I am in my 50’s and I have a lot of money invested in my mouth. I’m not sure how much more I am willing to spend. I have had a string of what I call bad dentists. Everything they do hurts me. They don’t believe me when I tell them I need more Novocain than others do and that it wears off quickly. They give me a shot and start drilling and wait for something to hurt to give me another shot. I stopped my dentist the other day when he was prepping a tooth for a bridge and I was crying, I was so mad. I asked him why everything hurts and why he is so stingy with the numbing agent. He seems unconcerned.
The cleanings hurt and my latest general dentist has led me to believe that it’s sensitivity. But that’s not what the endodontist is saying. I may need 4 more root canals in there and I’m in the process of getting a 2nd bridge. Why isn’t my regular dentist willing to explore why I’m in so much pain?
Most of the teeth I am in the process of fixing have been treated in the past. I’m paying for some of the same teeth over and over. I’m limited by the dentists in my insurance network, so I’m on the hunt once again.
So as I’m looking at $3500 to fix the latest problems, I wondered. When do I draw the line and just go with dentures? I think if I had known years ago what I was in store for, I may have gone that route.
My teeth are straight and look good when I smile, though I would love to have them whitened, but it’s out of the question with the sensitivity I have right now. I would love to keep my teeth, but all of my experiences are painful and expensive.
I have tried sedation dentistry where they give you something to calm the nerves, but it does nothing for the pain, which is the reason for the anxiety. I never had an issue with the dentist when I was younger, but in the last 15-20 years, it’s one bad experience after another.
I would love to hear about others’ experiences with these kinds of issues and what decisions you reached.
I don’t take crap from Dentists or assistants anymore. Yes, my front teeth are very sensitive. If you dare snap at me for flinching when you’ve been focusing on a tender spot for five minutes, I’m fucking done with you and will go somewhere else.
Years back I had a gum infection. Three rounds of antibiotics later, still there. Xray shows infected cyst. Oral surgery to peel back the gum and drill it out. 4th round of antibiotics, which I believe was the stuff they use on Anthrax. Kicked my ass. Infection remained. Tooth in question was a root canal job from 15 years previous. Had that tooth pulled. It literally exploded in a spray of tooth bits about 6" out of my mouth. 5th and final round of antibiotics, infection was gone.
A couple of years later, the tooth next to it split in half all the way through the roots, inside half/outside half split and had to be removed.
Which leaves me with a 2 tooth gap on that side. There was no way I could afford implants during that time frame and while I’m considering them, that’s $7k-$10k and I have other priorities.
Of course, when tooth on the other side went bad and took an hour and 5 doses of novocaine to violently extract :(, I got a bridge on that side because hey, I need at least one good chewing surface!
All those fillings, which turned into root canals, which turned into pulling teeth and bridges $$$$$…
…just made my dentist rich and gave me a LOT of pain! Dentists these days refuse to give pain medicine due to federal government hassles.
Anyway I had all my teeth pulled and NO MORE DENTIST VISITS for me! Yeaaaa! Also no more infections, no need for antibiotics, and no need for pain medicine (and the begging/hassles associated with it).
Do your bank account a favor and just have them pull all your teeth. Note I can eat a lot of soft foods with no dentures, hamburgers, mac and cheese, and even prime rib if I chop it up in very small pieces. But I can also stick in my dentures and eat a subway sandwich.
Note: When I was a kid, there was a neighbor kid who used to torture insects. He later became a dentist.
Hereabouts, dentists don’t pull teeth anymore. They send you to an oral-maxillary surgeon. I trust mine, he seems informative and competent and as far as I know, does excellent work. He has pulled two of my teeth. At my age (77) I just pull them, I don’t need to look like a movie star anymore. They’re both in back, so not all that conspicuous.
The last one, he recommended general anasthetic, I said it costs too much (thousand bucks), he said hell do it with local, but I won’t enjoy it and it won’t be any fun for him either. I was under for 30 minutes while he carefully dug around to avoid damaging an involved nerve, but damaged it a little anyway, and after three years, my lip is still numb there, but not painful, and I’m used to it and my speech is unaffected. I think my being asleep might have prolonged his patience, so he did a better job.
I live a short day’s drive from Mexican dentists, and I’ve seen their work on family members, and they are very, very good. But I don’t drive, so I just pay American prices for dental work under four figures, which is everything so far.
I don’t like to discuss this much but the OP’s circumstances are similar to my own. Before long I’ll have the rest of my teeth extracted. I went over the front end of a bicycle when I was 10 years old and have spent over half a century trying to keep some teeth in my head. It has not been worth the pain or the money. If you can afford implants you only need a few to hold dentures rigidly in place. Of course having your natural teeth is preferable, that is they are good teeth. Saving bad teeth is a waste of money and all too often leading to pain and suffering. Take the best care of your teeth that you can, but there is a point where they are not worth saving. You have to decide what that point is yourself, don’t count on the dentist to make that decision for you.
By any chance are you a redhead? According to the New York Times, redheads need more local painkillers and anesthesia than other people. This article specifically refers to dental work:
I am not a redhead, but that is an interesting article. I have not always been this sensitive to pain, and it seems to be tooth pain in particular. It started about 10-15 years ago, and I kept switching dentists to see if I could find one that believed me and would give me enough Novocain at the outset. I don’t care if my whole face is numb all day. I would pay extra for the shot. To have a drill touch a nerve that is not deadened is so painful and I’m a ball of nerves when I go to the dentist now.
I have a root canal Monday morning with the endodontist I saw for a second opinion. He wants to fix one thing at a time and see how much pain is alleviated, then work from there. I’m okay with that and it spreads out the cost.
Remember Carla from “Cheers?” While in the chair she reached over and got hold of the dentist’s “sensitive area”. “You hurt me, I hurt you. Got it?” Seemed to be effective.
