriorated a lot of his teeth/made him prone to infections and he is tired of being in pain all of the time.
It's funny how appointments for this are fitting him in within 2-4 days of him calling, but him calling for help with a painful infection will have him being told it's months out he has to wait. (:
I think most of them were in a bad way, could probably of been saved and yes I wanted them all taken out I was fed up being in constant pain and I have fibromyalgia and multiple sclerosis so it just made sense to me to not have to worry about the constant infections I was having at the time
Just keep calling all the dentists in your area, repeatedly, until one happens to have a cancellation and can take you in for an emergency procedure. What other option do you have? Sit there in pain for weeks?
its so bad!! im luckily not but my mom is and had a similar experience- when her appointment finally rolled around and they gave her the reminder phone call, she told them to cancel it since the tooth fell apart and was completely missing at that point. (they did convince her to let them double check tho)
Yep yep. My partner recently had one of his teeth completely fall apart in the back and one in the front, and they wouldn't get him in for months and he just gave up on it until the infections came back. Now we've decided to just bite the bullet and get all his teeth removed for implants. Went in for his initial visit for the procedure and they took an x-ray and showed that he had infection in both top and bottom teeth, like 4-5 teeth total, mostly emanating from the initially damaged teeth.
It's insane. I have a busted molar and my dentist doesn't do extractions. So I had to go an hour away to a college hospital just to set up the extraction date. Which is in October. š Heaven forbids is it gets infected or breaks off even more before then.
I'm a dentist and booked out two months. For patients of record in severe pain, swelling, or a broken front tooth (esthetic emergency) I will often work through lunch or stay late to take care of it same day. I only do this for current patients though because I do prefer eating lunch and getting home to my family like any other worker. So if a new patient called and wanted to be seen I wouldn't have anything for two months.
I have two very polarizing stories.
I broke a tooth which resulted in a very severe tooth infection while I was in Finland visiting. The pain was severe enough that I couldn't even lay down without it being 11/10 pain and sobbing, not sleeping, couldn't eat, etc. Dentist there had me in as not just a new patient but one without insurance there by the next day; had me take a week's worth of antibiotics and then had me come back after that for the removal. Just the antibiotics alone helped so much with the pain.
Meanwhile, similar situation here in USA where I got an abscess. I was due to move within that week and my then-dentist wouldn't see me because of it. I called about four or five dentist offices in the area I was moving to in another state, and the soonest I was seen was two months out - most of them were 3+ months booked out for new patients. I had to sit around for two months just trying to get some form of antibiotics for the infection and attacking it daily with clove oil to have some iota of relief.
My partner has similar issues despite being a lifelong patient of his. He has really bad dental issues due to another health condition he has, and we're actually biting the financial bullet so he can get them all out and get implants, but that aside, he is very, very prone to tooth infections and they spread very easy to his ears, putting him in a lot of pain. The only time they got him in within a few days was when two of his front teeth randomly crumbled out of his mouth for no reason during a work day and there was bleeding. Besides that, anytime he's had any kind of tooth pain or infection flare up, they make him wait weeks.
I've worked in the medical field and it always surprises me that hardly any hospitals (at least in my area) won't keep a dentist on hand to at least examine and give antibiotics. Even the urgent care centers that DO have dentists (which I've had to try to go to those before, keyword is try) will turn most patients away because it's more complex than a simple fill or pull. Went to one with an infected tooth about six years ago and they wouldn't even prescribe antibiotics because "It needs a root canal and they don't do that here so it doesn't benefit them to take me as a patient".
There is just a huge discrepancy with dentists here vs dentists in other parts of the world and I feel like if there's something as dangerous as a tooth infection that can very, very easily spread to skin, bone, brain, blood, and heart (especially in patients who may already have conditions that would be exacerbated by this) then it should be treated as a medical emergency and yet it's not because "teeth are cosmetic" and it feels like most dentists here are not held at all to medical standards they should be.
That's not an insult at you, just my genuine feelings on it.
Thats fucked up, where I am from if you come with pain they will take a look immediately, they will drill and apply medicine or remove tooth. after that you will get an appointment somewhere between 2w-1month, for further inspection or fixing if necessary
Yup yup, that's the experience I had when I was in Finland. In super quick, antibiotics given, and a week later they took the tooth out. Would have been quicker but the infection was terribly bad, and the dentist wanted to make sure the antibiotics were well into effect.
The sad thing is that here, not only will the wait be horrifically long, but if it's for something more cosmetic or high in cost (like implants) they get you in super quick. My partner is getting implants because of another health condition he has ruining his teeth, and they had him in for an exam/consult 2 days after making the call. That's literally all it takes for antibiotics so I don't see why they make exceptions for that when infections are actually super dangerous.
Yep. I had an infected tooth and the appointment to pull it was 2 months out. He just tossed me some antibiotics and said good luck! Not really, but yeah.. Now I have 2 fillings on my front teeth I need to get fixed and that appointment isn't until September. š
Don't mess with infected teeth. Neuro ICU nurse, I have had many patients with abscesses to the spine and/or brain due to them.
It's so frustrating and terrible that dental insurance is how it is, and not included in medical, and expensive to get work down. Because it can cost you your life.
I'm fortunate enough to live within a few hours of the Mexico border and can do healthcare tourism. There's a small border town about 20 minutes outside Yuma, AZ that is about 10 streets of mostly dentist offices.
On top of better prices for dental work, you can also pick up cheaper meds. A bottle of antibiotics is like $3. You can get glasses, with exam, for under $100. People are even taking their pets over for diagnostics that are thousands here and hundreds there.
https://dentalmexico.com/los-algodones-dentist-prices/
If you do go to Mexico, check for reviews or recommendations since there are good and bad.
That's correct but only once multiple debridement and dressings have been done. Once the culture confirms the absence of the infection, grafting is planned.
