Tooth and I part company after 50 years

Arse. Another tooth had to go - it got loose and infected. First one lost in a long time.

Unfortunately this happened to me again very recently. It's so depressing. And I'm having pain still in the quadrant it came from. My teeth are a major panic area in my life. I hope you will get the infection under control, Man. I keep remembering that bad teeth and infections can cause blood poisoning. Looks like this may also be the case with the one I recently lost. There was no pain or blood, so beyond swishing with salt water I didn't do anything for the gum area.

Sorry to hear your extraction was not, so to speak, a clean break. My dentist has given me some twaddle about salt water washes, but in my family we place our faith in good Irish Whiskey. It saw my grandfather through Nile valley fever in the Sudan 1941, malaria in the Burma campaign and the tour de force was two bottles a day when the poor old sod had to fight off dengue fever and 200 fanatical drug-crazed insurgents in Borneo in 1949. He might have been lying - he died in 1973 of the DTs. Anyway I have laid in a litre of Jamiesons.

Growing up, the Skeezyks wasn't taught to take care of his teeth. Around age 20 or so his teeth started breaking. Each time one would break, the "dentist" (I use the term loosely) would haul it outta there! As a result, I lost a few teeth. Each time one was pulled, I'd freak out!

After a while it dawned on me that if I took better care of them, perhaps I wouldn't keep losing them. So, as the years have passed, I've become more-&-more compulsive about them. Even so, as one ages problems can still develop. I have an appointment with my current dentist (a real one now...) next week because I have a tooth that hurts.

Hope this is the last tooth you have to lose...

Crikey, 20 is very young to lose toothipegs. I was taught to take care of my teeth and have spent a fortune on the buggers, even the sodding extraction cost £100, but after the age of 40 they began to give out and gums began bleeding. I reckon I would have lost them all by now but for those little Tepo inter-dental brushes and my mad, sadistic, scary Greek dental hygienist (who I am seeing very soon to shed another £150 for 20 mins of agony).

Two of my teeth were doomed at 20 also. But they didn't come out until I was about 25 or a little older. Now with all the lost teeth my smile looks like swiss cheese. I don't think I'm a candidate for dentures either due to too much bone loss. I feel my agoraphobia has new legs now.

Also, it's never been harder to be a PWT (person without teeth, lol) than now, when you're not only socially required to have teeth, but they must also have a bright white fluorescent glow when you bare them. I took good care of my teeth when I was still functioning, but apparently it wasn't enough.

*not a senior but I come in peace *

I am so sorry. I think you're right. I am almost 35 and have never really had bright white teeth or pink gums. It does make me feel better when I see dentists who don't have perfectly aligned & level 10 zoom whitened teeth, though.

I had to have a front (!) tooth extracted last week. I was ashamed to face this because with all of today's advancements it is almost unheard of for someone even in their 30s to have teeth pulled. I know people my own age who still have had no cavities. This tooth had been crowned, but due to my lack of personal care bacteria got underneath the margin and created one massive infection over time. I woke up 2 weeks ago with excruciating pain, no warnings beforehand that something was up. They did an X-Ray the same day and told me that the infection had gone all the way into the nerve and possibly past the root so a root canal would've been useless. I was out on antibiotics in the meantime and last Tuesday it was yanked. I have a temporary bridge over it.

That sounds terrifying. The dentist made a bridge for those two teeth that went bad in my twenties and I think it's the only thing keeping any of my teeth in. They said it might last until my 40s, but I'm 57 now and petrified that it might finally be coming loose.

I feel vomiting nervous about everything related to teeth. I even have to turn the sound off of toothpaste commercials on TV.

I hate sight of the tools the most, and the smell of the office.

My mother is 76 and she said the dentist was a whole lot worse when she was younger. They never really used novocaine, for starters.

Haha, and still now it's not much better except for the anesthesia. I, too, am creeped out by the tools and smell. And the noise of drills!

I'm surprised they haven't been able to come up with something quieter after all these years. Cars have mufflers, why not drills? I guess because they're electric. But you're right - the drill is god-awful too. The dentist had to yell to the front desk to turn up the music because I was getting antsy from the sounds.

Lol, please forgive me because that image just cracked me up, thinking of the dentist shouting above the drill for the music. Hahaha. You are so right, dentistry should be all laser powered or something by now. Maybe photon drills. I wish it were!

I still don't know when or if I'll ever get to the dentist. I'm just petrified of it. :/

i used to be a dental-phobe. i would pass out in the chair and scare the dentist. many times i had to have sugar put under my tongue to revive me.

i always looked for a dentist that specialized in 'troubled children',, because they would have the skills to help me, and not let me just die. i did die (or have a 'near death experience) one time in the chair, under the influence of nitrous. the dentist was so involved in the filling that he didn't notice, and i didn't tell him, for fear he wouldn't let me have gas again.

this went on most of my life (for a good reason i won't go into here), until i got my first cap, in my late 50's. everything was hard with that... the dentist couldn't find the nerve (this is not rare for me), she gave me three injections, and i could tell her schedule was being ruined. i got mad. (things happen when i get mad.) i decided i just didn't care anymore.

i told the dentist that the injection worked, and go ahead and start. fortunately for me, it wasn't drilling or anything, just a lot of pushing and polishing. it didn't hurt a bit. O.O i couldn't believe it... all those years, all that fuss, and it was not even as bad as stubbing my toe~! i just quit being afraid.



i got started answering the post because of the mention of the drill sounds. my dentist has new tech tools, and they are almost noiseless. at least they don't sound like street repair tools~! omg, that sound is worse than the feeling~! so, if you have a dentist from the stone age, it doesn't cost anymore to go to a new tech one~!!

best wishes, and may you find you have lost your fear~!

I am not sure that I agree that dentistry is not vastly improved. I never, ever feel real pain under treatment, a bit stingy for the injections but after that nothing. It is extraordinary. It is not just that my dentist is Swedish (things are generally done better in Scandinavia), my now retired British dentist was just as good.

Once it was very painful indeed, but not anymore.

The machinery seems a lot quieter too.

If your dentist is not meeting these standards I would consider moving on.

My dentist has the radio on - I like this because you know how things are going - every four minutes a new song, so only five songs and you are done.

I too like my dentist. To begin with, he is a good man and a very good dentist. He has the modern tools and has a soothing picture show on a large computer screen to give me something to focus on. They have a very organized system. A hygienist makes sure my teeth are clean and my breath smells nice A tech does the preliminaries before the doc comes in and then assists him when it's time to get down to work. He is very concerned about avoiding pain and discomfort as much as possible. And to top it off he gives me a professional courtesy fee because he knows I have no dental insurance and not much money. There is very little anxiety which is odd considering I'm a virtual prisoner and two people are sticking their fingers and sharp pointed objects in my mouth. I consider myself lucky.

Good news, that terrifying Greek has done her worst (which this time was actually was not that bad) and my gums are in good condition but she advises more gum brushing - I like the feel of my electric toothbrush on my gums so that should be OK. All clear until November.