Back from dentist & devastated

[brit]

This isn't to scare you at all - like I said, all of them have had excellent luck with crowns. Doing the most urgent tooth first and seeing how things go with it can tell you a lot about the dentist and their work.

If you feel uncomfortable with anything the dentist said too or with your plan, you can also ask for a second opinion. Compared to the cost of that and what you're facing if might definitely put your mind to ease.

Actually just realised you are an NHS patient. That means if you are in England/Wales with the UDA system, there is minimal financial incentive for the dentist to do unnecessary crowns. However regardless, only get one done at first, to check out how good they actually are at doing them.
I managed to get to almost 50 before I got my first crown, now I have 2 and I kind of totally get your feeling that it is the start of the slippery slope to losing teeth long-term.
Maybe your NHS dentist is recently qualified and keen to get lots of crown experience. It is up to you whether you let them. The broken one would likely benefit though as the only other option would be to build up with composite or sth.

Good luck.

 

[Funkyfish586]

Hard lump on gum for 3 years

Hi all, this is my last post i promise im just really struggling today. In 2009 i had a root canal done by a awful dentist who did it in 10 mins without xrays ( im sure my fear stems from here) a day later i was in agony & it turned in to a absess. I complained & saw a private dentist who took out the filling & the root canal the previous ''dentist'' had done fell out. The nice dentist did it all again & i had a crown put on that tooth. Never had a problem since but what i did notice at the time is a painless hard as rock lump right above the tooth but as high up as i can reach if that makes sense. To look at it you cant see anything not even the lump. When i press on it it kind of feels like its inside the tooth but never any pain etc. As its been nearly 3 years would i have had problems with it if it was serious? i just googled & it said a abcess?! ] it feels like bone or something

thanks

 

[Funkyfish586]

Thanks all so much! im not sure what is wrong with me but i have literally been depressed since i went, i dont want to eat in case i make my teeth worse, constantly checking / flossing my teeth. I have cried every day about it & to make matters just that little bit worse i have a lump above my crowned tooth which i have had for 3 years & have been crying all day as after googling i think its an abcess. Im a bit of a mess today

 

[Funkyfish586]

Thanks for the reply, another dentist did a root canal on it after the abscesses then crowned it! Wouldn't I have had pain by now? How can they do a rc on a crowned tooth? So upset xx

 

[brit]

Thanks for the reply, another dentist did a root canal on it after the abscesses then crowned it! Wouldn't I have had pain by now? How can they do a rc on a crowned tooth? So upset xx

I deleted my message as I saw your post in dentistry questions with the extra information. If the lump has always been there then it may be nothing. Just get your dentist to check it for you and take some x-rays.
You can do root canals through crowns but it is not ideal.

 

[Dr. Daniel]

Re: Hard lump on gum

Hey

I am not sure you have an absess (because you will havesome pain/sensitivity).
However, it sounds like something worth checking (and making an X-ray) by your dentist.

 

[Amoreyna]

Re: I'm new and scared

Thank you so much for your reply. The dentist i am seeing on Thursday is apparently very good so hopefully that will make me feel better. I have very low confidence since having my children & i cannot imagine how much it will plummet if i loose teeth, to some its not a big deal to lose a tooth but to me it would be awful. I keep thinking that no one will want to know me with bad teeth & my partner will run off. I sound crazy now lol! x

I am 31 and have lost two teeth. I will lose a couple more and probably have partials by the time I'm 50. In my case it's just soft teeth, medical issues and medications that are my culprit in the long run. On top of that I had some bad dentistry as an adult that not only caused more harm to my teeth but made me avoid going to one for a couple of years.

I wouldn't say it's no big deal. I didn't want to have my extracted regardless of what was going on to be honest. My dentist understands that. It's also not the end of the world either. There are people your age or slightly older who have full dentures and do just fine.

No one actually wants to lose teeth. At the same time I think it would do all people a lot of good to get rid of that idea of the perfect smile once at for all. The most important part is that your teeth be functional and healthy. Some people cannot keep all their teeth even with extensive care, other's have few issues with minimal care and skipping a dentist for a good while. Blaming yourself for eating things or not keeping up with things in the past does you no good now. Neither does obsessively flossing and brushing now. Crowns are not missing teeth and you are getting them cared for now and that is the most important thing.

