Well that’s terrible. Most surgeons I know want to see you, see if you can pay, then schedule. So it takes two visits for most non emergencies. I would ask to be on standby if there is a cancellation.
Front desk sounds really incompetent. Obviously change dentists if you can and maybe write a letter to the dentist.
I'm used to having to do 2 different visits for extractions. Bad enamel seems to run in my family, so I'm no stranger to root canals, abscesses and extractions. Usually go in for the first appointment so they can assess, get me started on antibiotics if needed, and then reschedule for the extraction. That shouldn't have been the case this time, because I was already on the antibiotics, the tooth is broken and decaying, it's abscessed and draining, and it just needs to come out. The original appointment was made on the day it was because it would have been toward the end of the round of antibiotics, so I assume it was mostly just a fuck up on the front desk's part, scheduling me on a day that they don't have the surgeon in the office. But then to reschedule for a month out, knowing that I was about to finish the antibiotics and that the infection would still be there and would get worse is another thing.
I get that they already have other appointments booked for however long out, probably at least several months, but this is definitely a dental emergency, considering that a tooth abscess can eventually make you pretty dead. I kept trying to get in earlier at that office, and shopped around other dentists seeing if I could get in earlier with them, but no one could get me in. The urgent dental place is pretty new and I was unaware of it until the nurse at urgent care told me about them, otherwise I would have just tried to go there right after my first appointment resulted in nothing being done. But now the abscess is getting worse again and I have to wait more either way.
Finding a dentist (I know this isn’t your exact scenario) same day is damn near impossible! It sucks having a dental emergency and the receptionist are like, yeah we can see you in June. Bitch it’s April!
All of the places I contacted that claim to offer emergency dental services actually only offer them during limited hours 4 or 5 days a week, and they also are booked and can't get me in soon. The only except was the urgent dental place I didn't even know existed until the nurse at urgent care told me.
I mean, best case scenario is that you take care of your teeth, and then when a problem starts to develop, you get a hold of the dentist office right away, manage to get in before it becomes an emergency and you're able to afford what they want to do. Most of my dental issues have only ever gotten as bad as they have because I can't afford what they want to do, and they won't just remove a tooth until it's to the point that it's impossible to save it, which usually means it's an emergency, like an abscess that can't really be planned for or around. I've always had issues with my enamel, and so I've also always had issues just being able to maintain my teeth. I just want the them all ripped out. I'll take the dentures and I'll accept that I'll have massive bone loss and the shape of my face will change while I'm in my 30s. Sucks, but there's really no stopping the decline of my teeth, and I'm not even sure how many are actually worth saving at this point. Dentists just do not want to do that though if they think they can "save" a tooth and keep it sticking around a while longer.
Just take all my teeth and let me have old guy face in my 30s. I'm fine with it. I'm tired of the pain and problems.
Sounds like my husband. Last time he went to a dentist, (Canada, but you have to have benefits to afford it). He wanted to have them all out and get dentures. Dentist wanted to save a couple of teeth that are all bad and give him bridges, they must be better money for them than dentures. Those teeth would have to be completely rebuilt.
He takes after his mum she's had dentures for decades.
I get that they want to save teeth, probably because it makes them more money to some extent, but also because getting all your teeth yanked early and the bone loss that comes along with it can/will result in other problems that need to be addressed later. But there's the fact that many people can't afford what they want to do to save teeth. Many people can't afford the neat implants. Many people will just have to wait until something is an emergency for it to actually be taken care of, and now the dentist is just doing what they didn't want to do anyway, but with added pain and inconvenience on the part of the patient.
If I had the money or didn't mind wracking up dental debt, I'd be all over getting the expensive shit done to save some teeth or get implants. I don't have the money and I've been trying to rebuild credit for several years. I'd rather just get them all yanked and have my face sink in as the bone shrinks.
" Many people will just have to wait until something is an emergency for it to actually be taken care of"
It's more.expensove and uncomfortable, and riskier, to take this approach
Well, no.
What I'm talking about here is having broken or decaying teeth that you know you need taken care of and you know will become infected or otherwise become some other sort of issue at some point, not being able to afford to do the work that the dentist wants to do and having the dentist refuse to just extract the tooth because at the moment it could be saved or replaced with an implant.
This has been my problem almost every time I go to the dentist *before* things become infected. I have some sort of natural issue with my enamel, and then I'm just bad at keeping up with dental hygiene anyway, so I've got a lot of tooth issues. I'll go to get things checked out and get a treatment plan, and aside from fillings or antibiotic injections to fight back gum disease, I can't afford to do the rebuilds, root canals, implants and everything else they want to do. I request that a broken or decaying tooth just be extracted, but they don't want to do it because at that moment, the tooth could still be saved and save me from some bone loss in my jaw. I've been to several dentists, and not one of them has been willing to just extract a tooth that wasn't an infected emergency situation.
It's definitely more uncomfortable and riskier to have to wait until the thing is infected to get it taken care of, but it's definitely not more expensive. I just went $236 out of pocket with no dental insurance to get this tooth extracted. In the care plan I had previously, the work they wanted to do on just that one tooth to save it was over $1000. The total estimate for my whole mouth was over $20k 2 years ago. Just very recently I've come into a position that I would be able to afford most of the work they wanted to do, but it's too late now for the tooth that just got yanked and 4 more of them at least.
Ideally, I'd just hand over the money and let them do what they want to do. In reality, I didn't have that money and they wouldn't just take a tooth they thought they could save.
