[fostermom]

I am a child of the '70s. Back then, if you had a cavity, the dentist drilled almost all of your tooth away and filled it with fillings. This weakened my molars, where all of my cavities were. Add in tooth grinding back in the days of super stress, and along come fractured and then broken teeth.

I have had two crowns so far for broken molars and one tooth that the dentist repaired. 6 years later, the repaired tooth broke again today. They can't get me in until Thursday. Here's where I am throwing a silly pity party for myself. The tooth itself doesn't hurt, but there are jagged edges and my tongue keeps getting scraped and it's annoying (and uncomfortable)!

Can anyone give me an "awwwwww, poor fostermom. Suck it up already!"? I need that kick in the pants!

 

[Ninde'Gold]

I had a filling fall out, which left a giant hole and broken tooth.... a couple of years ago I finally got sick of it so I pulled it out using nothing but my hand.... :lol:

I do feel ya...you'll be okay

 

[GoldensGirl]

Ouch! Been there and it hurts badly. Something similar happened to me when I was on a flight to Italy for a conference and broke two teeth. Orthodontic wax, sold in drug stores for a dollar or two, will help. It will stick to your broken tooth and help to protect your tongue from the sharp edges.

Hang in there!

 

[Loboto-Me]

Awww, but you don't have to suck it up. Have you gone to the drug store in the dental department? They sell a sort of wax to temporarily cover these types of mishaps. Just ask the pharmacist, and s/he should get it for you. That way, at least your tongue won't get irritated until you see your dentist.

Edit:
I guess you already know about the wax LOL? I should have read further and seen that Lucy divulged the secret heheheh!

 

[fostermom]

I called the dentist and that's what they suggested. Since I was at work, I asked my husband to go to Walgreens to find some wax. They didn't have it. I'll try CVS or Walmart on my way to work tomorrow. Thanks for the suggestions, though! I hope I can find some. Or else, to the relief of many people, I will have to stop talking tomorrow to keep my tongue from hitting the jagged edges. LOL

 

[fostermom]

I had a filling fall out, which left a giant hole and broken tooth.... a couple of years ago I finally got sick of it so I pulled it out using nothing but my hand.... :lol:

I do feel ya...you'll be okay

Ouch! My husband did the same thing, except he was on pain medication at the time so it didn't hurt. It was more of an obsession for him.

 

[Oaklys Dad]

I have the same thing going on right now. I went down in my shop and pulled out my Dremel and sanded off the sharp bits.

 

[Ninde'Gold]

Ouch! My husband did the same thing, except he was on pain medication at the time so it didn't hurt. It was more of an obsession for him.

I was at a burger place (A&W to be exact but I don't think they exist in the US... kinda like Mcdonalds lol)

It didn't hurt AT ALL. I think all the nerves and stuff were dead. Now there's just a tiny bit of tooth poking through my gums but it doesn't bother me. Its way better now then having a huge hole that food kept getting stuck in LOL.

 

[Dallas Gold]

I'm sorry! May I join your pity party too? It's ironic. I went to get my teeth cleaned earlier this week at my new dentist's office. My former dentist never took a full set of x-rays on me (why? I have no clue) and this dentist thought it was important so he could examine the roots, etc. As he was going over them with me he was commenting how good the roots looked and how healthy, etc. then all of the sudden he went "uh, oh, I need to examine tooth 31 (a molar). I also had one of those 70s fillings and it's decaying and the tooth is cracked. Long story short, I'm getting a crown early next year. Ugh. At least the old mercury filling will be removed.

 

[Florabora22]

Ugh, dental work... I hate it. I'm sorry you're going through this.

 

[Megora]

*staring in horror at Ninde Gold* Is that Canadian health care?

@Fostermom - wait a couple days. Once your tongue gets bored of poking the tooth, you'll forget about the cavity. I've gone months with crater sized holes in my teeth. In fact, I have a jagged temporary filling in my one tooth (the one that just had a root canal) that's waiting very patiently for January. Which is when I get my seventh crown put on.

The only concern I'd have is if you are a daily gum chewer and a nocturnal tooth grinder (like me). In which case, you probably will be breaking off more and more pieces of tooth and risking abcess.

^ I was born after the 70's, but I have my mom's teeth. During my teens it was not unusual for me to come away from teeth cleanings with 10-20 cavities. My mom had all her teeth crowned by the time she was 20..

 

[Ninde'Gold]

LOL, no... I just have a HUGE fear of dentists... I haven't been since I was a kid.

The dentist I had went to give me a filling and stuck his needle into my TONGUE which hurt like hell, then stabbed it into my gums.... gave me a filling and sent me on my way.