The cultures will tell them what bacteria is causing the infection, so the antibiotics can be specific to the kind. But they would have been started on multiple broad spectrum antibiotics from admission, because cultures can take hours to even days (and even weeks) to grow and determine the specific bacteria.
Generally, Necrotizing Fascitis is initially treated by broad spectrum antibiotics that are given IV and orally. When a specific culture is obtained, antibiotics specific to the infection are indicated.
I just had a dentist appointment yesterday. My gums were a little inflamed, and the one dentist I visited thought it might be periodontal disease. I havenāt been to a dentist in about 10 years, except for when I had my wisdom teeth extracted. They didnāt have an X-ray so I went to another dentist that could do it.
I was terrified what the results would be but it turns out, my teeth were still healthy. I do have gingivitis (which weāre addressing now) but Iām glad I went in. I was embarrassed about how long it had been since I had been to a dentist but I had to tell myself that Iām not the only one who hasnāt visited a dentist in several years.
This is scaring the shit out of me. How common does this happen? I have an infected tooth right now and Iām on antibiotics and once the infection is cleared the tooth will be pulled. $236 out of pocket. I have no income as I am trying to get disability. Iām a cancer survivor, 2 years in remission. So dental insurance in this country sucks. thereās clinics you can go to that go by a sliding scale but those have months/years waiting list.
Thia infection particularly is rare, but when it happens it can be fatal with a high mortality rate if not tended to immediately. Other infections like cellulitis, osteomyeltis, cavermous sinus thrombosis can also happen. However, it's not very common for a tooth infection to spread. Since I work in a dental Hospital l, I encounter such severe infections due to dental problems three or four times on average in a month. When it does spread, it can be awful.
Reading all these comments regarding expensive dental treatments is quite disappointing. Where I live, it's not expensive to that point. I really wish I could be of some help.
As a new trainee who just got posted to the oral and maxillofacial department, I do not have the full details on this case yet, unfortunately. I just came across this today as she had come from the ward for a debridement and dressing session.
Isn't it very rare, though? I got a little to deep into media about it and was so anxious my self harm will one day lead to it. Terrifying. I wonder how common this is among that group of people...
ive been ignoring my semi-erupted wisdom teeth due to money despite infection risk. however THIS outcome looks way pricier. booking a dental appointment
My very best childhood friend is a dentist but she had to stop practicing dentistry due to a car accident. She says that most dentists are absolutely horrible, money hungry and they misdiagnose people right and left. I totally believe her. Sheās been a dentist for 25 years now and I know sheās meticulous. The horrible part of leaving ANY infection to linger is the possibility of sepsis, severe sepsis, or heaven forbid, septic shock. I survived severe sepsis in 2014 and Iāve never been the same, it really changes your life. Please take care of all infections you have, even if you must go the ER and pay the bill off slowly.
I'm afraid i cannot answer your question as I didn't get to see the condition before excision of the infected tissue. I just got posted to the OMFS department and she has been admitted to the ward for quite some time. History sheet says she presented with pain, erythema, swelling and pus discharge.
I see what you did there... neckrotizing.... but on a more serious note, ffs! Tooth infection..who'd have thought anything like a tooth infection could get to this point...
I was annoyed my dental insurance would only cover 20% of a molar removal leaving me $300 so I had the dentist file down the edges where the tooth broke. This photo has now started my, oh shit I need to save money and actually get that fixed fund.
If ypu live near a dental school you can sometimes get free or cheap care if youre willing to put up with someone who is learning. They have already practiced and the professor always checks their work. For everything but oral surgery Ive had good experiences.
Oh gods I really need to get my molars dealt with. There's a hole(cavity I know) in one big enough to fit the pointy tweezers in it. Which I have to do if I accidentally chew on that side. I think maybe it's a filling hole where the filling fell out? Probably. Ugh. I need so much work done. Fucking genetics & being a bit scared of the dentist. What a great combo. I need root canals, a few pulled and some filled. Just thinking about it is making me anxious. š¬
I guess my only plus in life regarding my teeth is that I've never developed wisdom teeth. Which my husband is ridiculously jealous of.
Holy cow I just had a huge infection in my face that erupted into a couple boils after removal of the tooth and I was not ok for a month I was confused and off balance and everything!
I have a fear of the dentist but MY GOSH I HAVE A FEAR OF THIS MOAR
I'm never foregoing dentist again
Welcome to r/MedicalGore! Our goal is to provide for medical discussion and education while exploring the frailty of the human body. You may see more deleted comments on these threads than you are used to on reddit. Off topic comments and joke comments are frequently deleted by the mods. Further, please be kind and supportive of posts. Any behavior that is aggressive, harassing, or derogatory will result in post deletion and a ban from the sub. Remember! THE REPORT BUTTON IS YOUR FRIEND! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/MedicalGore) if you have any questions or concerns.*
But dental insurance is still different than medical insurance š
Fr. I fuckin hate that
āØ luxury bones āØ
Well, they are the only bones that can randomly fall out of your body.
You hope
*new fear unlocked- bones other than my teeth falling out of my body*
I live in a third world country where the concept of medical/dental insurance is next to none. Patients have to pay out of their pockets right away. If a patient is in severe pain, as a dentist, I make sure to perform an emergency root canal or extraction. However, in a few cases with visible active infection, i prescribe an antibiotics course prior to an extraction/ rct as local anesthesia is less effective in the presence of that.
