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Dentist refusing to pull teeth?

  • Thread starter sunnylikesunshine90
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sunnylikesunshine90

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Joined
Jan 21, 2016
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80
Location
Central IL, USA
Quick recap for those who haven't seen any of my other posts: I have a lifetime of dental neglect under my belt, combined with some awful dentists and medical issues that seem to compound the pre-existing dental issues. I don't think there is a single tooth in my mouth that doesn't have some sort of advanced restoration done to it.


It has been several months since my last post and....well, my mouth is still in a really bad state. With my layman's eyes, I know of at least nine teeth that will, at the very least, need bigger fillings (all at the gum line) if not root canals and crowns.

Anyway, I went in back in the spring of 2017 after having some tooth pain. I declared that I was done - that financially, I couldn't afford to keep doing fillings in the hopes that it would fix the issue and I couldn't keep stressing out over when the next tooth was going to fail. I wanted my remaining teeth pulled and to get dentures, as my Mom is/was willing to help cover the costs.

My dentist straight up refused to do this, citing my age (I'm 27) and saying that he wanted to try and save my teeth at all costs ("all costs" is apparently thousands of dollars of work that I cannot afford)

He talked me into having my teeth cleaned and said we would proceed from there. At the cleaning, I requested to be numbed and spent the entire time essentially being chastized by his hygienist for needing several numbing shots (After something like 6-7 shots, I still wasn't completely numb. Her exact words were "Well, maybe if you start taking care of your teeth, you won't need this next time. Nobody should need numbed for a simple cleaning!" What a witch.).

This did not help my already pretty severe dental phobia (especially considering I had written in my file that being lectured for things like that worsened my anxiety), and I found myself avoiding the dentist again.


Within the last month or so, I've noticed five teeth with severe decay (four are weird spots near the gumline that give me electric shock-like zings whenever you touch the spots, and one is a visible hole near the gumline) and another tooth that has simply crumbled (It had had a large cavity, but nearly half the tooth has now broken off). I'm in pain whenever I eat - I never know which tooth will hurt, but I know that at least one of them will. I'm terrified that I'm going to wind up getting an infection and becoming seriously ill.

While aware the implants are the best option, I cannot afford them (and I don't qualify for loans or anything of that sort). I'm literally fed up - I just want these teeth gone and to get dentures so that maybe I will be able to eat a meal without pain.

However, I'm also terrified to go back to my dentist, lay my cards out on the table again (I nearly cried last time) only for him to once again shoot down my request and insist that he wants to save them. Unless he's going to cover the costs for each filling, root canal, crown, bridge himself, I cannot afford it, no matter how much he insists it's for the best.


I guess my question is this:

Have any of you been in this position? How did you convince your dentist to pull the teeth and get you dentures?



(also thanks for letting me rant:giggle:)
 
I have! I had horrible insurance and my dentist refused to pull any teeth all of which were in the back. He wanted to do root canals etc. I dont have the.money for that i am married with 3 children we literally live paycheck to paycheck . He even told.me that maybe one day when i GOT A GOOD JOB i cld afford it but refused to pull any even though they needed to be just extracted. I ended up.losing my medical coverage and a yr goes by i got medical coverage again and i found a new dentist willing to do this for me. He referred me to an oral surgeon and i had my surgery last.monday. look around for other dentists someone will help u!
 
My dentist will refuse to pull teeth (apart from wisdom teeth) unless needed, she prefers to try to save teeth where possible. even though last time she say I could have them all out if I wanted to, I got an overcrowding problem.
 
So a general explanation for you all:

A doctor must do examinations and obtain necessary tests or x-rays to perform a competent examination. This must be done in general. You can't even sign away consent not to have x-rays as you can't consent to negligent care. You can refuse any treatment though. A little confusing I know. As to the O.P. any doctor may refuse to do any procedure they don't think is the right treatment for a patient. Of course you have the right to seek treatment elsewhere.
 
Pulling teeth is a huge deal. Losing your natural teeth is permenant, and I don't think many people realize the actual repercussions of such a procedure. That's probably why your dentist won't do it; especially if he/she believes that the teeth can be saved even in a few years time. Dentures provide something like 10% of what functional teeth can do, even worn teeth are far better (outside of pain). Eating with dentures becomes a nightmare. Not to mention even with dentures the jaw bone begins deteriorating pretty rapidly after is loses the stimulation of natural teeth. I also understand you're in pain, and you have every right to want to be out of pain. Hopefully you can speak with a dentist you like and find a way to ease discomfort until you can afford implants or get your teeth restored.
 
I think dentist who won’t pull your teeth is trying to do you a favor. You DO NOT want to lose your natural teeth if you don’t have to. I had full mouth extraction back in September along with extensive bone grafting to prepare my mouth for implant supported bridges. Right now I have temporary removable dentures and it is extremely difficult to chew with them. They have been adjusted a couple of times and still come loose without adhesive when I eat and sometimes when I speak. I’m 41 years old and this is the hardest thing I’ve had to deal with. I wish I could go back to the time before my teeth couldn’t be saved and do whatever it took. I thought i would be okay with dentures but my prosthodontist told me the difference between dentures and having implant supported bridges is the difference between walking and driving a car as far as chewing goes. Please follow the advice of your dentist and do what you must to save your teeth. I’m fortunate I can afford mouth reconstruction but implants still won’t be as good as my own natural teeth.
 
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