Do you have any Dental Health related Questions?

Ok, I have one. We just switched our dentist. Im a chiropractor and I thought it would be nice to support someone in our commercial building. I totally understand being proactive, but he took 14 xrays on my wife and said she has "5 or 6 cavities". That seemed odd. The number wasnt exact. You probably heard this before, but she hasnt had cavities in years, and has had 3 kids in the past 4 years. I may have a crappy picture of the problem area I can scan, so you can see.

 

I later found out that a friend of mine went to him growing up and she has been told she has "horrible teeth". Furthermore, her 4 year old had 10 cavities and a crown in 1 setting! I cant tell if these are all coincidental or if he wants people to have bad teeth.

 

What is your experience? Say there is a problem, how proactive should you be? Isnt there a point where drilling a "possible" cavity on xray may be more detrimental to long term tooth health?

 

If she does indeed has 6 cavities....we will get them fixed.

 

Here's my take on this. As a new patient for my office, I also take a full mouth series which means a shit load of X-rays! With all those X-rays, we dentist get to see a lot more. Also, I'm a dentist that strong believes in SHOWING my new patients what's going on! If I say BTW ma'am, you have 14 cavities, I will show her on her X-rays where those cavities are?

 

I first show my patients what a normal tooth looks like in their xrays then show them their cavity teeth so they can differentiate.

 

Some dentists don't even inform patients about small cavities so they say nothing to their patients, then those patients would come to my office for whatever reason and I end up informing them they have x number of cavities, they're like "I was just at my dentist and he didn't say anything?"

 

At that point, I tell them X-rays don't lie and I rather them know than not know. Cavity don't heal themselves so if you don't get them filled, they'll just get worse over years of time. Some smaller cavity, I would placed a "watch" on them and follow them every 6 months with a new X-ray usually during your 6month recall exam & cleaning.

 

When in doubt, get a second opinion and a third. Be aware, you go see 10 dentists, you'll get 10 different opinions & recommendations. I suggest you and your wife go to a dentist that you feel most comfortable on your initial visit.

 

I'd get them filled. Dentistry only gets more expensive if you wait.

This is really helpful and informative. Thanks for this thread!

Yea

 

No! I thought they do that if they have bad teeth to begin with! Damn!

Yes, a lot of them have porcelain veneers or crowns (TV news, movie stars, etc)

 

Yes they do. I destroy healthy teeth monthly due to cosmetic procedures! All goods and bads gone over, patients want a WHITE smile. 90% of the time, we do ZOOM first then new all-porcelain crowns or veneers to match the new whiteness. If zoom whiteness isn't white enough, then patients wants porcelain!

 

Soon I'll be pushing Carbon Fiber!!

 

I honestly thought people do that when they have bad teeth, I can not believe someone will willingly destroy healthy teeth just for the sake of looks! That's insane!

 

I am in for a set of carbon fibre ones!!

Of Course! I just want to make sure they think in the broadest possible terms and about many types of professions/careers and so I like to hear from all different types of people about their chosen field and whether or not they consider it a good profession to get into.

 

Can you recommend any dental insurance with is worth a shit?

 

My wife has had HUGE dental problems thus resulting in huge bills. Basically a Lambo in her mouth. Here is the back story and I am so frustrated. My wife is Filipino and when she was a kid she had 3 teeth pulled so that she could wear a partial, because it was cool. Anyway it misshaped her mouth over the years. As an adult she wore braces for awhile to try and straighten them out ($3000). While in the Philippines a dentist told her they could fix all of her teeth so they ground down all of her good teeth and put on the worst looking teeth you could ever imagine ($5000). They seriously looked like tic tacs. So the doctors over here had to remove them all. Then she had to have several procedures. 1 impacted tooth, 6 root canals, 7 implants, and every tooth top and bottom crowned (about $70K and counting). We just got back from the dentist this morning where they are looking at another implant.

 

I am just so frustrated.

Can you recommend any dental insurance with is worth a shit?