Interesting. I had a friend go along with me to give blood and she had a terrible time and the staff mentioned that redheads have more issues with this. I had to bite my tongue and not blurt out that it wasn’t her natural hair color. :smack:
in some states theres a limit on how much Novocain you can get at one …in ca I think its 5 because that’s how many I had when a attempt for certain teeth to be pulled and I still felt it so he stopped gave me something for the swelling/infection to go down and tried again after 2 weeks
my latest soon to be is partly between their fault and mine they broke a tooth and put a false front on it that I broke off but makes it hurt is they glued the front to my gum and when it came off…so now I have 2 pieces of a tooth with no front that’s sensitive with the gum growing over …
and when I need a simple tooth extraction they wanna talk me into getting a 30k care credit card so they can do tons of stuff… I was like unless its getting stainless steel implants … hell no I know because of the way my braces were done my teeth are falling out in chunks…
With all the information and reviews about dental offices out there nowadays, you really should be able to find a dentist who can accommodate your issues and not hurt you. My dentist will test areas first with the air thingy and if I even look like I might flinch, he either waits longer for the numbing agent to to work, or he’ll do another injection - I’ve historically needed at least two and he will not touch me unless I signal I’m good to go. He always asks permission before even just regular exams that he does when I go in for my 6 month cleanings.
Fotunately, I’ve only had to deal with a few fillings and two caps due to bruxism and grinding my molars down to dentin because I didn’t get a mouth guard 10 years earlier than I did. My own dumb resistance, dentist really wanted me to start using the guard and I just wouldn’t buy it. Well, duh, a $500 guard or $3,000 of gold caps. Dentist knew best in that case!
So interesting that you should post this today. For years I said they should just pull all my teeth as every cavity became a root canal that then shattered and became a bridge. I had two dental implants and one came out five years after having bone grafts. I’ve spent tens of thousands on my teeth over the years.
Today I learned I’m going to have to have them all extracted. I’m not a candidate for either partial dentures or further implants due to gum disease and bone loss, so I don’t have a secure tooth to hook a partial on. Bless his heart the dentist acknowledged it isn’t my fault. It’s lousy genetics. I have a number of chronic auto-immune diseases and I have no idea whether that has any bearing on my present predicament.
I’m having a serious pity party right now. I’m only 60. All of my grandparents had all their own teeth into their nineties. My 89 year-old mother has had one root canal in her entire life. I don’t know whose genetics to blame - but I’m now certain I was put together with spare parts.
I’m sorry, Op, that you’re not being heard with the pain you feel. But if there’s any way to keep the teeth you have - do it. Thanks for letting me cry here - best of luck. By the way, I always take 600mg Ibuprofen before having any procedure - cleanings too - that may help you.
My mom lost most of her teeth by her mid-40’s. She said if she had known how much they were going to hurt at the end she would have had them out 10 years earlier.
I learned a couple things from her experience:
Take good care of your teeth
If your teeth go to hell, it’s more important to be able to eat and live without pain and infection than to have your natural teeth.
Mom’s health improved after she got the dentures properly fitted. A good set of dentures beats a mouth of broken, failing teeth. I work in a big box retail store, we get all ages, and I do mean all ages, coming in for denture supplies. Could be accident, disease, bad genes, birth defects - it’s not just the old. Lots more people have dentures than most folks realize. Don’t be ashamed for taking care of your health.
I had a dental hygienist that I liked but she had a baby and decided not to go back to work . A dental hygienist replace her and she looks like a lady wrestler , I am almost 70 yo and this new dental hygienist was pulling on chin to move my head closer to her and I told that hurts but she did it again . She was way too rough on me and I told the front deck I didn’t want to see that dental hygienist again. I was asked if she was too rough and I said “YES!” The next time I had my teeth cleaned that dental hygienist gave me a dirty look ! WTF ! I told her to stop pulling on my chin I have TMJ and head trauma and it doesn’t take a lot to hurt my head. I pay out of my pocket to have my teeth cleaned so I don’t take abuse at all .
I had a dentist one time drill on one of my front teeth, and even though he had supposedly numbed it, it hurt like hell. I told him this while he was working on it, and I was weeping from the pain, and all he would say was, “Well, it shouldn’t be hurting,” as he kept on drilling.
I’m older and wiser now. The dentist I go to listens and takes my word for it when I tell him I can feel what he’s doing. He will give me another shot and wait until it kicks in. I just had a dental implant and I never felt any pain during any part of it. One time I went to him for something-- I forget exactly what, maybe to replace an old crown that had self-destructed-- and part of the process was to put this spatula-like thing in my mouth with that dental play-doh on it to take an impression. That day I just couldn’t face it. I just couldn’t have that in my mouth. I stopped him and said, “I can’t do that today… sorry. Maybe another time.” He was 100% okay with that. I left and did come back a week or so later when I wasn’t feeling so fragile. (He didn’t charge me for that first visit.)
There are very sensitive dentists out there. YOU are the best authority on your own comfort and pain level. Keep looking for a dentist until you find one who believes that.
As for whether it’s time to give up on the expensive procedures, sorry, I don’t know about that. A tough decision.
That’s nuts. I’ve never had a hygienist touch anything on or near my face besides my lips and what’s in my mouth. They simply ask me to move my head toward or away from them, up or down. No touching required.
I buy denture cleaning tablets because it’s what the dentist recommended to clean the mouth guard I got to prevent bruxism-related tooth damage. My actual teeth are fine (so far), and I want to keep them that way.
(Not that this negates your point; just an anecdote.)
By the way, the first mouth guard was purchased from my dentist for like $800 (which I figured was still cheaper than pretty much any dental work). When it wore out, I bought a replacement for a whole lot less. It seems to work just fine so far.