Friendly advice to younger Dopers

[tdn]

Kiddos, let an older Doper give you some friendly advice on a few matters:

Always look both ways before you cross the street.

Eat your vegetables.

Don't talk to strangers.

Make friends with Mr. Toothbrush. Brush every day, after every meal. Floss. See your dentist twice a year. Avoid sweets.

That way, you just might dodge the bullet of a dentist one day telling you that no, the $1800 you owe by next tomorrow is not the price of the entire implant procedure, just the price of the implant itself, i.e. a screw that you could pick up at a hardware store for 3 cents, but the extraction was an additional $500, and this doesn't include the cost of the crown for Og knows how much but probably another $800, and oh, by the way, that massive pain you have on the other side of your mouth is not a mere sensitive tooth, but total decay which needs a root canal like today, and that's another grand, and so sorry you can't chew at all, but we neglected to tell you about the other 7 cavities that need to be filled at $150-200 apiece, and your insurance only covers .000001% of all this work so you might have to sell a kidney to pay for all of this but we'd like the money now so how would you like to take care of it, and all the while you're having a hard time absorbing this avalanche of bad news all the while you're in MASSIVE FUCKING THROBBING PAIN.

Take this advice, and maybe your life will never have to suck the way mine does right now. Ouch!

[PinkMarabou]

I hope you feel better tdn.

And one more piece of dental advice, don't clench or grind your teeth. If you do, go get a night guard. You don't want to wake up one day (like I did) with your jaw locked shut or find yourself in an akward situation where your jaw is locked open. TMJ surgery is neither fun nor cheap and your jaws will never align normally again . . . plus you'll be in constant pain.

And yes, brush and floss everyday. Take care of those teeth if you want to keep them! I'm a teeth person and it's the first thing I look at in other people. Nothing is better than having a beautiful smile.

:D

[ShadiRoxan]

Ouch!

Sometimes I wonder why we bother with dental insurance. The "allowable costs" are no where near the actual costs. I'd like my insurance to point me to a dentist that just charges what they cover.

[Heckity]

Next week I go for my second bone graft as the first one disintegrated in fewer than five years - it held my $1200 screw that held the $1000 crown - which went into the garbage without so much as a faretheewell . .

So I'll pay another $800 for the graft, then $1200 for the screw and then $1000 for the crown - of which my fuckin' dental plan pays nuthin' nada zippidy do-da.

Apparently only 5% of all who have this done lose the graft . . . my chances of success return to 95% on this next shot at it . . .

So I'm ignoring all other dental issues until this is finished - I want to afford what I can't currently chew . . .

[tdn]

So I'll pay another $800 for the graft, then $1200 for the screw and then $1000 for the crown - of which my fuckin' dental plan pays nuthin' nada zippidy do-da.
Hold on--Where are getting screwed for only $1200? You sleeping with the hygienist or something?

[tdn]

I'm a teeth person and it's the first thing I look at in other people. Nothing is better than having a beautiful smile.
Great. Now I've got that going for me as well. :smack:

[Giraffe]

Friendly advice?? Ewwwwww...

Off to MPSIMS.

[tdn]

Off to MPSIMS.
Hmm. The mod says "MPSIMS", but the shooting pain in my mouth says "Pit."

[Giraffe]

Hmm. The mod says "MPSIMS", but the shooting pain in my mouth says "Pit."Are you sure it's not saying "thpit"?

:: crickets chirping ::

<Dr. Evil>
No? Nothing?
</Dr. Evil>

[Dung Beetle]

What a timely thread. I've just about talked myself into going back to the dentist, although I know the news will be bad.

[World Eater]

Holy shit, I'm in the club too. They pulled that same implant pricing trick on me too. I got 3 implants but now I cant afford the crowns, so I'm fucked. I feel for all of you.

[yojimbo]

but the extraction was an additional $500
:eek:

Does this mean getting a tooth pulled costs €500. It cost me €50 to get a tooth pulled just two weeks ago. The most I've ever paid is €120 and that was for a couple of fillings. That's just going to a private dentist BTW not through any socialised route. I then was able to claim back some of the cost through a scheme the Gov has set up.

Man oh man is that shit expensive over in the good old US.

Hope your mouth feels better soon.

[tdn]

It wasn't just an extraction, it was a bone graft as well. So I can sort of see the expense.

It's the $1800 screw that I can't justify.