 

My wife has had HUGE dental problems thus resulting in huge bills. Basically a Lambo in her mouth. Here is the back story and I am so frustrated. My wife is Filipino and when she was a kid she had 3 teeth pulled so that she could wear a partial, because it was cool. Anyway it misshaped her mouth over the years. As an adult she wore braces for awhile to try and straighten them out ($3000). While in the Philippines a dentist told her they could fix all of her teeth so they ground down all of her good teeth and put on the worst looking teeth you could ever imagine ($5000). They seriously looked like tic tacs. So the doctors over here had to remove them all. Then she had to have several procedures. 1 impacted tooth, 6 root canals, 7 implants, and every tooth top and bottom crowned (about $70K and counting). We just got back from the dentist this morning where they are looking at another implant.

 

I am just so frustrated.

 

Dentistry is not cheap and you sound like a great husband to support your wife's oral health and smile!

 

Dental insurance is a bitch to get and their benefits always varies! Out of all my patients, the ones who has the best benefits are UPS employees and those with governmental jobs (no annual maximum). We can't just go buy a dental insurance policy anytime we want like medical health insurance so I'm not sure where you can find one. My patients without any dental insurances, we recommend them to look into:

 

CAREINGTON.COM

 

Careington is not a dental insurance, it is a discount plan. Your dental provider may or may not participate with Careington.

 

At this phase of the treatment, you definitely don't want to leave your dentist because he's been treating your wife. Not a bad idea to ask for a discount since you've spent so much with him already!?

 

What toothpaste/toothbrush do you recommend?

What toothpaste/toothbrush do you recommend?

Toothpaste, I don't care.

 

Toothbrush, I recommend Oral B 5000 electric brush!

 

It's awesome!

Toothpaste, I don't care.

 

Toothbrush, I recommend Oral B 5000 electric brush!

 

It's awesome!

 

 

You recommend it over the sonicare?

 

What about flossing vs. waterpik?

I love sonicare.

 

I recently went to a new dentist and right away she said I had a cavity.. Odd because last dentist told me my enamel is so thick I probably won't ever need to worry about cavities.

 

I told her not to do anything about it until next time I see her.

 

6 months later I go in for a check up and she says all is good. I asked her about the "cavity" she found last time and she says it seems to have gone away.

 

I decided to go to a new dentist and he says my teeth look great.

 

Was she just trying to get the money for drilling in my mouth? I have dealt with this with more than 1 dentist so I have been switching dentists. My newest dentist seems to be the best and most honest I have had so far.

My patients without any dental insurances, we recommend them to look into:

 

CAREINGTON.COM

 

Careington is not a dental insurance, it is a discount plan. Your dental provider may or may not participate with Careington.

Great thread Andy - THANKS! You answered my insurance question. We will lose our dental insurance in March due to change in employment situation. Our dentist said there is no "good insurance" and they didn't have a recommendation.

 

I will look into this recommendation.

 

My primary concern is the "catastrophic" events (crowns, root canals, etc).

 

One question: Is heredity a big factor in whether one has "good" teeth versus teeth prone to problems (assuming that good oral hygiene is practiced)?

 

It seems some people have "good teeth" meaning they aren't prone to problems. I know other people who seem to have one problem after another - even though they are really careful about oral hygiene. My Dad had great teeth - my Mom seems to have problems. I inherited Dad's (almost zero issues over my lifetime) and one sister inherited Mom's even though she is borderline obsessive about flossing/brushing.

First, this is awesome and thanks for answering our questions!

 

Question: When I tried zoom whitening I had a very sharp pain after a few minutes of the procedure. I immediately moved the machine away from my mouth, and waited for it to heal. I tried again, but after a couple minutes the pain returned. This was about 7 - 8 years ago. Will zoom ever be an option for me? Or should I just stick to whitening trays?

 

Thanks!

What about HBP? Went to the dentist the other day for a crown. They checked my BP ( had never done that before at the dentist). Because my diastolic number was above 100, she said I must go to the dr. and see them before returning. She said it was because of the numbing solution she was going to be using. Never experienced that before. Is that standard practice or just a skittish dentist, which I can understand since we live in a society that is infected by sueitis. Oh, it was a new dentist for me. Thanks !!!!

Ive got a mouth question. I'm in my second bout of antibiotic resistant strep in 6 months. Why do I keep getting this?

What about HBP? Went to the dentist the other day for a crown. They checked my BP ( had never done that before at the dentist). Because my diastolic number was above 100, she said I must go to the dr. and see them before returning. She said it was because of the numbing solution she was going to be using. Never experienced that before. Is that standard practice or just a skittish dentist, which I can understand since we live in a society that is infected by sueitis. Oh, it was a new dentist for me. Thanks !!!!