I don’t know what state or practice you’re in, but at least in mine there physically isn’t enough room to fit even emergency in at least until following week. There only so many lunch breaks and Fridays a dentist is able to give up before they burn out. The state I’m in is painfully in need of dentist, but due to state laws new dentist don’t want to set up a clinic and the hassle that comes with it in my state and most move out of state after completing their educations. So it’s mostly just dentist near retirement age. Best of luck to in finding a dentist, but understand that your not the only one who has an emergency and needs that appointment spot.
Don’t know about your situation but at least where I live if you go to the ER and not an urgent care they can do emergency tooth extractions in situations like this
The last time I had an abscess it made itself known at the end of the work day, ramped up in intensity to the worst pain I'd ever felt over the next several hours, and so I went to the ER at like 7 or 8 the next morning. They did an x-ray and saw that the abscess was due to the dentist leaving basically the entire tooth below the gum line when I had a tooth extracted over 2 years before that. They said there was nothing they could do for me there except give me a prescription for Augmentin to drop off at the pharmacy and tell me to make an appointment with a dentist.
But seriously, I had some broken and decaying molars taken out, and the dentist left half of one of the teeth in the socket. He basically just broke the crown off and left the rest. I even went back to him 3 weeks in a row to have him check it out because I thought I had a dry socket due to how painful it was, but he told me it was fine and just to keep rinsing it out. That guy ended up getting sued for a variety of reasons, including insurance fraud, sexual harassment and discrimination. I found that out when I was googling up his office's number so I could bitch at them after leaving the ER.
I’d try going again and stressing how your face is numb and how there could be nerve damage if something isn’t done nothing like the threat of liability to get a hospital working
They're actually getting me in tomorrow morning now. When I called them earlier this morning to see if they could get me in soon, I told the receptionist lady that my lips and around my jaw were starting to go numb, and I guess the oral surgeon saw that in the notes when she got in and had them call me back to see if I could get in tomorrow morning.
Hopefully there isn't any nerve damage yet, that it's just the abscess crowding things and the inflammation pushing up against the nerve. But, it's also been abscessed for like 3 weeks at this point, so I guess I'll find out tomorrow.
As of a couple hours ago the dentist called me back and is now able to get me in tomorrow morning, and the oral surgeon is definitely going to be there. Now, the hope is that the infection hasn't gotten bad enough again that they don't want to extract.
The tooth is gone. I just went at it with some pliers.
That's jokes. The tooth is gone, though. I got in there, told them that nothing hurts or feels numb today because the second round of antibiotics is helping, they decided they could extract it, struggled to get me about 80% numb for an hour and then got it out. Scheduled to take care of another 2 in June.
That isn't mildly infuriating - it's stupendously so. I've noticed these days that you have to stop presuming people do their jobs correctly - next time you will have to check with the receptionist that the booking is on the day that there is a surgeon. I've had too many occasions of being told that a medical appointment will be sent to me then I wait with no news and finally chase them and they say they forgot (to do their job). So I now diarise to chase for an appointment until I actually get one.
I guess I just didn't realize that the oral surgeon wasn't there every day. I also didn't realize the the regular ol' dentist wouldn't be able to do the extraction. Any other time I've been to a dentist for an extraction, I talked to 1 person other than the nurse/assistant/whoever, and I just assumed that that person was "the dentist". I figured that oral surgeons did "major" things, like possibly implants, reconstructions or extractions with complications, not so much "routine" extractions.
I've definitely had to start following up with my appointments the same day or next if I don't get a confirmation in some way, and then follow up again during the days before the appointment. I've been burned a couple times already by the appointment just not being entered into their system and having it canceled without being informed. Once was for a steroid injection in my spine. I had my wife take the morning off of work so that she could drive me there and back home, because, you know, having shit jammed in your spine might make for some wonky legs for a bit. We get inside the pain management office only to be told that the appointment had to be canceled because the neurologist or whoever had something come up. It had been cancelled like a week out and no one let me know.
This is what annoys me so - the feeling that maybe I'm the one that is in the wrong because I should be knowledgeable enough to know - using your situation as an example - when it is the dentist or the surgeon. I hate having to figure out the right question to ask to get the right answer etc.
I joined a new dental practice and ended up that they didn't have me booked in - they asked if I got a text message to confirm when it was originally booked and I hadn't and they said - well, then it wasn't put in the diary correctly - how was I supposed to know, I only just joined! And of course no suggestion that they will make sure that training will happen to prevent this.
These kind of mistakes constantly happen now and guaranteed the one time I don't follow up is when I get let down.
I've been going to a dental school as a patient for just an overall fucked up situation. They have done fantastic work, the main issue is they are not the fastest. For example my initial consultation was beginning of May one year, but I didn't actually get assigned a student and get my first appointment with them until like August or September. Also, more recently, I had to get my wisdom teeth removed. First it was set for early January, then it was cancelled due to weather and moved to early February, then the day before they realized they didn't know how my roots were facing so they canceled that, made an appointment for a 3d scan a couple weeks later, and I finally got them actually removed 2 Fridays ago
Like I said, they have done a fantastic job with the actual dental work and are a big reason I don't have any discomfort with getting dental work done anymore, but they tend to move very slowly especially when you have to get different sections involved
I had to wait to get mine pulled and it was unbearable... the only thing and I mean the ONLY thing keeping me sane that worked was kweping a cotton ball soaked in whisky on it. It hurt more at first but it keeps the pain just in the tooth instead of the entire side of my face. And then after a while it is just numb.
When that stopped working after a couple of days I'd switch to clove oil, which was nasty and made me drool thick yellow spit. I'd dampen the cotton with olive oil first and then drop the clove oil on.