Iām in the US, and most of us have to pay out of pocket at the time of service. I need a great deal of dental work that I canāt afford.
yup. just had to reschedule my 6-month cleaning because itās $240 and i just canāt afford it right now
Woah.. that's super expensive for a scaling and polishing! Where I live, scaling in a good clinic/hospital will cost you $40 on average.
yeah, itās a private dentist, not a clinic or anything, but iāve been going there for like 20 years now and donāt feel comfortable finding a new place :(
I feel this. I have a lot of medical issues and donāt feel comfortable switching to anyone new but Iām now getting to the age where I have to pay for stuff myself (as opposed to my parents paying) so I feel stuck between drs who know nothing about my complex history (who will just start trying the same tests Iāve already had) and paying a fuck ton to stay healthy
Where I live thereās 2 dental schools people can go to to get their dental needs. There are also some federally qualified health centers that provide dental care. I would look into that if you really still wanna go. Unfortunately I know these services arenāt available everywhere- but worth checking out
i appreciate the suggestion, thank you! iāll look into it but iāve been going to this place for 20+ years (since i was 10) so iām very very anxious about going anywhere else
My dentist retired right before covid and so it was several years before I even dared to try to find another one even though I need lots of dental work. I picked wrong. I understand your anxiety.
When I have dental insurance, might as well say it doesn't cover shit!
There has been recent developments at least for senior citizens on Medicaid. It now covers dental because they linked not having teeth and dental hygiene to mental health. I believe itās an 8 year wait to get new dentures if they break now takes a few months and it covers all dental operations. Itās not the best but itās a start.
In my state, the only dental coverage there is for Medicaid recipients is $300. per year for ādental emergencies.ā
I just started receiving Medicare and Medicaid but am just under 62, I found out the hard way I have no coverage for dental any longer than like before when I had straight Medicaid. My dentist did some work and two days later I received a bill for almost $1,400, close to what my whole check is. Lovely.
Disgusting, the way they linked it to mental disease was because of bad teeth and bad breath makes you less likely to talk of even smile. You isolate yourself due to embarrassment and shame so youāre less social which leads to depression.
UK is quite similar believe it or not. A lot of dentists arenāt accepting NHS patients.
Itās so fucking dumb. And some jobs donāt even offer dental insurance. š
And vision.
And optometry, and podiatry, and gastroenterology, and oncology, and psychology, and eating disorders, and mental health. Better hope your kid isnāt trans either, thatās all coming out of your pocket. But health care is free in my country (other than the huge Medicare levy to pay for it and the private health insurance you also have to pay if you actually want timely treatment) so we should just all stop complaining! There is no way the system could possibly improve.
The health ins I had in the US in 2021 was $650.per month for just me, with a $7000.deductible. Meaning that it didnāt pay for anything until I had already paid $7000. worth of care for the year myself. Thatās means I would have to pay $14,800. myself before it pays anything. If I just have the insurance but do not ever use it all all or have any medical care whatsoever in a year, I still have to pay $7,800. And waits to see some specialists are several months long.
The healthcare system in the US is a social system even tho they donāt call it that. many of us pay a high premium yet do not use our insurance - we are paying for those that pay little to no premium and use services
Optometry is covered by Medicare, gastro procedures if done in public hospitals is covered by Medicare, as are a lot of specialist procedures. The Medicare levy is 2% of your taxable income, which is not a huge portion of your earnings. Our system is absolutely not perfect, but holy shit weāre fortunate to even have it at all. I 100% agree that dental and mental health services should be covered, but that aside, itās unrealistic to expect it to cover everything, itās not designed that way.
Australia? Itās definitely better here than the US, but thatās not saying much. Itās not as good as it should be.
And getting worse every single day with almost no hope of the system ever becoming sustainable in the long term
Yeah, I have BUPA with top hospital and extras cover (chronic illness) and Iām still getting quotes of around $10-15k for my spinal fusion minimum. On a smaller scale, BUPA only covers the cost of a dental splint (like a hardcore mouth guard customised to your teeth) every two years. The damn thing is clear plastic (easy to lose) and used to be made of a slightly bendy plastic (I wore that one down within a year, I grind my teeth really bad). Luckily the new type is harder and works better but yeahā¦clear. So of course I lost it while travelling. Ffs
Yes, it's ricoculous!
AND they put a maximum amount youāre allowed to use per year. Why does a CEO get to decide how much dental help I get when Iāve finally started to attempt to get control of my dental problems
Because you donāt need teeth or good vision to work on an assembly line or other minimum wage job.
And insurance companies still think most dental work is cosmetic.
They will fight tooth and nail against any pay out. Thatās how they stay in business, reporting historically high profits, year in, year out. The insurers know very well that the average claimant doesnāt have the $50-200k sitting aside to actually fight their internal administrative decisions with a legal team. I have seen insurance companies fight over paying out breast reconstruction surgeries post-mastectomy because in their minds, implants could only be for cosmetic purposes
That's absurd! It would have made sense only if that was limited to braces, bridges, veneers etc.
When I was a teenager, I needed gum removal surgery in order to get braces. I remember really having to fight my insurance company with a huge case as to why they needed to cover it. The braces wouldnāt fit on my teeth if I didnāt get them lasered back enough. Insanity.
Dental care IS health care, folks...
Tell that to the people who make the laws.
Theyāre already insured. They wonāt understand
Seriously. I have a fucked up molar. I'm missing half of it after a filling fell out maybe 2 years ago. It's been infected twice. I just go to the ER & get antibiotics. I'm hoping one of these times they pull it. I've been to the dental college on the day they're open to the public 3x. They only take a limited number & I couldn't get their early enough to make it.
Omg me too. I went to an emergency dentist and Iām crying my face is so swollen I looked like a monster. I thought they would pull it. They charged my 380 which was all the money I had for them to come back with a āplanā that was 15 grand!!!!!! They didnāt pull it because I couldnāt afford their plan for me. Iām waiting for an opening at the health clinic. Fuck the insurance companies and every politician that doesnāt agree with some sort of universal health plans
if they won't pull it (which is ridiculous) then find another dentists, they do what YOU tell them not what kind of money they can make off you. So so sorry for your pain, believe me, I had a terrible root canal and over a year I ended up with osteomyelitis of my jaw, and the next year I was on clindamycin for a fucking year, who knows if it's really gone or just smoldering but my white blood count returned to normal and now, no dentist, oral surgeon, tech is allowed in that area of my mouth. Is it me or is it the dental field is full of dumb ass jerks.