 

I can help answer this. Numbing medicine sometimes has adrenaline added to it to make it last longer and reduce bleeding at the site. The negative is that the adrenaline can raise heart rate and BP transiently. If your bp is already high this could cause a heart attack or stroke.

How many of your patients are colossal pussies (like me) and would really like you to fork over some drugs, or preferably just knock me out, for anything more involved than greeting the receptionist?

Great questions y'all! I'll answer them all tomorrow. It's 1:04 AM here in Eastern Time...

Great questions y'all! I'll answer them all tomorrow. It's 1:04 AM here in Eastern Time...

 

 

 

Typical dentist....

 

"Oh, it's 1am 2 days before Christmas so I have to get to bed and can't give all of you strangers any more free dental advice for the night".

 

Inconsiderate SOB's.

Thanks for the response! Here is another question....Many here may wonder....or should look.

 

Is there a special tool to clean tonsil crypts and be proactive against tonsilliths or halitosis?

I think it is really cool that you are doing this Andy! Classy all the way around!

Cool thread ToofDoc!

 

Just wanted to let you know I deserve to be in the dental/ortho/oral surgery HoF.....for doing all the hard stuff that the celebs and 'em skip.

 

Full orthodontic treatment from age 11 to 21.....you name it, I've had it. Braces were the least of it.....I had removable and non removable retainers (the non removable one needing a water pick to clean each night....disgusting!). I don't know the name of it.....it was a metal bar placed on the inside of my lower teeth, had that for several months. Also had that ghey wrap around thing you've probably seen on TV.....that connects with the stuff inside the mouth (fortunately that was night time only......not in public!!!). And lastly, early on in the process I had these tiny circular things (like washers) shoved in between my top incisors......holy s*** did that hurt for a young kid!!

 

I guess one of the cool things about all that ortho was the orthodontist himself had a cool office with lots of toys and puzzles and Sports Illustrateds and car magazines.

 

I "graduated" somewhere around age 21-22 but was left with removable retainers and told I should basically wear them the rest of my life otherwise teeth might shift, lol. It was a great day to finally be done with this stuff officially, but didn't enjoy the non definitive end. (I never really wore them since but never threw them out either btw)

 

All four wisdom teeth were pulled out in college. I did one side at a time, a year apart. Probably should have done all of them at once but probably was concerned about eating so did it that way. Did it with gas not anesthesia so I felt a lot more of the punishment. The week or so after each suckkked. Constant pain, and to be able to sleep through it was considered a gift. Besides the NY Knicks losing the '99 Finals in such painful fashion, I vividly remember the physical pain watching those games!

 

Meanwhile everybody else who has done it, it was such a great pain free time.

 

Also had some yellow coloration and puffiness on the cheek after each procedure.

 

So had a great decade following all of this until a cosmetic dentist noticed during a cleaning that I've had quite a bit of wear on my teeth from grinding. After some time I finally got a mouth guard to wear at night. I've been pretty good wearing it most of the week but still miss days.

 

I finally "treated" myself to Zoom last year. It was pretty nice but also a bit strange since the whiteness seemed to highlight imperfections better at the same time, LOL. Can never win.

 

I'm pretty happy now with some white strips and general cleanings. The extent of my real dental work is just one cavity my entire life, so I've had it easy in that regard.

 

If I never make it big, and the ADA is trying to come up with a "Who deserves a porcelain mouth?" giveaway.....think of me, bud.

I tried to message you a while ago and you quickly pointed me to my local dental professional. I understand why you did this, but I guess I finally have my shot to ask you.

 

I was working on a motorcycle and had a smaller 520 chain decide to become a set of braces. It hit the gums of my upper jaw and did some serious damage. Unfortunately I had to wait a good amount of time to have my cosmetic operation because it was inflamed and infected and the surgeon wanted me to pound antibiotics. Well, like Jpegs said, I love to smile and I couldn't bring myself to it. I had cracked broken teeth and felt like a damn meth head. I finally went in and I ended up getting 10 teeth replaced with crowns.

 

My question to you at the time was whether you would go with individual crowns or a solid upper piece?

 

In the end I went with the solid tray because A)I don't have to floss those teeth anymore (fcuking A it is great) and my surgeon said that it would have more draw when they were made and thus create tension on the posts to keep them in place.