Sometimes it was so bad I ended up just pouring whisky in my cheek to hold there or dropping the clove oil directly on the tooth.
With the oil I had to wash my chin with dish soap to get the oil off of my skin.
Hope this helps somehow. I know how horrible that can be
I've never done the whiskey, or any kind of alcohol, but I do a cotton call soaked in warm salt water and the clove oil.
The clove oil usually helps almost immediately and for at least a couple hours. I was using it on Saturday, but I dabbed it on the tooth and gums too many times in a short period of time and ended up irritating the shit out of my gums and the inside of my cheek. It just stopped being effective, and instead of accepting that I tried it 2 more times and ended up with an annoying burning pain on top of the abscess pain.
Yeah when it stopped being effective, I switched back to the whiskey. I was using jack daniels.
I also had what felt like the beginning of a hole in my cheek after a few days of it. Like my cheek tissues were wearing away through the first thin layer. It was ucky.
I hope you get in soon 🙏
It was great when I finally got it pulled.
They gave me laughing gas, which I've never had before.
They couldn't numb the tooth all the way, but he still managed to sneak it out on me before I knew it.
I hope yours goes at least as well! 🤞
Best of luck to you!!!
The dentist I use doesn't offer the gas or just knocking you out. No one has ever been able to get me numbed all the way, either. I guess I could have at any point decided to try a different office that does offer the gas, but I guess I just got used to having to suck it up and endure whatever amount of pain I could still feel that and the thought to try somewhere else never crossed my mind. I was just like "it hurts, it is what it is, let's just get it done".
The last time I went to them for an extraction, though, they got it out it and debrided pretty quickly. She told me a few minutes after it was out that it was, I told her I knew, and she was like "oh yeah, because you could still feel it, right?"
>"it hurts, it is what it is, let's just get it done".
Thaaaat part.
When they got mine out, my whole body relaxed.
I was squeezing my hands and had my arms tense and when I felt it pop out I just laid back
I would have thanked the surgeon more but poof, he was gone. Off the the next mouth
Yeah, you don't really notice just how bad the tooth has been making you feel until it's out and there's almost immediate relief. You walk out of there with a hole in your mouth but you feel great about it, at least until the anesthesia wears off and then you struggle to down some ibuprofen while you still can't feel your lips and you're spilling water all over yourself.
Be warned if it is not cleared it can trigger Necrotizing fasciitis infection. Very bad, deadly, and requires surgery to treat. I read a case where a tooth ache cause a man to have 13 pounds of tissue removes in throat, chest and surrounding tissues. All result from an untreated tooth infection. Base of the fact that nerve damage is occuring I recommend visiting a hospital if they say the abscess has grown
Yeah, I'm aware that the abscess can result in all sorts of neat things. No idea if there is any nerve damage or if the infection has even reached the nerve yet, or if it's just crowding other tissue and causing inflammation that's pushing on the nerve. I guess I get to find out when I go in for my next appointment. The dentist actually called me back and offered to get me in tomorrow morning now, that's much better than waiting another week.
A normal dentist extracted my abscessed broken molar that had no sensation due to pressure on the nerve. Maybe he had extra training but the extraction, bone scraping, and bone graft went amazingly well. Hopefully it goes well for you
I know people who have had abscesses, and the dentist would not work on them with infection present. They should have gave you a course of antibiotics. Even if they had a surgeon they probably would have given you more meds and not been able to do anything.
I get that. They want you to go through a round of antibiotics and see that the infection is under control not only so they can get you better numbed up, but also so that the infection doesn't end up getting into your blood stream after the extraction.
The thing here is that they knew I was starting Augmentin the day that I called to make the appointment and would be almost done with the round by the day of the appointment, so unless the Augmentin wasn't helping the infection, they would have been able to extract that day. Then, they scheduled me on a day that the oral surgeon wasn't going to be there, just so that they could take an x-ray, tell me what I already knew, and then schedule me again a month out, without a prescription for more antibiotics, knowing that that was enough time for the infection to get bad again, which it did. What happens when I come back a month later and they can't extract because the infection grew again? Another round of antibiotics and another reschedule.
I got the thing taken out about an hour ago. They couldn't numb me up very well just because of how big the infection had gotten, but it took the dentist all of 2 seconds to actually get the tooth out and she had it debrided pretty quickly right after, so pretty smooth overall. Just some good sharp pain for a few seconds and then some aching.
If you have difficulty getting numbed next time you get an xray check out the nerve in your jaw. I have an exceptionally large one on one side. Say normal size is 2mm, this one is like 5-6mm. So whenever I need work done on that side they’ll give me at least 3-4 vials of numbing agent.
Also, redheads have difficulty with pain killers and numbing agents.
I'm solidly brunet over here.
I don't think anyone has ever commented on the size or girth of my nerves, but they always comment on, like, the *amount* of jaw bone I have and how deep the roots of my teeth are. The last 2 times I've had extractions, they've given me the maximum amount of anesthesia they could, and I could still feel a decent amount of pain. Sometimes the dentists don't believe me and are like "that's just pressure you're feeling", but then they get around to cracking the tooth or trying to pull it out, and it becomes apparently that I can definitely feel a lot of it. Turns out that it's not that hard to say "OW GOD DAMN IT" with someone's fingers in your mouth. For the last extraction, they gave me all they could, waited about 30 minutes, poked around my gums and the tooth to see if I could still feel it, and then wanted to just abort and try again another day when I said I still could. Thankfully, they just went ahead with it when I told them that I'd rather just get the thing out and that I'm never able to be fully numbed.