I drooled for like 24 hours straight.

Dentists are horrible people.

 

[Megora]

Dentists are nice people.

I used to really DREAD the needle poke.... but they now numb the gums before they poke. No pain.

 

[fostermom]

I have the same thing going on right now. I went down in my shop and pulled out my Dremel and sanded off the sharp bits.

Yikes! No way, no how! Not only is my dremel used for the dogs' nails, I am worried that it would hurt to do that. LOL

Dallas Gold, I don't know which I'd rather do, a fix or a crown. The crowns I have have lasted for years and I don't have to worry about them coming off (I hope) like this fixed one did. I do have a good dentist, thankfully and since this was a previous repair, there's no way they could see that it was going happen. And yes, I chew entirely too much gum. A habit I started when I quit smoking.

 

[Debles]

Had the same thing happen three weeks ago. My tooth broke off and I now have a crown but it hurts like Hell when I eat and after. So going in on Thursday to have my bite checked. I sure hope I don't need a root canal!

Sending you good thoughts. Dental work sucks.. I need nitrous when I have most stuff done.

 

[fostermom]

Had the same thing happen three weeks ago. My tooth broke off and I now have a crown but it hurts like Hell when I eat and after. So going in on Thursday to have my bite checked. I sure hope I don't need a root canal!

Sending you good thoughts. Dental work sucks.. I need nitrous when I have most stuff done.

Ouch! I hope you get it fixed. I never have had pain after a crown. My dentist doesn't use laughing gas (darn him! I love laughing gas.). I hope you get it fixed soon!

 

[lgnutah]

Just about all of my molars have gigantor mercury fillings (and I have the amalgam tatoos-the dark color has bled into my gums as well) that were put in during my candy eating days (1960's)
That dentist must have done pretty good work, because they are pretty sound. I am not so sure about my present dentist.
When he worked on two already filled molars, both times I ended up needing a crown or a root canal and a crown. I think he was not skillfull (he said the teeth were weak because they already had so much filled).
Whatever, I ended up spending lots of money----and the one tooth had a pain sensation for a year after the root canal (I still hear a high pitched tone when I bite down hard on that tooth!)

 

[Dallas Gold]

To anyone who doesn't like dentists, keep on searching! I had a great dentist as a child, he retired, switched to another fabulous dentist, who retired, then went to a dentist recommended by my neighbor. He is/was not so good IMO--failed to do the routine x-rays to check roots, talked me into take my old 25 year old veneers off for new ones, even though conventional wisdom is if your patient has enamel discoloration due to tetracycline staining as a child, you don't ever replace veneers but go with crowns. When my new veneers started popping off eating things like cooked oatmeal and strawberries, I started second guessing his talents. When one veneer fell off 3 times in 10 days I did some research, found a prosthodontist and got a second opinion. He gave me the bad news, and we ended up taking all the veneers off and going with crowns. While he was at it he improved my bite. His dental hygienist has been with him for almost 20 years as an employee, not an independent contractor and the entire staff is very knowledgeable. It turns out the former dentist wasn't even a member of the local county dental societies.

The other good sign that I found a better fit was when I was in the new dentist's waiting area one day and there was a dentist waiting to see him to consult with him on one of his cases. The new dentist is affiliated with the local dental school here.

 

[Deber]

My case I contracted Scarlett fever when I was 5. Dad was in the oilfield and we went to the Yucatan for a year. Medicines they used caused all my perm. teeth to have no calcium, so as they came in most crumbled. Had crowns on most, pulled the rest. I was able to keep my teeth until just a few years ago, but knew dentures would be my fate someday. Got to say, went to a specialist and he decided on the teeth left to save and partials the rest. For me, only way to go.

Do all you can to hang on to your natural teeth. I had no choice, but even though it is heaven without all the infections and teeth crumbling, dentures are never as good as your natural ones. Thankfully they have come a long way and our dentures are natural looking and feel normal, but never a substitute for the originals.

 

[Elisabeth Kazup]

Sending hugs to Fostermom. I have a tilted molar with a pointed corner and THAT thing drives me nuts. And no my tongue has NEVER gotten bored with it!

I hate the dentist. My mouth is small (contrary to popular opinion ) and when he gets all those instruments in there I start to feel like I'm going to choke, especially when the work is way in the back. Plus, my childhood dentist slapped me around a fair bit (with my mom's permission) because I would cry. Mom didn't allow us to have any kind of numbing, it was all nerve, all the way, all the time. She, of course, made very clear staements that "no dentist is coming within 10 feet of me without novacaine". Nice mom. Not! Nobody misses her.