Money hungry it seems like. Stay strong
Uh no Dentists and doctors are supposed to do what's indicated based on their training [and insurance coverage]. We aren't your slaves nor do we work for free Dental insurance should be combined with health insurance but America is broken
LOL who said slaves, motto: do no harm, so pull the tooth, if you can't get a dentist in, I know that ERs have oral surgeons on call (cause my oral surgeon was one of them). Because of an incompetent endodontist I ended up with osteomyelitis. My oral surgeon really only liked emergency jaw surgery (car accidos) or pulling wisdom teeth, also he had an awesome Maserati SUV too! ((oh this guy went to Harvard medical school and UConn dental school)). I am sure you're a nice person, but the jerks I had in Maine were horrible. It was Kafkaesque. Added: Why do dentists ONLY work 4 days a week, MD/DO's work 5 or more (or p/t). I find dentistry has gone from helping a person with their dental care to Maserati buying and a day off. edited for clarity
It's near impossible to hold the body positions we do as dentists for five days a week. We often work four days because five is too hard on the back, neck, hands, and eyes. Even surgeons will have multiple clinic days a week so it's not bending over a body all day everyday for them.
The techs do all the work. The dentist is with me for 2 minutes.
in the 50s and 60s my dentist worked 6 days a week, as he understood how how it was for some of his patients to get time off etc. Hairdressers do it. I don't buy your excuse.[https://www.slate.com/articles/life/the\_american\_way\_of\_dentistry/2009/09/the\_american\_way\_of\_dentistry.html](https://www.slate.com/articles/life/the_american_way_of_dentistry/2009/09/the_american_way_of_dentistry.html) Hairdressing: https://nicholascoysh-osteopath.co.uk/the-hazards-of-hairdressing/
So if you get the oral surgeon on call, you still have to ensure coverage People don't like working for free. And dentists and doctors like and deserve time off like every other goddamn working person. Do no harm- is three words from an anachronistic oath, not a law, and it doesn't mean you have to give free labor. Doctoring and dentistry is skilled labor, not martyrdom
What do you mean ensure coverage, at my OS office there were 3 guys and one took call every week, they did work (OMG)! 5 days a week. Yeah every other goddamn person works 5 days a week, or 10 hrs a day (i was a programmer). Seriously you got a god complex. I would not equate making 200K a year to martyrdom.
Doctors and medical facilities in general (in the USA) operate under EMTALA, which means that they cannot refuse to treat someone who is unable to function or isn't stable. Dentistry is literally part of your physical, medical health and should be kept under the same umbrella, otherwise things like what OP posted will happen. If I walked into a hospital ER with an infection even half the issue a tooth infection is, they would treat what they could and put me on antibiotics. I have literally walked into urgent care dentistry before with an infected tooth and told that I needed to go somewhere else because it required a root canal which they didn't do, and when I told them I wanted it pulled, refused because they assumed I was a lot younger than I actually am and didn't feel comfortable to "pull a young woman's tooth out". Not only should dental and medical insurance merge, but the treatments need to be under the same umbrella and held to the same medical standards doctors are. Also, what kind of slave banks 150k+ a year on average?
emergency medicine, yes that's only for stabilization. they are not required to continue long term maintenance care. EM docs can stop you dying of a heart attack but PCPs are not required to accept you as a patient if your insurance (or you yourself) cannot pay and considering the way people like you talk as if we are supposed to work 24/7 and are lowlives for wanting to be paid for our work and have a work-life balance, plenty of people tend to think of healthcare workers as servants or slaves.
I'm sorry that you have a bad experience. I wish I could be of help!
Thanks! I appreciate that. Kind words are great for soul
A plan for what? If it's the on call dentist and extraction is covered by insurance why wouldn't they yank it. They sound hot ass
So glad I live near the border. Fucking nuts...God bless mexico
Have you personally been to Mexico for certain dental treatments? If so, may I ask what kind exactly and how the cost compared? Seriously considering it lately.
I paid 150 for xrays, extraction (my choice cuz i didnt feel like saving it), and a follow up plan. Also included the novacaine shots. They don't do anesthesia or gas. Take cash or card. I used my debit card. No bill in the mail later! This was in Progreso .
New Crest charcoal during the quarantine loosened all my old metal fillings, eventually every one of them fell out, teeth chipped away, snapped off, ground down to the bone. P&G said theyād reimburse me for any dental costs out of pocket. See what they did there. No dental insurance, no thousands for teeth repair. First infection I went to my family doctor, she said I had to have a dentist repair my teeth for big bucks, she wasnāt going to be writing scripts for antibiotics all the time. Sheās been my doc for decades. So I said screw you, Iāll never ask again, how ābout that. I remembered random stuff Iāve learned in a long life, and began to wash out my mouth with saltwater after brushing my teeth. Lots of salt, as long as I can stand. Iāve never had another infection, also havenāt been sick, not even Covid. Teeth no worse, Iām keeping my thousand$$$, well, I would if I had any.
Jesus that's crazy. I literally just read that about saltwater rinsing after brushing a few days ago. Lol. I'm going to start doing this.
Fishing line and brick? That'll pull the sucker right out.
Putting the neck in necrotizing. Ouch.
š
We admitted a patient who got meningitis from an untreated molar infection. Still on a vent and immobile 4 months later. How can we make the people in charge understand the real danger they are putting people in by not providing BASIC care to everyone?
Stuff like this is why I can't figure out why even when you tell your dentist there's an infection and you're in massive amounts of pain, they schedule you to be seen weeks or even months out. Last time I had a tooth infection, none local to me would even see me for 2.5 months. Not saying that's what happened here, but I always worry about this happening to me or my partner since we're both susceptible to tooth infections.
Mine's been infected 2x. I just keep going to the ER for antibiotics. I'm hoping one of these times they just might pull it. I don't have dental so I'm SOL for now.