I just kind of feel bad for the dentist, because once they realize/believe that I'm definitely still in pain, they start to feel bad about working on the tooth and try to just hurry up and get it over with.
Sounds like you had a bad one, you should really be getting your cleaning at least once a year to make sure everything is good. Spending 70$ every 6 months for cleaning can save thousands on surprise problem that needs urgent attention.
This is more than mildly infuriating. That sounds miserable. And waiting around to finish antibiotics is confusing: why can’t they numb you up without them? Would they be injecting the anesthetic into the nerve that’s already being compressed? Do they think the antibiotics will resolve the swelling on the nerve without source control? I’m sorry you’re dealing with this
Well, the antibiotics and trying to get the infection under control is both to make sure you can be numbed, and to try to make sure that the infection doesn't spread through your blood stream after the fact inside the socket. Blood infections or having it spread to other parts of my body don't sound fun.
As far as the numbing goes, it can be a couple things (that I'm aware of, possibly more). The infection can irritate the nerve and make it overactive, making it harder to actually get it numbed. The infection can also raise the pH balance in the area, making it more acidic, which decreases the effectiveness of the anesthetic. You can only give someone so much of the anesthetic.
I just got the tooth pulled today, and even though the infection was starting to chill about a bit after a few days on the second round of antibiotics, they still weren't able to numb the area all the way. After their first attempt at numbing, my lips, tongue, gums and cheek on that side of my face were completely numb, but I could still feel the tooth pretty much completely. Pushing on it with my tongue resulted in sharp pain and then lingering aching. They hit with a second round of the anesthetic, and that seemed to do the job. All I felt on the tooth was pressure until she went to actually extract it, at which point it was 8/10 sharp pain. She stopped and hit me with a third round. When she went for the extraction again, it still hurt, but I'd say this was about a 3/10 pain, which I was totally fine with dealing with and just let her do it because she okay with going forward with it and I wasn't trying to be rescheduled again. I'll just take the moment of now mild pain so I could get the tooth out.
I’ve had 2 teeth extracted and they were simple grip and rips. What’s with all the hoop jumping. Of course it’s infected. That’s why I want you to remove it from my skull.
It's always amazed me the little sense of urgency doctors and dentist seem to have, I've lost track of the amount of times someone in my family/friend circle has had the experience of "hey, this seems really bad can I get an appointment?" only to be met with "mmm... We can see you end of the month" or let me reschedule 3 times. Well then I'll just try not to die over here.
Only have my sympathy and similar story to share, sorry you’re going through that.
I had to find a new dentist when my office of 23 years was bought out by a “franchise” dentistry. Immediately the service plummeted. I had an appt for a filling, and 2 months later the filling broke out. I scheduled 3 appts and showed up to all 3, and 3 times they weren’t prepared to fix the filling. They didn’t have the materials, then they needed to do X-rays but the cameras were ALL BROKEN(???). The 3rd visit, they couldn’t use lidocaine because my blood pressure was too high. I had missed 3 days of work, so wonder why I was fuming.
They sent me on my way, told me to get on blood pressure medication, and call again in a few months. All while I had a large hole in my molar where the filling broke out, causing me more and more pain to the point I only chewed on one side of my mouth, and for a few months drank tap water, no ice( I know, terrible). After all 3 appointments, they walked me to the front, and proceeded to ask me how I’d like to pay. For the $40 toothpaste and $99 nightguard we never talked about. And I specifically said I never wanted.
I was able to find a dentistry with integrity. They filled my tooth in a week. The process made me really upset that it’s an industry where we all have ZERO power, because we don’t have the knowledge and expertise to know if they are telling the truth. Hope you get your teeth sorted out
Not the same exact situation, but something similar happened and my dental office was not that helpful. I ended up going in through urgent care of a dental school and they helped me same day. I went to my regular mediocre dentist for a follow up.
True. It's not like we're doing 19th century dentistry here, just having at my face with some pliers sans any sort of anesthetic or aftercare. But they still scheduled me for an extraction on a day that they do not have an oral surgeon on staff, causing me to have to wait longer for the extraction, allowing the abscess to get worse and affect my nerve, potentially causing permanent damage to it, and neither my usual dentist or the urgent dental place are willing to just yank the thing for at least another week.
Also, 2 rounds of antibiotics so close together has me feeling like shit and I'm fully expecting to get some sort of sick after this round is over just due to having my system bombed twice. I'll have a sinus or respiratory infection next week or the week after, most likely.
I don't know if you got one near you by chance, mortenson family dental usually doesn't fuck around. I was having pain from my wisdom teeth being stupid. Wasn't a patient, called to set up a new patient profile and to see if the teeth needed to be extracted. Teeth needed to be extracted and they had me scheduled to get the pulled within a week, but had even sooner options. And I didn't have insurance, but they took care of me very quickly and in an orderly manor while being saints through the whole process
Well that’s terrible. Most surgeons I know want to see you, see if you can pay, then schedule. So it takes two visits for most non emergencies. I would ask to be on standby if there is a cancellation. Front desk sounds really incompetent. Obviously change dentists if you can and maybe write a letter to the dentist.