[Improv Geek]

*pops another handful of skittles in his mouth and washes them down with a swig of Dr. pepper*

Yeah whatever

;)

[glee]

Move to the UK.

Discover the National Health Service!

[panache45]

Oh yeah. And if you have the misfortune to need a full upper denture, get the denture, and don't let them talk you into a full set of upper implants. You will probably need sinus grafts, on both sides, which have a much greater than 5% failure rate, then you'll need another pair of sinus grafts, then the implants (They open up your gums all the way around, and drill holes into your skull, and pound metal rods into the holes), then after many more months of "procedures" and many tens of thousands of dollars, the implants will rot in your mouth and have to be removed, costing a whole lot more thousands of dollars paid to the oral surgeon.

THEN THEY TELL YOU THAT AFTER EVERYTHING HEALS AND IF (IF!!!) THE BONE GROWS BACK, YOU CAN START THE ENTIRE "PROCEDURE" ALL FUCKING OVER AGAIN!!!

Of couse by now, you're a little smarter than you used to be, so you shell out a mere couple thousand more bucks for a fucking denture, which you should have gotten in the first place.

Meanwhile, my (former) dentist just bought a new boat.

So, younger Dopers, the moral of this story is:

Get off your ass and ENROLL IN A DENTAL SCHOOL.

[Hal Briston]

A girl I once dated: "You know, you have very nice teeth."
Me: "Thanks, I thought so too. It's a shame the guy I got 'em from was such a whiner about me taking them. That reminds me...if you ever feel like doing some random shoveling, please don't do it in my backyard."

Funny thing, that we didn't date for very long.

[SiouxChief]

Next week I go for my second bone graft as the first one disintegrated in fewer than five years - it held my $1200 screw that held the $1000 crown - which went into the garbage without so much as a faretheewell
I thought the whole point of the bone graft was that it helped grow actual, real bone around the implant. Is that not the case? How does the bone just disintegrate? Should I be drinking more milk?

What's the average failure rate for dental implants...anyone know?

[gardentraveler]

Lovely dental stuff... So, did you know I lost a crown today? And just now spit out another little piece of it while talking on the phone? Eeeeewww!

Guess where I'll be first thing tomorrow?

GT

[Lsura]

What a timely thread. I've just about talked myself into going back to the dentist, although I know the news will be bad.


Yeah, I know. And typically when I start going to the dentist, I end up spending $2,000 minimum depending on what my insurance covers and the like - which is why I then avoid them for a couple of years and start the cycle over again.

But I'm close to making an appointment, really.

[stretch]

Oh, yes, brush and floss. Don't grind your teeth or if you do get a nightguard and wear it. Wear it during the day if you have to. And try to find a good dentist that isn't too much older than you so s/he doesn't retire on you and leave you with a crappy dentist who just wants to talk you into expensive procedures that will cost you money and teeth.

Don't like going to a dentist? Well, that won't be a problem after they have to pull all of your teeth because of your neglect. Or be like me--take good care of your teeth and visit your dentist regularly, but lose them anyway because you inherited a tendency toward periodontal disease and put off getting a nightguard until it was too late to save them. I'm 38 and I had to have 5 upper teeth pulled last year, and am desperately trying to hold on to the rest (I anticipate losing at least 2 more upper teeth despite my efforts).

I go for cleanings and root planings every three months (I'm going tomorrow). Fortunately, they don't need to give me anything prior to the cleanings--instead she uses a topical gel to numb me up. I understand that some people need drugs or gas to be able to have their teeth cleaned--I hope it doesn't get that painful for me.

They do perio charting every year--that's when they measure how many millimeters deep the "pocket" around your tooth is until they hit bone. If you have good teeth and no perio problems, your charting would have lots of 1s and 2s. When they measured mine before yanking the 5 teeth, there was a lot of this: 9, 8, 9, 7, 6, 7, on my uppers. My lower teeth are in better shape--I only have a couple of 9s and the rest are 5 or less.

Today I went and did the final fitting on my permanent plate before they affix the acrylic teeth. They look...fake. And due to the fact that two of them are front teeth, I will have metal clamps that everyone can see when I smile. The lab did a good job of making them unobtrusive, but you can still see them. Next Wednesday, I get to pick up the finished plate. I can't wait, since I've broken one of the teeth off of my partial an average of once a week for the last 4 months and I'm tired of having to fix it.