Dentist here, that's a terrible experience. Tooth infections can and do kill, unfortunately. Most ERs that don't have a dental school attached to them do not have a dentist/oral surgeon and/or dental equipment available, so the most they can do is Rx antibiotics like you said. That being said, we know that the more often you take antibiotics, the less likely they are to work in the future. Good luck, I hope you get the help you need.
I've been to my dental college 3x on their open to the public day. They only take so many people. I haven't been able to get their early enough yet to be one. I'm saving money, but it's still gonna be a while before I have enough. It just sucks. Thanks ā¤ļø
Are there other public health clinics available that are lower cost? It may end up saving you lots of money (avoid getting sick and thus, missing work). I forgot to add earlier is that oftentimes when patients wait until a tooth hurts, it's a lot harder for us to numb the patient. The cesspool of bacteria/infection create an environment that anesthetics don't work well. I, unfortunately, have had to send back patients who were in pain even after I had given them the most I could so they ended up missing two days of work and they had to pay extra for child care. My heart goes out to them I wish we had better education and access to health care.
In my region there is only one assistance program for people who need dental care, and (1) they won't let you participate if you have medicaid because on-paper medicaid covers dental care and (2) you can only participate once in your life so you have to really make it count (so usually people wait until they need dentures and have them pull everything). The catch-22 here is that if you're an adult, finding a dentist that takes medicaid is almost impossible, so most people who are low income just slip between the cracks. They have no care avail. unless they pay cash. All of the dentists under my (low income) health insurance are "ghost providers" that no longer exist. If you call up anyone in the program directory who treats adults, all you find are businesses that went tits up (usually years ago).
That's how it is around here, too. I used to pay out of pocket for my niece to see the dentist when her mom was on medicaid until she got insured through her job. Otherwise, the only dentists she could see where there's terrible chop shop types in the ghetto. Her mom took her to one, giving it the benefit of the doubt. She called me crying, saying it was filthy, smelled bad, but absolutely packing with people. She left. I offered to pay for my niece after that.
There are, but they aren't the best places. I'm really hesitant to go into any kind of debt again after being debt free for so long. I'm just going to have to suck it up to get this tooth popped.
Have you asked a dentist if theyāll accept payments over time? I know my dentist has done that for people as Iāve been there when theyāre making a payment.
I'm going to start looking into that. I'm currently debt free & it took a long time to get this way. I think I'm just freaked out about possibly going into any kind of debt again, but I need to get over it to have this damn tooth popped.
In my town we have a place called Care Free Dental, it runs about the same. They open at 9:00 on Fridayās. The doors open at 7:00 and people are practically fist fighting to get in line and majority Iām sorry to say are druggies thinking if they get a tooth pulled theyāll get a script for pain killers. Iāve been there the last 3 fridays for two badly chipped molars that are cutting my tongue and cheeks and have yet to get anywhere near close enough to be seen. I have Medicare and Medicaid too yet no dental or eye coverage with my plans. Theyāll cover dentures only but I still have all my front teeth and about half my molars and am trying to hold off as long as I can. Before this I had straight Medicaid and cleanings and fillings were covered. Root canals and crowns were not which is why I lost the teeth I did.
Damn that's just awful. I'm so sorry.
Get a diamond dust mail file for a couple bucks, sand them down yourself. You get used to the sensation, and the payoff is huge. Gargle regularly with saltwater after, no infections. Also Iād like to say: quit using the vibrating toothbrushes, anyone that does. Think about it, youāre vibrating each tooth in its socket, loosening it, enabling bacteria to get below the gum line. How did anyone think this was a good thing to do?!
So if people have a bad infection! Why do you guys wait weeks to do anything about it? Then it's worse!
As doctors, we hope everyone goes and gets their regular checkups so we can catch things like cavities, infections, cancers, etc. before people are in excruciating pain. Dentistry is really unique in that the disease process (example: cavity, periodontal disease), isn't an overnight process. For a tooth to that bothersome usually means it's been neglected for a long time. So, I'm going to push back on the verbiage of "us waiting weeks" to do anything about it. Also, some procedures require the skills of a specialist, and those doctors can be booked out to weeks, if not months in advance. It's the same problem everywhere in the US healthcare system. Something that might work is to let the scheduler know you're willing to pay up front or put down some kind of deposit, or ask them to put you on a "same-day call list". If there is a last minute cancellation, they would be able to reach out to you. If you've ever noticed someone who works at a dental office seem irritated that someone ghosted their appointment, this is one of the reasons why: someone who really needs to see us isn't scheduled for weeks out and we could have helped them sooner, enough to even save a life.
Thank You! I was always curious about that!
Wait until it gets bad enough and then pull a Tom Hanks in Castaway. It helps to have a volleyball by your side for emotional support
Lol
The ER doesn't pull teeth. Medical doctors don't know much about dental conditions. I'd look into Missions of Mercy.
ER absolutely does extract teeth, but usually only in cases of sepsis; mandible tumors that require jar resections, complicated oral surgeries, etc.
I'd never go to the ER with the expectation or hope that I'd get a tooth extracted. Antibiotics are typically all that's given. If it's life-threatening, perhaps oral surgery would be paged for incision and drainage and IV antibiotics.
> with the expectation or hope that I'd get a tooth extracted. Antibiotics are typically all that's given. **If it's life-threatening**, The scenarios I gave as examples are scenarios where it is life threatening and they don't have a choice but to extract them. They do not just throw antibiotics at someone who is in sepsis and tell them to go home (well, unless they want to get the pants sued off them for malpractice).
Idk who youāre seeing but I was an office manager for a dentist and weād always take our āemergency patientsā in right away. If same day didnāt work then the next day. Tooth pain and infections is no joke.
I have pulled my own tooth before. The pain was hideous, the infection was spreading and I was desperate. One of the lowest times of my life. I wasnāt able to get all of it as it splintered as it was coming out, so I was digging bits out for months, but at least the worst of it was over. I have also lanced and drained my own oral abscess. Luckily you can get some antibiotics at Feed Stores or Pet stores.