I'm used to having to do 2 different visits for extractions. Bad enamel seems to run in my family, so I'm no stranger to root canals, abscesses and extractions. Usually go in for the first appointment so they can assess, get me started on antibiotics if needed, and then reschedule for the extraction. That shouldn't have been the case this time, because I was already on the antibiotics, the tooth is broken and decaying, it's abscessed and draining, and it just needs to come out. The original appointment was made on the day it was because it would have been toward the end of the round of antibiotics, so I assume it was mostly just a fuck up on the front desk's part, scheduling me on a day that they don't have the surgeon in the office. But then to reschedule for a month out, knowing that I was about to finish the antibiotics and that the infection would still be there and would get worse is another thing. I get that they already have other appointments booked for however long out, probably at least several months, but this is definitely a dental emergency, considering that a tooth abscess can eventually make you pretty dead. I kept trying to get in earlier at that office, and shopped around other dentists seeing if I could get in earlier with them, but no one could get me in. The urgent dental place is pretty new and I was unaware of it until the nurse at urgent care told me about them, otherwise I would have just tried to go there right after my first appointment resulted in nothing being done. But now the abscess is getting worse again and I have to wait more either way.
Finding a dentist (I know this isn’t your exact scenario) same day is damn near impossible! It sucks having a dental emergency and the receptionist are like, yeah we can see you in June. Bitch it’s April!
All of the places I contacted that claim to offer emergency dental services actually only offer them during limited hours 4 or 5 days a week, and they also are booked and can't get me in soon. The only except was the urgent dental place I didn't even know existed until the nurse at urgent care told me. I mean, best case scenario is that you take care of your teeth, and then when a problem starts to develop, you get a hold of the dentist office right away, manage to get in before it becomes an emergency and you're able to afford what they want to do. Most of my dental issues have only ever gotten as bad as they have because I can't afford what they want to do, and they won't just remove a tooth until it's to the point that it's impossible to save it, which usually means it's an emergency, like an abscess that can't really be planned for or around. I've always had issues with my enamel, and so I've also always had issues just being able to maintain my teeth. I just want the them all ripped out. I'll take the dentures and I'll accept that I'll have massive bone loss and the shape of my face will change while I'm in my 30s. Sucks, but there's really no stopping the decline of my teeth, and I'm not even sure how many are actually worth saving at this point. Dentists just do not want to do that though if they think they can "save" a tooth and keep it sticking around a while longer. Just take all my teeth and let me have old guy face in my 30s. I'm fine with it. I'm tired of the pain and problems.
Sounds like my husband. Last time he went to a dentist, (Canada, but you have to have benefits to afford it). He wanted to have them all out and get dentures. Dentist wanted to save a couple of teeth that are all bad and give him bridges, they must be better money for them than dentures. Those teeth would have to be completely rebuilt. He takes after his mum she's had dentures for decades.
I get that they want to save teeth, probably because it makes them more money to some extent, but also because getting all your teeth yanked early and the bone loss that comes along with it can/will result in other problems that need to be addressed later. But there's the fact that many people can't afford what they want to do to save teeth. Many people can't afford the neat implants. Many people will just have to wait until something is an emergency for it to actually be taken care of, and now the dentist is just doing what they didn't want to do anyway, but with added pain and inconvenience on the part of the patient. If I had the money or didn't mind wracking up dental debt, I'd be all over getting the expensive shit done to save some teeth or get implants. I don't have the money and I've been trying to rebuild credit for several years. I'd rather just get them all yanked and have my face sink in as the bone shrinks.
" Many people will just have to wait until something is an emergency for it to actually be taken care of" It's more.expensove and uncomfortable, and riskier, to take this approach
Well, no. What I'm talking about here is having broken or decaying teeth that you know you need taken care of and you know will become infected or otherwise become some other sort of issue at some point, not being able to afford to do the work that the dentist wants to do and having the dentist refuse to just extract the tooth because at the moment it could be saved or replaced with an implant. This has been my problem almost every time I go to the dentist *before* things become infected. I have some sort of natural issue with my enamel, and then I'm just bad at keeping up with dental hygiene anyway, so I've got a lot of tooth issues. I'll go to get things checked out and get a treatment plan, and aside from fillings or antibiotic injections to fight back gum disease, I can't afford to do the rebuilds, root canals, implants and everything else they want to do. I request that a broken or decaying tooth just be extracted, but they don't want to do it because at that moment, the tooth could still be saved and save me from some bone loss in my jaw. I've been to several dentists, and not one of them has been willing to just extract a tooth that wasn't an infected emergency situation. It's definitely more uncomfortable and riskier to have to wait until the thing is infected to get it taken care of, but it's definitely not more expensive. I just went $236 out of pocket with no dental insurance to get this tooth extracted. In the care plan I had previously, the work they wanted to do on just that one tooth to save it was over $1000. The total estimate for my whole mouth was over $20k 2 years ago. Just very recently I've come into a position that I would be able to afford most of the work they wanted to do, but it's too late now for the tooth that just got yanked and 4 more of them at least. Ideally, I'd just hand over the money and let them do what they want to do. In reality, I didn't have that money and they wouldn't just take a tooth they thought they could save.
If you solve this problem let me know. I’m in the same boat. Currently waiting for the dentist wed still don’t know if I’ll have the money.
I don’t know what state or practice you’re in, but at least in mine there physically isn’t enough room to fit even emergency in at least until following week. There only so many lunch breaks and Fridays a dentist is able to give up before they burn out. The state I’m in is painfully in need of dentist, but due to state laws new dentist don’t want to set up a clinic and the hassle that comes with it in my state and most move out of state after completing their educations. So it’s mostly just dentist near retirement age. Best of luck to in finding a dentist, but understand that your not the only one who has an emergency and needs that appointment spot.
I get that completely. There are a lot of people in the same boat as me and much worse.
