Hey doc, what do I do?
Broke the top farthest back tooth while eating a french fry. Missed the morning session at Putnam this morning.
A friend told me I'll need to get it pulled. I don't know if that's true, but the inside face is basically gone, the top is mostly there though. She told me the inside of the tooth isn't protected and will rot and hurt like hell if not pulled.

Izat true?

Thanks in advance.

If you ignore your teeth, they will go away, I would get it taken care of as soon as you can. Trust my advice, I speak from experience. Dont take Prilosec and stay away from sodas.

That part is true. You need to see a dentist as soon as you can. If you're not in pain, you could probably wait until Monday. Brush well (but gently), avoid sodas and crap until you get it fixed.

Sorry dude, that sucks.

Don't we have a dentist on the Forums?

-Rusty

DNHunt is a dentist. A little far away from you to help. But maybe some good advice

if the doc says it can be crowned, save it. must have been an extra crispy fry.

kevin

You might look good with implants.....

I know why the sodas but why Prilosec? I've noticed it's unavailable (supposedly) due to demand & packaging probs.

....b

Ya know you're spotsa warm up those frozen french fries in the oven right? Sorry, couldn't help it Hope they can save it!

Prilosec absorbs the calcium from your body, I guess not everyone but most it does, they wont say anything about it because of the market share they have.

Kinda like Meth.....

Meth absorbs calcium?

Damn... I gotta stop doing meth. My dealer didn't tell me ANYTHING about that side effect.

-Rusty

sorry, you can't see it. I can't see it. It really doesn't look any different than the other side....oh, I did save the piece of tooth. Iwas gonna bitch at Burger King for putting a rock in my fries!

Haven't you ever met a Meth addict? After a few years their teeth fall out due to the drug...real nice.


Geoff

Sean,

I think a good drug store has some temporary filling stuff in the tooth supplies.

My wife's crown fell out and she sent me down for some 2-part cement that lasted until she could get to the dentist.

I think I saw temporary filling stuff next to the crown glue.

Ken

wut he said,

I sympathize, I took a lump hammer head square in the mouth that broke off the handle. The guy was aligning some steel about 15 feet from me, apparently the handle snapped and said hammer head made a trajectory right into my mouth

lost a bunch of teeth, lots of stitches...Im not one for litigation, but I ended up suing (after months of flip flopping)

This was all 15 years ago... so I figure I got my teeth fixed and walked away with about $25000

Sean, get to a dentist ASAP, dont delay..

Don't let anyone pull the tooth. The dentist will need to drill into what remains of the tooth in order to put a crown on it
If you have dental insurance, that will help for the shock you'll get about how much a crown costs. Insurance normally will pay 80%.

Sean,
I have lousy teeth too. You want to keep whatever you can for as long as you can. Find a dentist that uses gas

Sean

If it's not hurting see your dentist Monday or Tuesday. Best case, you'll need a new filling. Worst case, you'll lose the tooth. But there's a lot of possiblilties in between. Most likely, you'll need a crown. Be prepared, you're gonna buy a nice set of tires or some other toy for your dentist. In the mean time it's gonna be a nuisance cause you'll keep sticking your tongue up there. All in all it's probably not as bad as the hole you put in your engine.

By the way please don't post any pictures of teeth. This is where I go to hide from them.

Dave

I had a tooth crack earlier this year. It was a hairline crack that hadn't let go yet but hurt like a sumbitch when chewing and was hot/cold sensitive. Fortunately they saved the tooth w/o even a root canal but a nice $800 crown was required.

Around the same timeframe we also had $2500 in dental work for our son (required general anesthesia so $$$$ extra).

But what can ya do, teeth are kind of a necessity...

I am soooo glad I've got good insurance.....and that my better half is a Dental Assistant. I just gotta be careful not to piss her off before I have to go for a cleaning....

$800 for a crown is about right. i've turned lots of big, old, fillings into crowns

I had a similar problem over a year ago.
A piece of my tooth broke off while eating a sandwich.
I ended up with a crown. I chose porcelain rather than gold.
It looks nicer - can't really tell its in there. But porcelain is much
harder to fit properly and it costs alot more. Mine was about $1300
1 year ago.

In my case the tooth was perfect other than one of the points
sheered off. Once the dentine is exposed, you have to get a crown.
(Don't get the tooth pulled)
The filling technology isn't there yet to cover this up or repair this
type of problem.
Since I had so much tooth still left, I spent over an hour in the chair
while the dentist grinded down my almost perfect tooth down
to a "nub" for the crown.

Since mine didn't hurt I actually wen't about 6 months after the break
(till the next dentist visit) before I got the crown. I didn't actually know
it was as bad as it was.

All you can do is bend over and open your wallet.

--- bill

had almost the same thing happen to me. They may be able to get a crown on it. That's what i did. Not cheap though.

Sean

Here's the skinny. Your dentist may or may not tell you all of this cause we all do things a little different. My practice is real blue collar and I often have to cobble things together so I would consider the first 2 while many dentists might not even mention them. Course I haven't seen your tooth but usually when that tooth breaks it's because of clenching or grinding and there is very little decay to remove. If it just busted then here are your choices.

1) Composite filling - don't waste your time these are no good in large fillings and you will do it over very soon.

2) Silver amalgam filling - cheap and quick, your dentist will not want to do this cause there isn't much margin. It can work pretty well but there are no guarantees. If you do this and want a crown in the near future (a couple of years) you can use this as the foundation for that.

3) Gold onlay - like a bikers skid lid, it only covers the top (biting surface) of the tooth. Saves a lot of enamel. My favorite cause I know I can't make anything as good as nature did and the gums love enamel not gold or porcelain.

