My teeth hurt. A ton. I can’t sleep because of them. Normally, I don’t complain about pain. But this is just horrible.
I have a dentist appointment tomorrow (well, it’s today now) at 10 AM, but I can’t wait that long. I want relief now. I took some pain reliver earlier, but it did absolutely nothing. Fucking pills, never do any good.
My asshole dentist will probably yell at me for not brushing well enough. Guess what, buddy: I do. I have better dental hygiene habits than most people my age. I have an electric toothbrush and prescription toothpaste. I brush twice a day for two minutes each time (which is longer than it sounds). I don’t even eat that much candy or drink pop very often. I’m trying to prevent these cavities, okay? I don’t need you to rap my knuckles and scold me for being a bad girl.
I know I just had an appointment a month ago and had a cavity filled then. I realize how this is a bad thing to be coming back so soon. Don’t “tsk tsk” me, please. It’s really none of your business; just fill the damn things and quit bitching, or if you can’t do that, then get someone else.
(GQ within the Pit: Are some people more prone to cavities than others? I try hard as hell to keep my teeth clean, but it seems like every time I visit the dentist, I have one or two more cavities.)
I will go crazy if my teeth continue to hurt like this. All I want is to be free from pain so I can get a little sleep. Stupid teeth.
Yes, some people are far more prone to cavities than others. Some of this is genetic, some of it is habits (eating ice, for instance, can cause tiny stress fractures in your teeth) and some of it is environmental. People who get fluoride in their drinking water, or as a supplement, while they are young (from infancy til the time they’re about 6 years old, IIRC) tend to have far fewer cavities than those who don’t get this mineral. And some people are just lucky about this, my husband has had 3 cavities in his ENTIRE LIFE, and he guzzles pop and smokes and doesn’t brush his teeth nearly often enough. Sometimes life just isn’t fair.
It’s time to go load his cigarettes again.
Oh, and PLEASE don’t use any language but English on this message board. I’d scold you further, but I’m not sure that it would sink in right now, as toothaches can really consume all your attention.
Personal experience checking in–
I’ve never had a cavity in my life, and except for the smokes, my habits are about as bad as Lynn’s husband. On the other hand, several years ago my brother tried being as healthy as possible–brushed his teeth often, only ate healthy snacks, etc.–and ALWAYS had a cavity when he went to the dentist.
I sympathize, though, FireUnderpantsBoobs, I really do. Believe me, I don’t take it for granted my teeth are so good. Cavities suck–I wouldn’t want to wait for tomorrow either. Especially anticipating a visit like yours.
[sub]This makes me, what, the 3177th member of the ‘Gets Titillation From Writing FireUnderpantsBoobs’s Name’ Club?[/sub]
If you had an appointment only one month ago shouldn’t the dentist have already noticed the cavity that is hurting you now?
Or do these things grow that quickly??? :eek:
I usually have a tendency for cavities myself but a month seems very short in my opinion!
Maybe your dentist didn’t check very well last time?
Yes, some people have more cavity-prone teeth. My younger brother has never had a cavity in his life, and his oral hygiene is terrible. I, on the other hand, am a brusher and a flosser-a twice daily brusher and a once daily flosser(at minimum). I don’t go to the dentist as often as I should, I admit…but I go more than he does.
Guess who had root canals #4 & 5 yesterday? I swear, I hate my dentist.
Okay, okay, FireUnderPantsBoobs doesn’t need the torment, but still.
Sucka.
I’m thinking I should breed just to make sure my dental hy-genes continue. I’ve never had a cavity.
But then again, I also have an excellent hygiene routine, involving 2 min of brushing twice a day, and flossing after breakfast.
FWIW, my dad celebrated his 54th birthday by losing one of his milk teeth.
I don’t know what’s so great about my prescription toothpaste, either. I never read the label. Think I should’ve?
It turns out it’s a combination between a cavity (I’ve already had this tooth filled twice) and my wisdom teeth growing in. I’m going in for another look-see tomorrow, and then I get to go to an oral surgeon. My cavitied (like the adjective?) tooth was too small for a crown before, so they might have to pull it out, too.
The weird thing is that heat and cold don’t make the pain worse; neither does pressure. Anyway, I’m in a better mood if you all couldn’t tell, but I’m still kind of pissed off. At least the dentist didn’t yell at me like she normally does.
I don’t know what FUB’s is, but MINE is a toothpaste that’s available by prescription. It’s got too much fluoride in it to be sold over the counter, I think. I’m not sure. I have to floss, brush my teeth with regular toothpaste, rinse, then apply this stuff onto my teeth with my toothbrush, then wait for half an hour before I can drink or eat anything. It’s more of a home fluoride treatment gel than a tooth cleanser.
I brush my teeth like I should. I do the best I can.
But I have had uh…4 or 5 root canals, and more cavaties than I can count, and I’m only 19.
Life fucking sucks.