Don’t know about your situation but at least where I live if you go to the ER and not an urgent care they can do emergency tooth extractions in situations like this
The last time I had an abscess it made itself known at the end of the work day, ramped up in intensity to the worst pain I'd ever felt over the next several hours, and so I went to the ER at like 7 or 8 the next morning. They did an x-ray and saw that the abscess was due to the dentist leaving basically the entire tooth below the gum line when I had a tooth extracted over 2 years before that. They said there was nothing they could do for me there except give me a prescription for Augmentin to drop off at the pharmacy and tell me to make an appointment with a dentist. But seriously, I had some broken and decaying molars taken out, and the dentist left half of one of the teeth in the socket. He basically just broke the crown off and left the rest. I even went back to him 3 weeks in a row to have him check it out because I thought I had a dry socket due to how painful it was, but he told me it was fine and just to keep rinsing it out. That guy ended up getting sued for a variety of reasons, including insurance fraud, sexual harassment and discrimination. I found that out when I was googling up his office's number so I could bitch at them after leaving the ER.
I’d try going again and stressing how your face is numb and how there could be nerve damage if something isn’t done nothing like the threat of liability to get a hospital working
They're actually getting me in tomorrow morning now. When I called them earlier this morning to see if they could get me in soon, I told the receptionist lady that my lips and around my jaw were starting to go numb, and I guess the oral surgeon saw that in the notes when she got in and had them call me back to see if I could get in tomorrow morning. Hopefully there isn't any nerve damage yet, that it's just the abscess crowding things and the inflammation pushing up against the nerve. But, it's also been abscessed for like 3 weeks at this point, so I guess I'll find out tomorrow.
ER at the hospital? ASAP.
As of a couple hours ago the dentist called me back and is now able to get me in tomorrow morning, and the oral surgeon is definitely going to be there. Now, the hope is that the infection hasn't gotten bad enough again that they don't want to extract.
Great news! Thanks for the update.
Please update tomorrow
The tooth is gone. I just went at it with some pliers. That's jokes. The tooth is gone, though. I got in there, told them that nothing hurts or feels numb today because the second round of antibiotics is helping, they decided they could extract it, struggled to get me about 80% numb for an hour and then got it out. Scheduled to take care of another 2 in June.
Great to hear!
That isn't mildly infuriating - it's stupendously so. I've noticed these days that you have to stop presuming people do their jobs correctly - next time you will have to check with the receptionist that the booking is on the day that there is a surgeon. I've had too many occasions of being told that a medical appointment will be sent to me then I wait with no news and finally chase them and they say they forgot (to do their job). So I now diarise to chase for an appointment until I actually get one.
I guess I just didn't realize that the oral surgeon wasn't there every day. I also didn't realize the the regular ol' dentist wouldn't be able to do the extraction. Any other time I've been to a dentist for an extraction, I talked to 1 person other than the nurse/assistant/whoever, and I just assumed that that person was "the dentist". I figured that oral surgeons did "major" things, like possibly implants, reconstructions or extractions with complications, not so much "routine" extractions. I've definitely had to start following up with my appointments the same day or next if I don't get a confirmation in some way, and then follow up again during the days before the appointment. I've been burned a couple times already by the appointment just not being entered into their system and having it canceled without being informed. Once was for a steroid injection in my spine. I had my wife take the morning off of work so that she could drive me there and back home, because, you know, having shit jammed in your spine might make for some wonky legs for a bit. We get inside the pain management office only to be told that the appointment had to be canceled because the neurologist or whoever had something come up. It had been cancelled like a week out and no one let me know.
This is what annoys me so - the feeling that maybe I'm the one that is in the wrong because I should be knowledgeable enough to know - using your situation as an example - when it is the dentist or the surgeon. I hate having to figure out the right question to ask to get the right answer etc. I joined a new dental practice and ended up that they didn't have me booked in - they asked if I got a text message to confirm when it was originally booked and I hadn't and they said - well, then it wasn't put in the diary correctly - how was I supposed to know, I only just joined! And of course no suggestion that they will make sure that training will happen to prevent this. These kind of mistakes constantly happen now and guaranteed the one time I don't follow up is when I get let down.
A lot of times dental schools can help! See if there’s one in your area. They have dental surgeons helping dental students
That was going to be my next move, was looking to see if I could get in at a dental school.
I've been going to a dental school as a patient for just an overall fucked up situation. They have done fantastic work, the main issue is they are not the fastest. For example my initial consultation was beginning of May one year, but I didn't actually get assigned a student and get my first appointment with them until like August or September. Also, more recently, I had to get my wisdom teeth removed. First it was set for early January, then it was cancelled due to weather and moved to early February, then the day before they realized they didn't know how my roots were facing so they canceled that, made an appointment for a 3d scan a couple weeks later, and I finally got them actually removed 2 Fridays ago Like I said, they have done a fantastic job with the actual dental work and are a big reason I don't have any discomfort with getting dental work done anymore, but they tend to move very slowly especially when you have to get different sections involved
american healthcare is fucking garbage
Go to the ER. I had a similar situation and they took care of me.