4) Porcelain onlay - same as above but solid porcelain. Probably, the treatment of the future. It's a little more risky than gold cause it can crack and sometimes the cement fails and the tooth gets real sensitive.

5) Gold crown - old standby, it has the longest history. It will work well. The dentist probably will like this. Easy and pretty good profit.

6) Porcelain bonded to metal crown - looks better than gold. Dentist really loves this $$. Probably will work well.

My preference, use gold over porcelain cause it is better to bite on in the back tooth. It will not break and the wear rate over the years will match the rest of the teeth. The porcelain on the porcelain bonded to metal crown will wear down the opposing tooth if you grind your teeth at all and most people do. Porcelain onlays wear the opposing tooth less but are more likely to break.

How much decay is in the tooth is the kicker. If there is none all of the above probably can be considered but, as the decay increases, the choices decrease until you have to chose between the crowns. Lots of decay equals root canal. Lots and lots of decay and you need the tooth taken out.

Sorry for your bad luck

Dave

Can't add much to the pro advice from Dave

I've got 8 crowns (front upper teeth). Metal core with porcelain shell. They're great
I was lucky and got them for free... good to have a dentist among your clientelle

So, if there's enough left from the tooth, get a good crown. It'll cost you, but you won't be sorry later

Enjoy the pain

what's the mark up on a porcelain bonded unit? you get to look like a pirate or flavor flav with gold crowns. arrrgh, heyyy boyzzzz!!!!

kevin

Dave,
I think you nailed it with the grinding. I do grind my teeth, and it is usually in the back of my mouth.

#2 sounds like it could be the way.

Jeroen,
the thing doesn't hurt at all. none. period. wierd, huh?

Good for you (and I mean that)

I have bad teeth. Not because of neglect but by genetic design (they have a tendency to rot from the inside out) and I've spend many hours in the dentist chair

Just 2 months ago, I had a jaw infection. Didn't hurt, but I looked like a friggin hamster
I got a root canal, without anesthetic. Didn't feel a thing. Nerves were dead as a doornail...

Good luck at the dentist!

I had to read this thread.

Looks like you got all the info you need - some people actually listen when they are at the dentist!!!

If there is anyway I can be of service................


T

Dood! I am so sorry! Glad you aren't in pain though!

When I was a kid, me and another kid were throwing a basketball back and forth.... my grandmother called my name, and I looked.... then as I looked back... my friend had a puzzled look, and empty hands.... and that is when the ball whacked me in the top of my head, chipping off half of two front teeth...



Root canals are fun! I love IV sedation, even if it's more expensive, and you have to go to a surgeon.


M

I guess I should start wearing my Doctor's® Night Guard again....my wife loves when I wear it, she gets a better night sleep since I don't wake her up grinding my teeth......but I don't like it...oh well, if it'll prevent damage????

"absorbs the calcium from your body" ??

where does it go ?

if "they" won't say anything about it, where do you get your information ?

so far this has all the earmarks of a conspiracy-theory urban myth -- but if you've got a reference to point me to, i'll definitely check it out...

i'm not saying it isn't true, i'm just saying "show me the data ..."

soooo, for all of you who don't do what smart dentists on this bbs say, you will pay the price. I've had terrible pain in my mouth for the last couple days. I thought it was from the lower left part of my mouth. Went to the dentist today and he insists it's because of the broken tooth.

oooffff, damn, it hurts, at least I'll get some Tylenol 3 with Codein.

oh, and the tooth has to come out

QUOTE (seanery @ Dec 13 2005, 12:27 PM)

soooo, for all of you who don't do what smart dentists on this bbs say, you will pay the price. I've had terrible pain in my mouth for the last couple days. I thought it was from the lower left part of my mouth. Went to the dentist today and he insists it's because of the broken tooth. oooffff, damn, it hurts, at least I'll get some Tylenol 3 with Codein. oh, and the tooth has to come out

if you need a implant, my dad could do one for you.

Gotta go tomorrow for dental work. Been putting it off for a couple of weeks. The whole side of my head hurts.

David

Any of you dentist folks, is it odd that his tooth just broke on a french fry? Seems odd to me, but then again, I don't see this stuff everday.

QUOTE (KaptKaos @ Dec 13 2005, 04:13 PM)

Any of you dentist folks, is it odd that his tooth just broke on a french fry? Seems odd to me, but then again, I don't see this stuff everday.

My dentist told me that it was probably decayed inside and didn't need much to cause it to actually break.

QUOTE (seanery @ Dec 13 2005, 03:40 PM)

QUOTE (KaptKaos @ Dec 13 2005, 04:13 PM) Any of you dentist folks, is it odd that his tooth just broke on a french fry?  Seems odd to me, but then again, I don't see this stuff everday. My dentist told me that it was probably decayed inside and didn't need much to cause it to actually break.

Sometimes these things are signs of a different issue. Be sure to get checked out.

Dave Hunt nailed it with the grinding. I got a pretty long lecture on stopping that today.

QUOTE (seanery @ Dec 13 2005, 10:27 AM)

soooo, for all of you who don't do what smart dentists on this bbs say, you will pay the price. I've had terrible pain in my mouth for the last couple days. I thought it was from the lower left part of my mouth. Went to the dentist today and he insists it's because of the broken tooth. oooffff, damn, it hurts, at least I'll get some Tylenol 3 with Codein. oh, and the tooth has to come out

So what you never had it fixed???

Did you expect it would just go away?

it didn't hurt, never got infected, so I thought it was just something to live with. I'm not big on doctor visits.