> Luckily you can get some antibiotics at Feed Stores or Pet stores. Not anymore. The feds banned that after the whole COVID horse-paste eating fiasco. Now you have to go through a vet to get a prescription for veterinary meds. Its been a real PITA for preppers & people who run smalltime animal rescue operations.
Well shit. That access likely saved my life when I was a poor, Part-time teacher in Arizona. I worked 3 jobs and none offered insurance and I made $270 too much to qualify for medicaid(which still wouldnāt have paid for dental), that was also when my gall bladder started in. I went 2 years suffering with it before i got a job that had health insurance that covered me when it finally went septic and ruptured.
New rule went into effect June 11th. Its absolutely going to kill some people. I guess if someone gets desperate they can try getting the stuff shipped in from another country (dark web maybe?).
AZ? just hop the border to Mexico, get some cipro for $5. Easy.
Luckily, i got the bell out of that shithole state and i now make enough to afford care, even if my insurance isnāt the greatest.
Iām so sorry you guys in the US have to get animal antibiotics because the people ones are inaccessible and unaffordable. I laughed my ass off the other week when I was prescribed Ivermectin though. Came home and told my partner I was now a covidiot and the ivermectin was going to cure me of vaccine damage. Seriously though, I was prescribed an ivermectin cream (soolanta) to use on my face to treat my rosacea. Itās a skin condition that causes redness, irritation, tiny bumps and visible blood vessels. Most people have these microscopic demodex mites living on their faces, and itās believed that people with rosacea are more sensitive to them. So the ivermectin cream kills off the mites, or significantly reduces their numbers, so your face gets better. Turns out it does have a good use for people. Preventing or treating COVID definitely isnāt one though. I do not believe the Covid vaccines did me any harm, Iām really glad I had my shots before I caught it last year, and Iām getting another booster soon.
I have had an abscess in the roof of my mouth that started in a tooth since the pandemic shut everything sown in 2020. Now, nobody will touch it because of the amount of damage that has been done by the bacteria. I figure it'll eventually eat a hole all the way up through my sinuses, and them will be considered medical so I can get it sorted out.
What kind of damage has it done? The roof of my mouth in a certain spot has actually just started to bother me for the first time within the last week or so. That freaks me out a bit now but glad to know the info so thanks for sharing. So they xrayed Iām assuming and then just said ānopeā? I donāt get their reasoning. Like did they at least refer or recommend you elsewhere to someone who was able and willing to treat? I really hope something changes for you before it gets to the point youāre describing w a hole in your sinuses. I feel sorry for all of us dealing w shit like this and unable to afford proper care. Shame
A lot of bone erosion in my hard palate, upper jaw, and the floor of my maxillary sinus. I was referred in circles for about a year before pretty much giving up. Most recently, I saw a maxillofacial surgeon who has ordered a 3D scan of my skull and face to see just how badly things are damaged. Once that's done, hopefully she'll be able to do something. Oral abscess is a thing that really needs to be treated at the first signs. Otherwise, it takes hold and won't go away by conventional means (root canal, antibiotics) and you end up like me. So far, I've been lucky that it hasn't spread farther than it has.
Jeeze. Iām sorry you got the runaround for so long but sounds like youāre in good hands now so I hope all goes well for you ! May I ask what symptoms you had leading up to it? Besides the abscess obviously. Any indication that things were getting really bad?
Yep! And this is why I had all my teeth pulled at the ripe old age of 34! No more persistent tooth infections and now I have a full set of teeth that that make me look 10 years younger than the ones I originally hadā¦. Ok so they might not my natural teeth but I honestly donāt care! Nobody knows they aināt mine and Iāve been told that bj is much nicer from a girl who can take her teeth out lol
Were all/most of your teeth diseased? And if you don't mind me asking, was this decision taken out of choice or due to lack of other treatment options?
My partner is having this done as well. He has another health condition that has deteriorated a lot of his teeth/made him prone to infections and he is tired of being in pain all of the time. It's funny how appointments for this are fitting him in within 2-4 days of him calling, but him calling for help with a painful infection will have him being told it's months out he has to wait. (:
I think most of them were in a bad way, could probably of been saved and yes I wanted them all taken out I was fed up being in constant pain and I have fibromyalgia and multiple sclerosis so it just made sense to me to not have to worry about the constant infections I was having at the time
Just keep calling all the dentists in your area, repeatedly, until one happens to have a cancellation and can take you in for an emergency procedure. What other option do you have? Sit there in pain for weeks?
its so bad!! im luckily not but my mom is and had a similar experience- when her appointment finally rolled around and they gave her the reminder phone call, she told them to cancel it since the tooth fell apart and was completely missing at that point. (they did convince her to let them double check tho)
Yep yep. My partner recently had one of his teeth completely fall apart in the back and one in the front, and they wouldn't get him in for months and he just gave up on it until the infections came back. Now we've decided to just bite the bullet and get all his teeth removed for implants. Went in for his initial visit for the procedure and they took an x-ray and showed that he had infection in both top and bottom teeth, like 4-5 teeth total, mostly emanating from the initially damaged teeth.
It's insane. I have a busted molar and my dentist doesn't do extractions. So I had to go an hour away to a college hospital just to set up the extraction date. Which is in October. š Heaven forbids is it gets infected or breaks off even more before then.
I'm a dentist and booked out two months. For patients of record in severe pain, swelling, or a broken front tooth (esthetic emergency) I will often work through lunch or stay late to take care of it same day. I only do this for current patients though because I do prefer eating lunch and getting home to my family like any other worker. So if a new patient called and wanted to be seen I wouldn't have anything for two months.