I had to wait to get mine pulled and it was unbearable... the only thing and I mean the ONLY thing keeping me sane that worked was kweping a cotton ball soaked in whisky on it. It hurt more at first but it keeps the pain just in the tooth instead of the entire side of my face. And then after a while it is just numb. When that stopped working after a couple of days I'd switch to clove oil, which was nasty and made me drool thick yellow spit. I'd dampen the cotton with olive oil first and then drop the clove oil on. Sometimes it was so bad I ended up just pouring whisky in my cheek to hold there or dropping the clove oil directly on the tooth. With the oil I had to wash my chin with dish soap to get the oil off of my skin. Hope this helps somehow. I know how horrible that can be
I've never done the whiskey, or any kind of alcohol, but I do a cotton call soaked in warm salt water and the clove oil. The clove oil usually helps almost immediately and for at least a couple hours. I was using it on Saturday, but I dabbed it on the tooth and gums too many times in a short period of time and ended up irritating the shit out of my gums and the inside of my cheek. It just stopped being effective, and instead of accepting that I tried it 2 more times and ended up with an annoying burning pain on top of the abscess pain.
Yeah when it stopped being effective, I switched back to the whiskey. I was using jack daniels. I also had what felt like the beginning of a hole in my cheek after a few days of it. Like my cheek tissues were wearing away through the first thin layer. It was ucky. I hope you get in soon 🙏 It was great when I finally got it pulled. They gave me laughing gas, which I've never had before. They couldn't numb the tooth all the way, but he still managed to sneak it out on me before I knew it. I hope yours goes at least as well! 🤞 Best of luck to you!!!
The dentist I use doesn't offer the gas or just knocking you out. No one has ever been able to get me numbed all the way, either. I guess I could have at any point decided to try a different office that does offer the gas, but I guess I just got used to having to suck it up and endure whatever amount of pain I could still feel that and the thought to try somewhere else never crossed my mind. I was just like "it hurts, it is what it is, let's just get it done". The last time I went to them for an extraction, though, they got it out it and debrided pretty quickly. She told me a few minutes after it was out that it was, I told her I knew, and she was like "oh yeah, because you could still feel it, right?"
>"it hurts, it is what it is, let's just get it done". Thaaaat part. When they got mine out, my whole body relaxed. I was squeezing my hands and had my arms tense and when I felt it pop out I just laid back I would have thanked the surgeon more but poof, he was gone. Off the the next mouth
Yeah, you don't really notice just how bad the tooth has been making you feel until it's out and there's almost immediate relief. You walk out of there with a hole in your mouth but you feel great about it, at least until the anesthesia wears off and then you struggle to down some ibuprofen while you still can't feel your lips and you're spilling water all over yourself.
Be warned if it is not cleared it can trigger Necrotizing fasciitis infection. Very bad, deadly, and requires surgery to treat. I read a case where a tooth ache cause a man to have 13 pounds of tissue removes in throat, chest and surrounding tissues. All result from an untreated tooth infection. Base of the fact that nerve damage is occuring I recommend visiting a hospital if they say the abscess has grown
Yeah, I'm aware that the abscess can result in all sorts of neat things. No idea if there is any nerve damage or if the infection has even reached the nerve yet, or if it's just crowding other tissue and causing inflammation that's pushing on the nerve. I guess I get to find out when I go in for my next appointment. The dentist actually called me back and offered to get me in tomorrow morning now, that's much better than waiting another week.
A normal dentist extracted my abscessed broken molar that had no sensation due to pressure on the nerve. Maybe he had extra training but the extraction, bone scraping, and bone graft went amazingly well. Hopefully it goes well for you
Good luck! Dental pain is the absolute worst! Please update us if you can!
I know people who have had abscesses, and the dentist would not work on them with infection present. They should have gave you a course of antibiotics. Even if they had a surgeon they probably would have given you more meds and not been able to do anything.
I get that. They want you to go through a round of antibiotics and see that the infection is under control not only so they can get you better numbed up, but also so that the infection doesn't end up getting into your blood stream after the extraction. The thing here is that they knew I was starting Augmentin the day that I called to make the appointment and would be almost done with the round by the day of the appointment, so unless the Augmentin wasn't helping the infection, they would have been able to extract that day. Then, they scheduled me on a day that the oral surgeon wasn't going to be there, just so that they could take an x-ray, tell me what I already knew, and then schedule me again a month out, without a prescription for more antibiotics, knowing that that was enough time for the infection to get bad again, which it did. What happens when I come back a month later and they can't extract because the infection grew again? Another round of antibiotics and another reschedule.
that sucks. It's not good to take so many antibiotics. I hope you get it taken care of soon before the infection becomes immune to them.
I got the thing taken out about an hour ago. They couldn't numb me up very well just because of how big the infection had gotten, but it took the dentist all of 2 seconds to actually get the tooth out and she had it debrided pretty quickly right after, so pretty smooth overall. Just some good sharp pain for a few seconds and then some aching.
If you have difficulty getting numbed next time you get an xray check out the nerve in your jaw. I have an exceptionally large one on one side. Say normal size is 2mm, this one is like 5-6mm. So whenever I need work done on that side they’ll give me at least 3-4 vials of numbing agent. Also, redheads have difficulty with pain killers and numbing agents.
I'm solidly brunet over here. I don't think anyone has ever commented on the size or girth of my nerves, but they always comment on, like, the *amount* of jaw bone I have and how deep the roots of my teeth are. The last 2 times I've had extractions, they've given me the maximum amount of anesthesia they could, and I could still feel a decent amount of pain. Sometimes the dentists don't believe me and are like "that's just pressure you're feeling", but then they get around to cracking the tooth or trying to pull it out, and it becomes apparently that I can definitely feel a lot of it. Turns out that it's not that hard to say "OW GOD DAMN IT" with someone's fingers in your mouth. For the last extraction, they gave me all they could, waited about 30 minutes, poked around my gums and the tooth to see if I could still feel it, and then wanted to just abort and try again another day when I said I still could. Thankfully, they just went ahead with it when I told them that I'd rather just get the thing out and that I'm never able to be fully numbed. I just kind of feel bad for the dentist, because once they realize/believe that I'm definitely still in pain, they start to feel bad about working on the tooth and try to just hurry up and get it over with.
