Last Friday I had to say goodbye to my left canine tooth. I have generally healthy teeth, so this is the first adult tooth I’ve ever had pulled out. It wasn’t a bad experience as these things go, but even with good pain management, the freakout factor was high. I don’t want to see videos or pictures, but am still curious about something. Why does it seem like the dentist (or oral surgeon as in this case) has to lean just about his full body weight on the tooth, pushing this way and that, for a few minutes before first cracking the crown off and then digging out the root? I guess it’s actually pretty hard to pull out a tooth with a healthy root, is that it?
That’s really the part that bothered me, he was putting so much pressure I thought he’d break my jaw or something. I felt no pain but in my head (could only verbalize “ahhh!” with my mouth open) I was going “EWWW EWWWW EWWW!”
I guess I need to clarify my question. If the crown is going to crack off first, and the dentist has to then dig out (or drill out) the root, what is all that pushing and shoving with various instruments all about?
Not a Dentist, but I believe the idea is to loosen the tooth in the socket so it can be extracted without breaking into pieces. It doesn’t always work that way however.
Dentist here. Ideally of course one extracts the tooth in one piece not breaking the crown and digging the root out. Canines have very long roots can be as much as a 3 to 1 to crown ratio. The tooth is moved back and forth to expand the bone and sever the periodontal ligament. Just like taking a fencepost or tentpeg out or the ground if you’ve ever done that.
Just to mention that the canines are very strong teeth. As the dentist above mentions they have long roots. They are also located at the corners of the jaw and have more bone supporting them there. Remember that these were our distant ancestors weapons and eating tools, canine teeth evolved to be very strong.
Anyway, I hope you get an implant to replace that tooth. You could get a bridge across the adjoining teeth to keep your teeth from moving now that there’s an empty space but you’ll be a lot happier with an implant that will seem to you just like your real tooth.
Aaaccckkk! That sound has got to be the worst! I have only had wisdom teeth pulled, and I was knocked out for it. My worst memory is the awful taste of blood. It makes me nauseous just thinking of it. The after pain wasn’t bad, but I was in some serious pain before they were removed.
The whole thing has such a high squick factor that even with complete pain relief, if I’m conscious, I’m freaking out like I’m being tortured. The sounds, the taste, smell and feel of it. Ugh!
Yeth, the plan ith to get an implant. I currently have a temporary bridge that I’m getting uthed to. I’m good now, exthept for the memorieth… and looking forward to thomething thimilar when the implant hath to go in.
edited to add “dialect of speaking with a bridge”. LOL!
I’m not afraid of the dentist or dental work or anything, but Jesus Christ, I think this is the most I’ve gotten the heebie jeebies from a thread on this board since I joined :eek::eek::eek:
What was the rationale for pulling the tooth in the first place, if it was that firmly rooted, and left a hole that needs to be filled with an implant (ie, wasn’t pulled due to crowding)?
It was “one of those things”. My dentist said that it “resorbed”; somehow the crown disappeared until it was basically a hollow shell. One day the backside of the tooth just crumbled, leaving a giant cavity in the tooth. I had to eat carefully for a couple weeks to avoid snapping the rest of it off until I could get in to have it professionally yanked out. It was such a weird thing that my dentist immediately x-rayed all my teeth to see if this was a one-time thing or if they were all disintegrating. (It was a one-time thing.) It was very weird also because I get regular exams and this happened only since last year’s xray that showed no problems - rather sudden!
Wtf? I didn’t know that could happen. I pride myself in being on top of my dental care. I get regular cleanings and exams. I have only had one tooth filled, and 3 months of wisdom tooth mayhem. I am paranoid anyway. My next appt. Is in Jan., I am gonna be freaked out til then. Jesus why did I read this thread?
Excuse me while I go brush and floss.
Yeah, sorry. I had no idea it could happen, either. I mean people dream about their teeth crumbling and I thought that was just an anxiety dream. When it happened to me I did some Googling and discovered that it’s a thing that can happen. Even with good oral hygiene! My best guess is that I’m post-menopausal now so maybe I’m re-absorbing my body’s calcium. No idea and my dentist wasn’t able to speculate on the cause. I’m hitting the citrical chewables like they’re candy, though!
Teeth can degrade under a crown and it can be difficult to detect with an XRay. My experience and what I’ve heard form others indicates that crowns and bridges typically last at least 25 years with decent care. Sometimes they last much longer, sometimes less even with the best dental hygiene. Dentists told me I had a problem from a strong bite, coupled with most of my teeth being dead, so they’ll tend to degrade faster. Unfortunately I had to have a lot of work done when I was young so I had a lot of stuff starting to fail in my 40s and 50s. Implants are definitely the way to go.
Tooth extraction is really creepy. I have a small mouth and apparently all of them were just not going to fit. So I had four taken out with local before I got my braces, and they only cracked one, but my dentist was sweating bullets after the first one - I don’t think I’ve ever seen a medical person work so hard.
I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth out for the same reason when they finally came in, and they put me under for that one, thank heavens. I still remember the sound of the one that cracked. I was numbed within an inch of my life but I felt that snap all the way down to my toes.
There’s a Jewish saying that “For every child she has, a mother loses a tooth.” Maybe this used to be more common before prenatal vitamins, and a pregnant tended to reabsorb a tooth every pregnancy for the calcium. Jewish women wouldn’t be drinking a lot of milk, or eating cheese and yogurt, because of the milk-meat thing. Prenatal vitamins are chock-full of Calcium and folic acid.
Anyway, sorry about your tooth. Glad you can at least get it taken care of what seems like right away. I hope the implant works out and looks good,
In Navy boot camp they extracted the wisdom teeth from any recruits who were destined for submarines–a policy aimed at avoiding wisdom tooth issues while the boat is submerged where it ought not be. I was likely going to submarines, so I got the treatment.
I arrived in sick bay and stood in line with about 40 other guys, and the line moved at the most unpleasantly quick pace. In two minutes it was my turn. The dentist reached for a syringe, gave me several injections, and then in one single motion he set down the syringe and grabbed for the extraction pliers :eek:
I was used to sitting in the dentist chair for a while reading comic books while the Novocain set in, so that really freaked me out. It turned out that this was not Novocain, and I felt nothing–they obviously used different stuff for expediency. I was done in 2 minutes.
Ugh, the shots in the mouth are the worst in terms of pain during the procedure. They start me on the path to freaking out. Someone needs to invent a different kind of anesthesia for dental work. I even got nitrous for this procedure before the shots and it only calmed me a little. I was still “ow! ow! OW!”
Ligaments are nature’s way of attaching bones to bones (or cartilage). Ligaments are what keep your teeth in place. Stop and think about it…why don’t your teeth just fall out? They basically just sit in sockets in your jaws.
I’m not trying to be funny. A lot of people never think about what it is that holds their teeth in place.