Again, brush, floss, visit your dentist. Especially FLOSS. Did anyone ever explain the purpose of flossing to you? You think it's only to get popcorn hulls out of your teeth? You must floss to remove the plaque that builds up below the gumline and prevents the ligaments between your gum and tooth from staying attached/reattaching. Once they explained that to me, flossing became a much more important activity. Of course, seeing the x-rays showing all the bone loss may have had an impact as well.

I feel better now. Thanks, tdn, for loaning me your soapbox. :)

[Tabby_Cat]

I paid less than $100, for a government linked clinic, for my wisdom teeth. 'course, I ain't in 'merika. ;)

Seem to be born with good teeth, though, 23, and not a single filling. I never floss or use mouthwash, and I used to hate brushing my teeth when I was younger.. at least I try to take better care of them now, but I never did get the hang of flossing. :D

[stretch]

Seem to be born with good teeth, though, 23, and not a single filling. I never floss or use mouthwash, and I used to hate brushing my teeth when I was younger.. at least I try to take better care of them now, but I never did get the hang of flossing. :D
Oh, I have good teeth. The teeth are sound, with only a few fillings. I just have bad everything else. Flossing isn't just for your teeth, it's for your gums and jawbone. That's where my problems lie--my bones and a bad bite. The teeth themselves are the least of my problems.

I'll stop lecturing now. :)

[Mint Julep]

At 27 I have never had a cavity :D

And I date my dentist.

"He says I have the whitest teeth he has ever come across". lol

(Literally he tells me this-LOL)

[dare_devil007_]

Kiddos, let an older Doper give you some friendly advice on a few matters:

Always look both ways before you cross the street.

Eat your vegetables.

Don't talk to strangers.

Make friends with Mr. Toothbrush. Brush every day, after every meal. Floss. See your dentist twice a year. Avoid sweets.

That way, you just might dodge the bullet of a dentist one day telling you that no, the $1800 you owe by next tomorrow is not the price of the entire implant procedure, just the price of the implant itself, i.e. a screw that you could pick up at a hardware store for 3 cents, but the extraction was an additional $500, and this doesn't include the cost of the crown for Og knows how much but probably another $800, and oh, by the way, that massive pain you have on the other side of your mouth is not a mere sensitive tooth, but total decay which needs a root canal like today, and that's another grand, and so sorry you can't chew at all, but we neglected to tell you about the other 7 cavities that need to be filled at $150-200 apiece, and your insurance only covers .000001% of all this work so you might have to sell a kidney to pay for all of this but we'd like the money now so how would you like to take care of it, and all the while you're having a hard time absorbing this avalanche of bad news all the while you're in MASSIVE FUCKING THROBBING PAIN.

Take this advice, and maybe your life will never have to suck the way mine does right now. Ouch!

Thanks for the advice. I look forward to my life not sucking so much and I hope you feel better soon. :)

[ioioio]

. . . I'd like my insurance to point me to a dentist that just charges what they cover.
Believe me, you really don't want this. I was once so desperate that I went to a clinic that would do the work for the insurance payment. The place was filthy, the staff was extremely rude, and the dentist was incompetent and abusive. Either I didn't get enough novacaine or it was improperly administered, but at one point tears started streaming down my face from the pain, and the dentist threw a nasty little fit and left the room, saying he'd come back when I decided to cooperate.

[Angel of the Lord]

Don't have to tell me twice!

I'm 22 (well...almost 22). I've been going to the dentist regularly (twice a year) since I can remember. I had braces for two years. I do grind my teeth when I sleep...which is why I wear my nightguard every night. Fortunately, the night guard holds my teeth in place as well or better than my retainer, which I wore religiously for 8 and a half years, only stopping when I had my night guard. I very nearly am physically unable to not brush my teeth at the appropriate times.

No cavities. Perfectly straight teeth. My smile is awesome. It's SO worth it.

I don't get people who don't take care of their teeth to the extent that I do (I'm kind-of anal). This includes many close family members, including my husband. It's just completely alien to me. Is it, like, an inhereted or cultural thing? :confused:

[Tabby_Cat]

Believe me, you really don't want this. I was once so desperate that I went to a clinic that would do the work for the insurance payment. The place was filthy, the staff was extremely rude, and the dentist was incompetent and abusive. Either I didn't get enough novacaine or it was improperly administered, but at one point tears started streaming down my face from the pain, and the dentist threw a nasty little fit and left the room, saying he'd come back when I decided to cooperate.
Wow. That sounds really REALLY bad. Isn't there insurance that has a higher fixed limit, rather than "100% of what you shoulda paid"?