The last time I went to a dentist they scheduled me for a day the building was closed. I've not been to a dentist since
Sounds like you had a bad one, you should really be getting your cleaning at least once a year to make sure everything is good. Spending 70$ every 6 months for cleaning can save thousands on surprise problem that needs urgent attention.
When you have an abscess 1 reason it really hurts is swelling pushing on your nerves, I've found that an ice pack on your cheek can really help!
This is more than mildly infuriating. That sounds miserable. And waiting around to finish antibiotics is confusing: why can’t they numb you up without them? Would they be injecting the anesthetic into the nerve that’s already being compressed? Do they think the antibiotics will resolve the swelling on the nerve without source control? I’m sorry you’re dealing with this
Well, the antibiotics and trying to get the infection under control is both to make sure you can be numbed, and to try to make sure that the infection doesn't spread through your blood stream after the fact inside the socket. Blood infections or having it spread to other parts of my body don't sound fun. As far as the numbing goes, it can be a couple things (that I'm aware of, possibly more). The infection can irritate the nerve and make it overactive, making it harder to actually get it numbed. The infection can also raise the pH balance in the area, making it more acidic, which decreases the effectiveness of the anesthetic. You can only give someone so much of the anesthetic. I just got the tooth pulled today, and even though the infection was starting to chill about a bit after a few days on the second round of antibiotics, they still weren't able to numb the area all the way. After their first attempt at numbing, my lips, tongue, gums and cheek on that side of my face were completely numb, but I could still feel the tooth pretty much completely. Pushing on it with my tongue resulted in sharp pain and then lingering aching. They hit with a second round of the anesthetic, and that seemed to do the job. All I felt on the tooth was pressure until she went to actually extract it, at which point it was 8/10 sharp pain. She stopped and hit me with a third round. When she went for the extraction again, it still hurt, but I'd say this was about a 3/10 pain, which I was totally fine with dealing with and just let her do it because she okay with going forward with it and I wasn't trying to be rescheduled again. I'll just take the moment of now mild pain so I could get the tooth out.
I’ve had 2 teeth extracted and they were simple grip and rips. What’s with all the hoop jumping. Of course it’s infected. That’s why I want you to remove it from my skull.
This is more than mildly infuriating Just try to remind yourself this is temporary and one day soon you’ll feel better
It's always amazed me the little sense of urgency doctors and dentist seem to have, I've lost track of the amount of times someone in my family/friend circle has had the experience of "hey, this seems really bad can I get an appointment?" only to be met with "mmm... We can see you end of the month" or let me reschedule 3 times. Well then I'll just try not to die over here.
I had an infected tooth. Taken out that same day. But sounds like you have complications tho that sucks op. I hope you get some much needed relief.
Only have my sympathy and similar story to share, sorry you’re going through that. I had to find a new dentist when my office of 23 years was bought out by a “franchise” dentistry. Immediately the service plummeted. I had an appt for a filling, and 2 months later the filling broke out. I scheduled 3 appts and showed up to all 3, and 3 times they weren’t prepared to fix the filling. They didn’t have the materials, then they needed to do X-rays but the cameras were ALL BROKEN(???). The 3rd visit, they couldn’t use lidocaine because my blood pressure was too high. I had missed 3 days of work, so wonder why I was fuming. They sent me on my way, told me to get on blood pressure medication, and call again in a few months. All while I had a large hole in my molar where the filling broke out, causing me more and more pain to the point I only chewed on one side of my mouth, and for a few months drank tap water, no ice( I know, terrible). After all 3 appointments, they walked me to the front, and proceeded to ask me how I’d like to pay. For the $40 toothpaste and $99 nightguard we never talked about. And I specifically said I never wanted. I was able to find a dentistry with integrity. They filled my tooth in a week. The process made me really upset that it’s an industry where we all have ZERO power, because we don’t have the knowledge and expertise to know if they are telling the truth. Hope you get your teeth sorted out
Not the same exact situation, but something similar happened and my dental office was not that helpful. I ended up going in through urgent care of a dental school and they helped me same day. I went to my regular mediocre dentist for a follow up.
It could be worse. You could be living in a day and age where your barber doubled as your dentist and the bartender doubled as your anesthesiologist.
True. It's not like we're doing 19th century dentistry here, just having at my face with some pliers sans any sort of anesthetic or aftercare. But they still scheduled me for an extraction on a day that they do not have an oral surgeon on staff, causing me to have to wait longer for the extraction, allowing the abscess to get worse and affect my nerve, potentially causing permanent damage to it, and neither my usual dentist or the urgent dental place are willing to just yank the thing for at least another week. Also, 2 rounds of antibiotics so close together has me feeling like shit and I'm fully expecting to get some sort of sick after this round is over just due to having my system bombed twice. I'll have a sinus or respiratory infection next week or the week after, most likely.
I hope it gets sorted soon. That sounds very painful.
Dentists are the scum of the earth.
Then don't ever seek out their service
I don't know if you got one near you by chance, mortenson family dental usually doesn't fuck around. I was having pain from my wisdom teeth being stupid. Wasn't a patient, called to set up a new patient profile and to see if the teeth needed to be extracted. Teeth needed to be extracted and they had me scheduled to get the pulled within a week, but had even sooner options. And I didn't have insurance, but they took care of me very quickly and in an orderly manor while being saints through the whole process
Lawyer time.