You might consider actually talking to a therapist in conjunction with your dental treatment, since you mentioned you seem to have low self confidence after the birth of your children. That isn't all that uncommon after childbirth. Just talking things through with an objective third party can really make a world of difference and help you feel better about your teeth and life in general.

 

[Funkyfish586]

Thank you for your reply, i know how vain it sounds i dont mean to be it just worries me so so much. i have kind of resigned myself to the fact i will need dentures early & im driving everyone mad with my worrying. I just want to forget about it & stop obsessing x

 

[Funkyfish586]

Sorry one final thing! I have just googled () i reckon this is a dental cyst! I imagine i would be in some pain by now if it was a abcess. Is it possible to treat with a crown on? x

 

[Amoreyna]

Sorry one final thing! I have just googled () i reckon this is a dental cyst! I imagine i would be in some pain by now if it was a abcess. Is it possible to treat with a crown on? x

While a lot of people have pain and sensitivity there are cases of people who do not feel pain until it really flares. Apparently I was one of those people as they think I had the abscess for a while until I felt pain from it. Reading about this on Google is only going to escalate your anxiety and honestly you end up finding all these worse case scenarios instead of what normally happens - tooth is treated and you get antibiotics for the part that is in your gums.

Seeing though it has been three years I would think you would have had discomfort at times from it. Or that another dentist would have seen the shadow on the x-ray. It could be an infection that just hangs out quietly, obviously if it is an abscess your body is keeping it in check and from spreading.

It could be anything but you really need to have a dentist formally evaluate it and take an x-ray. Since you had an infection in that tooth before it would make sense for the infection to not have been killed, it's just sort of strange that you would have had it for so long and not had pain.

 

[Funkyfish586]

Thank you, if i can get the courage i will ask my new dentist when i go for my filling on the 30th. Its very strange, i just dont want him to see its and abcess / cyst & have to have more work done or worse loose my tooth. The whole ignorance is bliss thing. Thanks for your reply x

 

[Amoreyna]

Thank you, if i can get the courage i will ask my new dentist when i go for my filling on the 30th. Its very strange, i just dont want him to see its and abcess / cyst & have to have more work done or worse loose my tooth. The whole ignorance is bliss thing. Thanks for your reply x

lol - I can tell you ignorance is not bliss, no matter how many time we tell ourselves that. The very fact that what we don't know makes us anxious, the unknown hovering over you constantly with worry, makes it worse to live in ignorance.

While an abscess means more work, the sooner you get it taken care of the lower chance you have to lose the tooth. I know more dental work doesn't sound great, but if you have or find a dentist you really like and does good work there is a good chance to save your tooth and make sure the abscess - if that's what it is - doesn't cause you pain.

 

[Funkyfish586]

What am i doing wrong

Im so sorry to post again but i am having such a bad day, i have my filling on wednesday and i am SO scared i can barely think about anything else. I did the weekly check of my mouth today & too my horror on the very back tooth on the side there is a obvious hole, its black i can fit a pin in it ( i know i shouldnt) i only had a check up last week why didnt he pick it up? Why am i having constant cavities after cavities?! I do everything im meant too, i brush 3 times a day, i floss at least twice a day, i use mouthwash, i barely eat but when i do its teeth friendly and when its not i wash my mouth out with water & nibble on some cheese. Im 23 8 fillings & 1 crown soon to be 4. I just hate it x

 

[nikki06]

I think my teeth ended up a bit of a mess during pregnancy, added to that (And much worse at that), I became depressed and didnt brush my teeth (or wash) for weeks, sometimes months at a time. I lost my partner and was devastated.. probably no excuse, and makes me sound disgusting, but there you have it, whats done is done! (My friend still jokes about the bar of Dove soap she sent me in the post those 9 years ago!).
I also havent been able to tolerate milk/lactose intolerant for the last 5 years maybe, and only in the last year have been taking calcium supplements.