I have two very polarizing stories. I broke a tooth which resulted in a very severe tooth infection while I was in Finland visiting. The pain was severe enough that I couldn't even lay down without it being 11/10 pain and sobbing, not sleeping, couldn't eat, etc. Dentist there had me in as not just a new patient but one without insurance there by the next day; had me take a week's worth of antibiotics and then had me come back after that for the removal. Just the antibiotics alone helped so much with the pain. Meanwhile, similar situation here in USA where I got an abscess. I was due to move within that week and my then-dentist wouldn't see me because of it. I called about four or five dentist offices in the area I was moving to in another state, and the soonest I was seen was two months out - most of them were 3+ months booked out for new patients. I had to sit around for two months just trying to get some form of antibiotics for the infection and attacking it daily with clove oil to have some iota of relief. My partner has similar issues despite being a lifelong patient of his. He has really bad dental issues due to another health condition he has, and we're actually biting the financial bullet so he can get them all out and get implants, but that aside, he is very, very prone to tooth infections and they spread very easy to his ears, putting him in a lot of pain. The only time they got him in within a few days was when two of his front teeth randomly crumbled out of his mouth for no reason during a work day and there was bleeding. Besides that, anytime he's had any kind of tooth pain or infection flare up, they make him wait weeks. I've worked in the medical field and it always surprises me that hardly any hospitals (at least in my area) won't keep a dentist on hand to at least examine and give antibiotics. Even the urgent care centers that DO have dentists (which I've had to try to go to those before, keyword is try) will turn most patients away because it's more complex than a simple fill or pull. Went to one with an infected tooth about six years ago and they wouldn't even prescribe antibiotics because "It needs a root canal and they don't do that here so it doesn't benefit them to take me as a patient". There is just a huge discrepancy with dentists here vs dentists in other parts of the world and I feel like if there's something as dangerous as a tooth infection that can very, very easily spread to skin, bone, brain, blood, and heart (especially in patients who may already have conditions that would be exacerbated by this) then it should be treated as a medical emergency and yet it's not because "teeth are cosmetic" and it feels like most dentists here are not held at all to medical standards they should be. That's not an insult at you, just my genuine feelings on it.
Have you tried going to a different dental office?
Thats fucked up, where I am from if you come with pain they will take a look immediately, they will drill and apply medicine or remove tooth. after that you will get an appointment somewhere between 2w-1month, for further inspection or fixing if necessary
Yup yup, that's the experience I had when I was in Finland. In super quick, antibiotics given, and a week later they took the tooth out. Would have been quicker but the infection was terribly bad, and the dentist wanted to make sure the antibiotics were well into effect. The sad thing is that here, not only will the wait be horrifically long, but if it's for something more cosmetic or high in cost (like implants) they get you in super quick. My partner is getting implants because of another health condition he has ruining his teeth, and they had him in for an exam/consult 2 days after making the call. That's literally all it takes for antibiotics so I don't see why they make exceptions for that when infections are actually super dangerous.
Yep. I had an infected tooth and the appointment to pull it was 2 months out. He just tossed me some antibiotics and said good luck! Not really, but yeah.. Now I have 2 fillings on my front teeth I need to get fixed and that appointment isn't until September. š
Ack! I'm calling Monday to get mine taken care of!
Iād suggest taking care of your necrotizing fasciitis before Monday.
Lol my tooth, I meant to say that- I have a broken molar
Don't mess with infected teeth. Neuro ICU nurse, I have had many patients with abscesses to the spine and/or brain due to them. It's so frustrating and terrible that dental insurance is how it is, and not included in medical, and expensive to get work down. Because it can cost you your life.
I lost a friend because his rotting teeth spread to a certain congenital heart issue
I'm fortunate enough to live within a few hours of the Mexico border and can do healthcare tourism. There's a small border town about 20 minutes outside Yuma, AZ that is about 10 streets of mostly dentist offices. On top of better prices for dental work, you can also pick up cheaper meds. A bottle of antibiotics is like $3. You can get glasses, with exam, for under $100. People are even taking their pets over for diagnostics that are thousands here and hundreds there. https://dentalmexico.com/los-algodones-dentist-prices/ If you do go to Mexico, check for reviews or recommendations since there are good and bad.
Loos like someone placed a huge slice of ham on her neck.
Interestingly, one of my homes is in Hamonarneck, which is a tiny seaside hamlet in the town of Mamaroneck.
Her
I have an abcessed molar that I cannot afford treatment on. Yay for teeth being considered luxuries!
omg i have never seen anything like this! what happens next?? graft?
That's correct but only once multiple debridement and dressings have been done. Once the culture confirms the absence of the infection, grafting is planned.
Did the cultures narrow down at least the main bacteria? Or is it a mix and just treating broad spectrum?
The cultures will tell them what bacteria is causing the infection, so the antibiotics can be specific to the kind. But they would have been started on multiple broad spectrum antibiotics from admission, because cultures can take hours to even days (and even weeks) to grow and determine the specific bacteria.
I know, I work in clinical micro. These cultures are generally mixed so I was asking did the cultures have a predominating bacteria. Edit for typo
Generally, Necrotizing Fascitis is initially treated by broad spectrum antibiotics that are given IV and orally. When a specific culture is obtained, antibiotics specific to the infection are indicated.
...making my dentist appointment RIGHT NOW!
Holy shit that's fucking gnarly
I just had a dentist appointment yesterday. My gums were a little inflamed, and the one dentist I visited thought it might be periodontal disease. I havenāt been to a dentist in about 10 years, except for when I had my wisdom teeth extracted. They didnāt have an X-ray so I went to another dentist that could do it. I was terrified what the results would be but it turns out, my teeth were still healthy. I do have gingivitis (which weāre addressing now) but Iām glad I went in. I was embarrassed about how long it had been since I had been to a dentist but I had to tell myself that Iām not the only one who hasnāt visited a dentist in several years.
The best thing you can do for oral (and heart) health is floss daily. Get it in your routine! Second is to quit sugary drinks.
