Some will recall my tooth story told before, of having a serious abscess in an upper molar at age 19. Sent to an oral surgeon, as our trusted old Dentist, Dr. Ott, took Good Friday off, the "butcher" scheduled me for a Caldwell-Luc Operation. Horrible to imagine, my Mom was with me, as he described the procedure which would be performed in a few days. (Search that name, if you dare!). My Dad with his usual cautious way, called off the operation. I went to our old Dr. Ott, told him nothing of the encounter with the surgeon, and he explained the tooth could not be saved, extracted it with no trouble, and it healed normally. The butcher had told my Dad his son has a "tumor" in his jawbone! Anyhow, first tooth I ever lost. Sometime during my teen years, Dr. Ott had placed a huge filling in a lower molar, which encompassed half the volume of the tooth. Years later, it crumbled out. Add over twenty years of chewing on that tooth having half of it's inside exposed, about two weeks ago, it started to ache. I expected this but never thought it would last 20+ years. Knowing the pain could suddenly escalate to unbearable, I called a Dentist near our home, having not seen one out here in AZ yet. Today, he took a look. Surprise! The pain did NOT come from the bad molar, but rather a fairly OK-looking one next to it! X-Ray showed the tooth had a crack in it. Options were to extract it, leaving the old battered one in place, or remove them both. Surprised by his honesty, he recommended leaving it, as it might still serve painlessly for quite a long time yet. The extraction was rough. He seemed to use the drill an awful lot, but it turned out the tooth would not budge by pulling force alone. It wasn't drilling; he sawed the tooth in half, into the jawbone, and pulled some more. The pulling and twisting were quite painful despite the anesthetic, and he knew it. Finally the two roots let loose one at a time. His assistant told my wife & I it was one of the roughest extractions she had seen. An hour and a half in the chair! Process started at 2PM; it is now nearly 9PM, I have taken 2 of the Hydrocodone tablets he prescribed, and the pain is still hardly bearable. I told my wife 2 shots of whiskey help more than the opioid, but have not tested that idea, yet! At 75, I have now 28 teeth left; they remarked that is unusual by 75. Every single filling I have was put in by old Dr. Ott, perhaps two dozen or more, all done over 45 years ago, a testament to his ability, and my foolishness as a youth for constantly eating sugary candy bars! Now, the Hydrocodone. I am wondering how many of you still have lots of teeth left, and what experiences might you describe regarding tooth pain and control of it. I am hungry as can be, but cannot imagine chewing any food, much less swallowing it, so painful is it to move my jaw. Frank
Hydrocodone is okay if you can tolerate it and you don't take it for more than about 5 days. If the pain is unbearable in 5 days, I would advise calling the dentist for advice on how to proceed. He could probably do a nerve block that would give you at least temporary relief. I really don't remember how many teeth I have left, but I think I am missing 4 or 5 if you count 2 missing wisdom teeth. Except for the wisdom teeth, they were pulled during childhood. I haven't lost a tooth other than the wisdom teeth in 60 years, although I have had a few filled. How about ice cream, Jell-O, and milkshakes?
@Don Alaska I would say you are surely at least as fortunate as I, probably more so, regarding teeth. During the past hour, I prepared and ate two cheeseburger sandwiches on rye, despite my wife's opposition. The dental assistant had told me to be careful eating: no material containing particles which lodge in the opening left. Caution chewing & swallowing proved difficult: looking into the "hole" with a flashlight revealed no red, blood filled opening, as a few hours ago, but rather a white surface I mistakenly judged to be jawbone. Frightening. A light poke with a toothpick revealed that, despite careful eating (if I'm capable at all of such) white swiss cheese had filled the opening! No bleeding. Amazing! I am now flushing it out, 7 hours after surgery, with a mix of seltzer water "sweetened" with two jiggers of vodka. Can this be what it's like in Heaven? Frank
I feel that I am in the most perfect position to be regarding my dental needs. I have no pain and cavity free with no fillings in my teeth. Every single one is a little off white but still in wonderful working condition and have a mouth full of them provided that I remember to put them in before I leave the house. Seriously, like my dad and his dad, I had so many problems with them that extraction was the only cure for all of the pain I went through and no, except for a few home and OTC remedies, no opioids were included. Heck, even when I had the rest of them pulled, the VA gave me non-narcotics for the pain but I probably only took 2 or 3 because the pain after the fact was far better than before they were extracted.