I found out today that I need 4 new fillings and one old (6yrs) filling redone because its leaking, and one old filling is being poked about and redone, in the hopes to find the cause of my current discomfort. So 6 new fillings on the horizon! Im 31, I currently have 4 fillings on the top right, 1 on the bottom right - a tooth missing because one dentist made one big filling over two teeth that was also leaking resulting in tooth loss, a wisdom missing because it had a hole in, another filling on the bottom left, and another in the top left, and also decay starting on the other wisdoms because they took so long to come through properly (those arent even being worked on yet)! All that probably makes your teeth look like a dream! lol My Mum stopped pushing me to go to the dentist at about age 10 Im sure.. I can remember going to Disneyland then(!), but no recollection of the dentists! She is petrified and wont go and has what I believe to be gum disease, my Dad also wont go. So I know where I get my fears from.. perhaps they were too afraid for whatever reason, and was worried the same would happen to me, so didnt push me into going..

Anyway, I have an electric toothbrush, I floss (Although admitely some nights Im just too tired), and I use mouthwash.. I have IBS so am unable to eat treats like fizzy drinks, sugary treats, no chocolate for me either! So I guess those years of not taking good care of my teeth (and thinking I was getting away with it) has finally caught up with me!

I guess it doesnt matter what made the teeth this way, we all have reasons, some (like problems caused during pregnancy) are out of our control.. What matters is that we can get them fixed so we arent miserable anymore.

Im the opposite to you though, I dont care one bit about RCT, I just dont want them and my biggest fear is a dentist making me do it when I can barely hold it together for fillings.. Id rather lose teeth and have a denture put in, and from what Ive seen they look pretty darn good! So try not to worry if you do lose teeth, although thats probably not going to happen

 

[Funkyfish586]

Thank you Nikki, i really appriciate you taking the time to reply. Im lucky in the fact that my teeth look nice from the front! URGH!! i know my anxiety tends to make me obsess over everything! xx

 

[Funkyfish586]

i feel sick with worry. Its only a filling i know but im so scared

 

[nikki06]

Your appointment is tomorrow, right?

Are you taking anything with you? Maybe if you have an Ipod you can go through songs to take your mind off things? Pick out something comfy to wear.. Have a nice bath? Pick out a DVD to either make you laugh or give you focus on a juicy plot!

I was hot and cold, sweating, shaking, felt sick.. And that was just for a check-up!

Im going to take my Ipod next time (for treatment)..I considered my teddy thats been with me to hospital in the past(!), but I dont want to look like a big baby! lol I think Im going to put some eucalyptus oil on a tissue too, I dont like the smells of the dentist, and even a nice old lady and her perfume made me feel a little ill last time!

I dont know about you but my anxiety goes into overdrive, I start looking at the worst possible outcomes so then inevitably I feel even more anxious.. Then it goes into obsession, and then probably a full blown panic.. Just try to reign it in if this is you too, dont go into the story too much, just think of the end and know that theres steps, like fillings, to bring the end closer in sight.
Im just miserable now with it all. I realise I joined here in 2006, and is my mouth ok to the point of just check-ups? Nope! So of course Im miserable. Ok anxiety and agoraphobia made that worse, so now Ive worked on that I feel a bit better able to cope with the dentist. You will be ok too

Maybe you could treat yourself afterwards.. Think of going to buy something nice for yourself, or just resting at home infront of the fire with a nice dvd.. Anything positive to help things along

 

[Funkyfish586]

Thanks again Nikki, yes its tomorrow at 9.30- Least its early. Ipod is a fantastic idea i will listen to a funny podcast Its my hen weekend on Friday so im really excited to get this out the way x

 

[nikki06]

Thanks again Nikki, yes its tomorrow at 9.30- Least its early. Ipod is a fantastic idea i will listen to a funny podcast Its my hen weekend on Friday so im really excited to get this out the way x

See if you can get some Idiot Abroad!? I love that, so funny

 

[stevent8]

Just read your thread. I really hope you made it and it went OK. You've put a foot on the path...