The Dentist

Jon

Administrator
Staff member
#1
A couple of days ago, I was chewing on some candy and the whole top part of my tooth sheered off. It doesn't actually hurt, but I do have a dental appointment tomorrow morning and I am worrying that he might need to yank my tooth out! my previous dentist has gone AWOL so I changed to a local one. They charge much lower prices than most local dentists, so I am concerned they might be butchers! But I figured I could put up with some short term excruciating pain in return for essentially free cappuccinos for a couple of months at my local cafe, with the money going there rather than to my dentist!

Maybe they can get away with a crown. Who knows.

Why is dentistry so damn painful?!
 

The_Doc_Man

Founding Member
#4
When the tooth splits off like that, it usually means you have been neglecting your enamel OR you have a liking for unusually hard candies. Do you grind your teeth at night?

The last time that happened to me, I ended up getting a crown. Other than getting a mouth injection for anesthesia to shape the remains of the tooth for the eventual crown, it wasn't that bad. Let's just hope you don't get THIS dentist.


By the way, in this little skit, Tim Conway broke up Harvey Corman SO badly that he wet his pants.
 

Jon

Administrator
Staff member
#5
It was a tooth that had a huge filling in, so it was weak. Then I finished it off with my chewy sweets!

I've seen the movie, The Dentist (I think it is called). A real nasty horror! Not for the squeamish.
 

Jon

Administrator
Staff member
#7
Thanks Doc. Had lots of drilling, which was wonderful. Getting a crown done. Felt pretty grotty afterwards but getting better a day later.
 

The_Doc_Man

Founding Member
#8
Yeah, I always hate drilling. My weird metabolism is such that ordinary Novocain just barely makes my gums feel warm. I need one of the modern synthetics like Neocaine or there are a couple of other "caines" that work for me. Good thing my dentist knows that the run-of-the-mill stuff doesn't work on me. Just one more way where I'm out of sync with the world.
 
#10
More effective. Based on cost, initially more expensive, but as time has passed, the costs are about the same now. But the profile is different as I understand it. More powerful but faster to wear off. And since they are considered stronger, they have a reduced limit on how many shots I can have in a session before the dentist has to stop. Fortunately, only once in memory did it ever get to the point of me feeling the drill even after getting the last jolt of juice. I told him to finish quickly and not waste time because it was only the beginnings of sensation returning. Usually he has about 20-30 minutes per injection but I had a day where two teeth needed composite fillings and that takes a little longer for the composite material to harden.
 
#12
Uncle G... you caught me.

But then, I have this congenital defect. I can't pass up an opportunity for a joke. If you have ever seen Who Framed Roger Rabbit and the "shave and a haircut" scene, it's like that.
 

Jon

Administrator
Staff member
#14
I had my return dental appointment today. Sat there, with my mouth wide open as the dentist happily drilled away on two fillings. Fortunately, the only pain was jaw ache from my perpetual yawn. I am glad that's over! Feel a bit shaken up!
 
#15
Yeah, I hate that feeling like something just jacked my jaws apart but I didn't feel it at the time. Similar to when you are out walking and step just a little bit awkwardly from or to a curb. You don't remember twisting the ankle, but it gets sore later.

You described the same kind of discomfort I get when my TMJ starts to act up.
 
#17
Tempero-Mandibular Joint syndrome based on the formal name of the jaw hinge on either side of the face, about an inch or two lower than and to the front of your ears. You might refer to that condition as "arthritis of the jawbone" - though in my case it might have been induced by accident rather than age. I can't know the cause with any certainty.

More than 35 years ago I was a passenger in a car-pool accident on our Interstate system (which I believe is equivalent to what you call "Queen's Highways", or at least that is what they called it when we were in Canada.) A piece of broken leaf spring from a big truck, steel about the size of an axe head but not sharpened, flipped up into the air after it was rolled over by another truck. It came through the windshield, bounced around in the car, and hit me three times - but tried to hit me FOUR times. It hit my metal-framed briefcase and left a dent in it, then ricocheted around to hit my hand, chest, and jaw. Since the briefcase was in my lap at the time, I'm glad it was steel-framed. That would have hurt a LOT, I'm sure.

My jaw wasn't broken from the impact but I had a concussion, a nasty bruise for a few days, and one side of my face was swollen. After the fact, I remembered that the other members of the car pool were telling me to stay with them, but things were a bit hazy. They went to an emergency room because the car was still drivable, and the driver's insurance covered it all. I had X-rays and other tests, but they found nothing that required further treatment. I went to my dentist later and he confirmed no broken teeth.

It is possible that the impact to the side of my jaw damaged that joint by misaligning it, which would lead to that condition. The effect is that sometimes my teeth don't align properly, leading to soreness and the inability to chew well. The treatment is called a night-guard or jaw splint, worn at night to help keep the jaw in proper alignment. It mostly works though there are a few moments when I wish it worked better.
 

Jon

Administrator
Staff member
#18
Blimey Doc, that could have killed you!

I think we have all had moments in our lives where life and death were merely the roll of the dice. I remember motoring along a dual carriageway and there was a car driving in the wrong direction in the fast lane. We were both probably doing about 55mph, so a closing speed of 110mph or so. It all happened so quickly. What at first seemed a dot in the distance became a head-on car within a second. Fortunately, they went up onto the grass to my right. I couldn't swerve to the left as there was a car there.

Was I shaken at all? Nope. To be honest, it all happened so quickly that my fight or flight system had no time to get into gear. I just shrugged my shoulders and carried on driving. But that is probably the closest I've come to death that I can recall.
 
Top