 

Also, I can give you first hand knowledge that his assessment that oral surgeons do well. My operation lasted about 7 hours, and only had a total of 4 visits (surgery, placement, and two check ups) and it cost me around $28K.

 

Best

You recommend it over the sonicare?

 

What about flossing vs. waterpik?

Sonicare is good, but not the best.

 

We dental professionals like to believe brushing in circular motion is much more effective brushing than up and down motion. The fact you even brush is already a win, so which electric tooth brush you use is really irrelevant.

 

Waterpik is pretty amazing as well, but nothing beats the effectiveness of manual flossing. Again, the fact you do either or is amazing.

 

What about HBP? Went to the dentist the other day for a crown. They checked my BP ( had never done that before at the dentist). Because my diastolic number was above 100, she said I must go to the dr. and see them before returning. She said it was because of the numbing solution she was going to be using. Never experienced that before. Is that standard practice or just a skittish dentist, which I can understand since we live in a society that is infected by sueitis. Oh, it was a new dentist for me. Thanks !!!!

 

Since dentistry is part of medicine and your mouth is part of your body, high blood pressure is definitely something we monitor. Now, every dentists have their own level of comfort. Would I be concern about your 100 diastolic reading doing a crown, probably not! But I was to place an implant or extract three teeth, then I absolutely would postpone your visit. Getting your blood pressure checked by your physician is a good thing, so I'm glad your dentist found your abnormal readings.

 

Epinephrine in the Lidocaine in large amount can have vasoconstrictive effects in our cardiovascular system so your dentist was uncomfortable proceed with the visit. She definitely was leaning on the more cautious side.

 

Ive got a mouth question. I'm in my second bout of antibiotic resistant strep in 6 months. Why do I keep getting this?

 

This is interesting. We know this, the more antibiotic you take, the more chances of your bacteria in your body becoming IMMUNE to the medication. Bacterias evolve and alter their defense mechanism the more they're exposed to our medications. If you continue to take antibiotics over and over, then not only you may be creating "super bacteria", but also you allow fungus and virus over grow! "Good" bacteria keeps fungus and virus in check in our mouth when they're around in certain population, once you kill the "good" bacteria, then the "bad" bacteria, fungus, and virus will proliferate (over grow).

 

I recommend you meet with your dentist and physician and figure out the underlying condition and get your stop taking these strong antibiotics. Eating antibiotics all the time is no buono!

 

How many of your patients are colossal pussies (like me) and would really like you to fork over some drugs, or preferably just knock me out, for anything more involved than greeting the receptionist? icon_mrgreen.gif

 

Majority of my patients do not like coming to see me. 90% of those patients were experiences pain or infection and that was the only reason that got them into a dental office. Many asked to be put to sleep for FILLINGS, cleanings, and other general procedures. I tell them to take several shots prior to coming to me. A lot of dental offices now are doing away with Nitrous (laughing gas) and I only put patients to sleep with surgery procedures (extractions, jaw bone shavings, etc). I don't do oral sedatives either because those medication are hard to titrate or gauge when the desired effects will kick in. Often, the procedure is completed, only then the drug effects kicked in! Post-operatively I don't like my patient under those oral sedative effects because if something were to happen, was it the oral sedatives or something that I did?

 

Typical dentist....

 

"Oh, it's 1am 2 days before Christmas so I have to get to bed and can't give all of you strangers any more free dental advice for the night".

 

Inconsiderate SOB's.

 

Haha, I was way to tipsy to type when I came home last night! Hey, we all need our sleep right?

 

Great thread Andy - THANKS! You answered my insurance question. We will lose our dental insurance in March due to change in employment situation. Our dentist said there is no "good insurance" and they didn't have a recommendation.

 

I will look into this recommendation.

 

My primary concern is the "catastrophic" events (crowns, root canals, etc).

 

One question: Is heredity a big factor in whether one has "good" teeth versus teeth prone to problems (assuming that good oral hygiene is practiced)?

 

It seems some people have "good teeth" meaning they aren't prone to problems. I know other people who seem to have one problem after another - even though they are really careful about oral hygiene. My Dad had great teeth - my Mom seems to have problems. I inherited Dad's (almost zero issues over my lifetime) and one sister inherited Mom's even though she is borderline obsessive about flossing/brushing.