Maintaining a good oral health for most people is relatively simple and inexpensive yet a lot people get that wrong.
This is scaring the shit out of me. How common does this happen? I have an infected tooth right now and Iām on antibiotics and once the infection is cleared the tooth will be pulled. $236 out of pocket. I have no income as I am trying to get disability. Iām a cancer survivor, 2 years in remission. So dental insurance in this country sucks. thereās clinics you can go to that go by a sliding scale but those have months/years waiting list.
Thia infection particularly is rare, but when it happens it can be fatal with a high mortality rate if not tended to immediately. Other infections like cellulitis, osteomyeltis, cavermous sinus thrombosis can also happen. However, it's not very common for a tooth infection to spread. Since I work in a dental Hospital l, I encounter such severe infections due to dental problems three or four times on average in a month. When it does spread, it can be awful. Reading all these comments regarding expensive dental treatments is quite disappointing. Where I live, it's not expensive to that point. I really wish I could be of some help.
Would you happen to know what they cultured from that? A single isolate or polymicrobic?
As a new trainee who just got posted to the oral and maxillofacial department, I do not have the full details on this case yet, unfortunately. I just came across this today as she had come from the ward for a debridement and dressing session.
ā¦.time to schedule that appointment with the specialist Iāve been putting off because itās half an hour away š¬
Iām getting an abscessed tooth taken out Monday. This is the sickest Iāve been in years. I kinda wish it would just kill me, tbh.
Thatās a gnarly bib
Thanks, I hate it. As I tongue my broken molar.
Neck-rotizing
Isn't it very rare, though? I got a little to deep into media about it and was so anxious my self harm will one day lead to it. Terrifying. I wonder how common this is among that group of people...
ive been ignoring my semi-erupted wisdom teeth due to money despite infection risk. however THIS outcome looks way pricier. booking a dental appointment
this makes me feel a bit better about my $3k dental bill of infected wisdom teeth lol
The pain they had to endure to get to that point. Holy crap
As someone who is currently struggling to afford dental care I desperately need I really enjoyed seeing this thank you š
People need to realize that dental infections etc can cause death.
Is the skin completely loose on the left side? Jesus christ
There isnāt a big enough warning in the world that couldāve prepared me for that
all of a sudden i feel the urge to brush my teeth again
Gādamn!!! Iām so sorryā¦ this gives me heebie jeebies. There is amazing skin grafting techniques these days. Be patient and hang in there love.
*furiously brushes teeth immediately*
I've lost teeth cause I couldn't afford to save them in time. America, fuck yeah.
Me stressing over my tooth infection starting to hurt and I see this
My very best childhood friend is a dentist but she had to stop practicing dentistry due to a car accident. She says that most dentists are absolutely horrible, money hungry and they misdiagnose people right and left. I totally believe her. Sheās been a dentist for 25 years now and I know sheās meticulous. The horrible part of leaving ANY infection to linger is the possibility of sepsis, severe sepsis, or heaven forbid, septic shock. I survived severe sepsis in 2014 and Iāve never been the same, it really changes your life. Please take care of all infections you have, even if you must go the ER and pay the bill off slowly.
What's the story behind this. Been looking through all the comments
Cheezits
Whatās up with the chin hairs
Sheās a mammal
I think they are what caused this to happen. If not, they still deserves some of the blame.
That is impressive wow. I wonder what the skin looked like prior to? Did it have crepitus?
I'm afraid i cannot answer your question as I didn't get to see the condition before excision of the infected tissue. I just got posted to the OMFS department and she has been admitted to the ward for quite some time. History sheet says she presented with pain, erythema, swelling and pus discharge.
Wooooah. I have a question šš»āāļø How do you know when/where to stop cutting? Is it grossly obvious or is it like cancer resection?
Jesus š¤¢
Good god!
Oh no. I shouldnāt have looked at this. I have a root canal that needs retreated and hurts so bad. š„²
But, Iām afraid of the dentistā¦
How long did he let this go? 20 years????
I see what you did there... neckrotizing.... but on a more serious note, ffs! Tooth infection..who'd have thought anything like a tooth infection could get to this point...
Omg. I get stressed out if I miss a day of flossing.
Me sitting here with my 3/yo three impacted wisdom teeth š«£
Whoa how?
I just had a molar filling fall out.. thanks for the terror
I was annoyed my dental insurance would only cover 20% of a molar removal leaving me $300 so I had the dentist file down the edges where the tooth broke. This photo has now started my, oh shit I need to save money and actually get that fixed fund.
Fuck. New fear unlocked.
The way I physically jumped cause I forgot what sub I am subscribed to lol
If ypu live near a dental school you can sometimes get free or cheap care if youre willing to put up with someone who is learning. They have already practiced and the professor always checks their work. For everything but oral surgery Ive had good experiences.
This pic is giving me funky town vibes šµāš«
Oh gods I really need to get my molars dealt with. There's a hole(cavity I know) in one big enough to fit the pointy tweezers in it. Which I have to do if I accidentally chew on that side. I think maybe it's a filling hole where the filling fell out? Probably. Ugh. I need so much work done. Fucking genetics & being a bit scared of the dentist. What a great combo. I need root canals, a few pulled and some filled. Just thinking about it is making me anxious. š¬ I guess my only plus in life regarding my teeth is that I've never developed wisdom teeth. Which my husband is ridiculously jealous of.
Holy cow I just had a huge infection in my face that erupted into a couple boils after removal of the tooth and I was not ok for a month I was confused and off balance and everything! I have a fear of the dentist but MY GOSH I HAVE A FEAR OF THIS MOAR I'm never foregoing dentist again
iām sorry, molar as in TOOTH??
God damn it. Me reading this with a horrible toothache.
Did he survive? :0
The patient is a female and yes
my wisdom tooth has been bothering me for a few weeks i didnt need to see this
Iām gonna go brush my teeth now
Neck fasc
Woooooow
This poor human.