My husband on the other hand has never had a single fucking cavity in his fucking life. I’m feeling pretty bitter about that. I mean, seriously, he eats candy like a madman, he scarfs down icecream, he guzzles sodapop, he never brushes his teeth. The worse he hears at the dentists office is, “We should clean your teeth. You should brush more.”
His brother is the exact opposite. He brushed his teeth 3 times a day, always flossed, avoided sweets, and yet he’s had 2 root canals, various cavaties, teeth pulled, etc, and he’s not even 18 yet!
Is anyone else seeing a trend in this thread? Everyone with excellent dental hygiene gets a lot of cavities/ root canals, those with poor dental hygiene never have a problem. hhhmmm
What we need are some counter stories so I don’t get completely disillusioned with toothpaste.
Me? I’m pretty middle of the road. Average hygiene with a few cavities.
After a root canal and three caps, totaling nearly $2800.00, I decided to change my dental hygeine habits.
I now brush 2-3x per day, depending on how often I eat, and since I eat breakfast in my car invariably, I brush in my car. I brush for about ten minutes, with no toothpaste. I have my water bottle to rinse with. I have a floss holder and floss till it hurts. All of which is apparently pretty amusing to my fellow travelers, who all are laughing and pointing. I don’t care, since I started doing this, no more cavities, no more pain, no more big dental bills.
FUB, I don’t know if this is a good thing to do or not, butwhen I had my first root canal I took aspirin and jammed them between my cheek and gum close to where the tooth was. The aspirin dissolved slowly and tasted like toxic waste, but it seemed to help the pain. Or maybe it was just my imagination, or maybe the nasty taste overrided the pain. You have to use plain asprin so it will dissolve.
good luck!
b.[sub][sub]who is living proof that you don’t have to be born obsessive/compulsive, you can train yourself to be[/sub][/sub]
I knew someone who never ate sugar, brushed four times a day and saw his dentist every three months. This guy was insane on the subject of dental care.
Then one day as he was drinking his diet soda at a bar, he got into an argument with a drunk, wouldn’t back down, and said drunk picked up a board from the bar (the place was being renovated) and whacked the guy across the mouth with it. The emergency room doctor took over 100 pieces of tooth out of his mouth, and his jaw was broken in four places.
Never tried that, but these last two root canals weren’t anywhere near as bad as #3. #1 was a breeze, and #2, well, there was a bit of discomfort, but nothing unbearable. The problem with #3 was that I wasn’t numb before he started drilling/grinding. That set me off and I was tense and crying for the next three hours. Then the temporary crown was too high, and sent me into incredible pain every time my mouth closed, which made sleeping a nightmare and mostly impossible for a week…until I decided that this really wasn’t normal soreness afterwards and went back-they ground it down a little, and the pain was gone.
Now, the plan after I have the crowns put on these last two(should happen around the beginning of December) is to go in for a cleaning and full x-rays (before the first of the year) and set up a plan to get all this work done. Every bit of it-and I know there’s a lot. Find out how much my out of pocket expenses should be, and then set up a spending account from my paycheck for those expenses. Once everything that needs to be done is done (up to and including an orthodontist consultation and potential braces), my teeth will be checked and cleaned every six months. I’ve already stepped up to brushing every time I eat…dammit, I’m not going through this all again.
I’d throw in a “fuck” since this is the Pit, but I really don’t feel like it.
I look after my teeth now, as an adult, since my parents taught me almost no dental hygiene at all, and after about 25 or so fillings. My dentist once told me that the cause of my perennial cavities is my saliva - too acid, or something. So even with normal hygiene, I probably would have had cavities anyway. Bummer.
On top of being cavity-prone, I’m very hard to freeze. I had all but the last couple fillings done without my mouth being frozen. I had nothing to compare to, so I didn’t even know that fillings weren’t supposed to hurt that much. Then I changed dentists, and what a surprise! Fillings don’t have to be excruciating!
So now I have no dental plan and a mouth full of small cavities and a couple of root canals/crowns that are going to need looking after. Not only do I have a world of hurt to look forward to, but I get to pay huge bucks for it. <heavy sigh>
(Oh, Boobs, have you tried Ibuprofen for the pain? It is a specialized painkiller for teeth and muscular pain, and it might do some good.)
Right now I’m on Motrin (600-800 mg every 4 hours), which works for about forty minutes, then doesn’t work for forty minutes, then works again, etc.
My parents both have shitty teeth. My dad wore braces for 6 years (so did I) and his teeth went crooked afterwards (so did mine - I have a permanent bar on the back of my bottom teeth). My mom has had numerous root canals and gum surgery. Yuck. I can’t wait to find out what the future has in store.
I’m going to make this even worse for you, Fugazi. I never brushed or flossed when I was a kid; my dentist told my mother I had the dirtiest mouth he ever saw–but never a cavity. I started brushing and flossing after high school, and almost immediately started getting cavities.
Cavities suck–I wouldn’t want to wait for tomorrow either. Especially anticipating a visit like yours.