I like to believe a good or bad oral health has multi-factoral influences. Yes, genetics can have a play in it, but I don't believe it's much. By how you've described it, your sister has worse oral health then you, but both of you have the same genes from your father and mother. I also like to believe whether the dentist did a good job or not comes into play, how the individual patient compliance with dentistry, and the food/drink they consume and play a role as well.

 

If you end up signing up for CAREINGTON subscription, you'll receive huge benefit discount off of root canals, crowns, bridges, dentures....everything! Great alternative to dental insurance.

Cool thread ToofDoc!

 

Just wanted to let you know I deserve to be in the dental/ortho/oral surgery HoF.....for doing all the hard stuff that the celebs and 'em skip.

 

Full orthodontic treatment from age 11 to 21.....you name it, I've had it. Braces were the least of it.....I had removable and non removable retainers (the non removable one needing a water pick to clean each night....disgusting!). I don't know the name of it.....it was a metal bar placed on the inside of my lower teeth, had that for several months. Also had that ghey wrap around thing you've probably seen on TV.....that connects with the stuff inside the mouth (fortunately that was night time only......not in public!!!). And lastly, early on in the process I had these tiny circular things (like washers) shoved in between my top incisors......holy s*** did that hurt for a young kid!!

 

I guess one of the cool things about all that ortho was the orthodontist himself had a cool office with lots of toys and puzzles and Sports Illustrateds and car magazines.

 

I "graduated" somewhere around age 21-22 but was left with removable retainers and told I should basically wear them the rest of my life otherwise teeth might shift, lol. It was a great day to finally be done with this stuff officially, but didn't enjoy the non definitive end. (I never really wore them since but never threw them out either btw)

 

All four wisdom teeth were pulled out in college. I did one side at a time, a year apart. Probably should have done all of them at once but probably was concerned about eating so did it that way. Did it with gas not anesthesia so I felt a lot more of the punishment. The week or so after each suckkked. Constant pain, and to be able to sleep through it was considered a gift. Besides the NY Knicks losing the '99 Finals in such painful fashion, I vividly remember the physical pain watching those games!

 

Meanwhile everybody else who has done it, it was such a great pain free time.

 

Also had some yellow coloration and puffiness on the cheek after each procedure.

 

So had a great decade following all of this until a cosmetic dentist noticed during a cleaning that I've had quite a bit of wear on my teeth from grinding. After some time I finally got a mouth guard to wear at night. I've been pretty good wearing it most of the week but still miss days.

 

I finally "treated" myself to Zoom last year. It was pretty nice but also a bit strange since the whiteness seemed to highlight imperfections better at the same time, LOL. Can never win.

 

I'm pretty happy now with some white strips and general cleanings. The extent of my real dental work is just one cavity my entire life, so I've had it easy in that regard.

 

If I never make it big, and the ADA is trying to come up with a "Who deserves a porcelain mouth?" giveaway.....think of me, bud.

Man, you had the WORKS!!

 

I tried to message you a while ago and you quickly pointed me to my local dental professional. I understand why you did this, but I guess I finally have my shot to ask you.

 

I was working on a motorcycle and had a smaller 520 chain decide to become a set of braces. It hit the gums of my upper jaw and did some serious damage. Unfortunately I had to wait a good amount of time to have my cosmetic operation because it was inflamed and infected and the surgeon wanted me to pound antibiotics. Well, like Jpegs said, I love to smile and I couldn't bring myself to it. I had cracked broken teeth and felt like a damn meth head. I finally went in and I ended up getting 10 teeth replaced with crowns.

 

My question to you at the time was whether you would go with individual crowns or a solid upper piece?

 

In the end I went with the solid tray because A)I don't have to floss those teeth anymore (fcuking A it is great) and cool.gif my surgeon said that it would have more draw when they were made and thus create tension on the posts to keep them in place.

 

Also, I can give you first hand knowledge that his assessment that oral surgeons do well. My operation lasted about 7 hours, and only had a total of 4 visits (surgery, placement, and two check ups) and it cost me around $28K.

 

Best

 

Sounds like you got your smile back!! That's great! So you have implants retained denture? I have a lot of happy patients chose that route as well. It's a bit spendy, but the security of not have your teeth flying out of your mouth and be able to chew, it's worse every penny!