My teeth are not in perfect condition but I still have most of them, and toothaches are rare. My medical plan doesn't pay for restorative or cosmetic dentistry and prices are through the roof. If I live long enough to have any major problems with them, removal is something that I might consider. As for pain relievers, I rarely take them, and have never taken any for dental problems. The only times that I can think of when pain relievers seemed necessary was when I had a strangulated hernia and they had me on a morphine drip while I was in the hospital for six weeks. That was probably the worst pain I have ever had, followed by the only other time that I used pain relievers, which was when I had gall bladder attacks, but that was for a very short time, as they removed my gall bladder. The few other times that I have tried pain relievers for less severe pains, they didn't seem to do much good, other to alter my thinking, and I didn't like that. I was delirious while on morphine. It didn't help that I confused the call button for the nurse with the button that increased my morphine drip. Wanting to go to the bathroom, I called for the nurse. No one came. I waited a reasonable amount of time, then called for the nurse again. No one came. After I did this a few times, the nurse finally came in. She asked me if the pain had gotten worse. When I told her no, she pointed out that my morphine drip was set at the maximum. When I thought I was calling the nurse, I was actually increasing my morphine drip. I hated that. I remember thinking that the characters from the Rugrats cartoon were evil and plotting something against me. Long after that, I would quickly click past the Rugrats when they were on. The evil bastards.
I have all of my bottom teeth. On top maybe four are mine. Ten years ago had to get a permanent bridge inserted on top. I can not wear dentures as I have too much bone loss. Last 18 years hsve spent much money on trying to maintain my teeth. I have and and still brush and floss religiously, but in my case it does not help much...according to hygentist- I just have the worse bacteria abd then genetics.
One of the dangers of patient self-medication, Ken, but generally patients require less meds when they are free to choose their own.
@Ken Anderson "I hated that. I remember thinking that the characters from the Rugrats cartoon were evil and plotting something against me. Long after that, I would quickly click past the Rugrats when they were on. The evil bastards." Close enough. In reality, outside of delirium, the evil plotters are two-legged rats all bound together by democratic voting. Frank
@Gloria Mitchell I have not heard of a permanent bridge before. My guess would be that between it and the natural gums, bacteria would be difficult to control. Do you gargle any kind of stuff? Wonder what was responsible for the bone loss. Osteoporosis? They say this is common in old-timers, and I thought being old might just make tooth removal easier; not so in my case! Oh, my. Another Hydrocodone this morning, dull throbbing ache, it actually helped for a few hours. Just keep taking care of those choppers, Glo! Frank
Smoking is main reason for bone loss.To which I am now six months free of that ! The bridge...they pulled the bad teeth..then but left a corner tooth on each side...then insert a glue and the bridge. Hee did excellent job...but after ten years beginning to show wear.
@Gloria Mitchell Good for you, for quitting! My utmost credit is always given for that feat. Ten years seems to be a magical number in Medicine: the doctors told my sister the usable life of her new artificial hip joint was about ten years. I think she died in about the 10th. year, of heart-related emphysema complications, having smoked her whole life. Frank
That's an ordeal Frank. I'm glad you found a good dentist it seems. All my silver amalgam fillings have been removed. I know I had one fall out when I had no dental insurance and was lucky it never bothered me until I had insurance and was able to go to the dentist. Speedy recovery.
@Kitty Carmel Our big problem in such a rurally vast county, is that insurors who cover the area are very few. In our case, I think there are only two. I have Humana, which means, of course, I must select a dentist who participates in their program: there are only two here. For my procedure, insurance paid only for one x-ray (3 were actually done), and that amounted to $20. Still, I think the cost was reasonable enough: $251 out of pocket. Frank
@Kitty Carmel Update now. 4th. day. When I got home after the tooth removal on Monday, I looked into the "hole". Seemed not what it should be. Other teeth pulled, a dark red mass of coagulated blood was all that could be seen. Instead, I saw little blood, and a ridge of white tooth or bone extending into the socket, which itself looked rather shallow. Today, the entire area where the tooth was is white. My nephew called to tell me it may be a "dry socket". I searched that only to come up with little conclusion. Does anyone know something about "dry tooth socket"? My wife does not think I should call the dentist (yet). Frank
I think you should call the dentist too. I believe a dry socket is a tooth extraction that does not heal properly. I once knew the details, but I am not what I once was--things are fuzzy. The dentist should be able to give you advice...that is what they get paid for.