Broken Tooth Causing Pain.. Help!

[bearchild]

I have a cracked molar that is causing me extreme pain every so often.. Actually, cracked isn't really the right word. About two years ago a large section simply broke off. I ignored this as it wasn't causing me any pain and I could still eat.. I have an extreme aversion to the dentist, and will avoid going as long as I can.. I know this is foolish, but I can't help it..
Anyway, about a month ago, another section fell off, still no pain. Suddenly, one day last week, I got a really sharp pain which slowly turned into a dull throbbing. I took some paracetamol for the pain, and it went away. I had no pain again until today, when I got the same sharp pain. It's not quite there anymore, but I feel it will come shooting back if I touch off the tooth with my tongue..

I feel as if the time has come to go to the dentist, but I have a problem..
Since my tooth is basically half gone, will this cause complications in removing it? I just want it to be over as quick as possible. The injections don't bother me too much, but with fillings in the past I could always feel some pain. Will the gum have to be cut open to remove the root fully? Will this be painful? And how long does a normal tooth extraction take?

Thanks for your time..

 

[Gordon]

This is one of the commonest questions to come up on here.

No, usually if the crown of the tooth is missing the extraction is a bit easier than normal, the crown of the tooth gets in the way a bit and is a nuisance.
It's unlikely that anything will need to be cut and the extraction will take about 2 mins or less.

 

[bearchild]

Thanks for your answer. I should have looked more carefully at other posts before posting this, but my head is all over the place from pain/whiskey/painkillers/tiredness..

 

[Gordon]

No problem. It must be bad, you seem to be drinking that strange Irish/American "whiskey" stuff instead of real whisky

 

[bearchild]

Real "whisky"? How dare you sir! I am drinking real Whiskey, the only true whiskey.. uisce beatha, no less... none of that sour mash for me and my teeth, thank you...

 

[fionaa]

This has happened to me, my molar has been like it for sevral years and now i would say i have half of it left but i cant face my fear of going to the dentist so ive just left it, i dont get that much pain from it. the last time i saw my dentist she said it needs a really big filling but i couldnt put myself through the pain so ive just left it, on the odd ocassion i get the odd pain but not offten. but im scared that it will need to be removed .

tell me what you think , Fiona

 

[Gordon]

Bearchild, you know I'm a Scot, right?

Real whisky is spelled without an "e"

Slainte beatha!

Fionaa, unfortunately, it's impossible for us to say what you should do, we can't see your tooth from here. It is possible to say that if you don't get it fixed fairly soon, then it will be too late and it will almost definitely have to be removed.

 

[bearchild]

Ah, whisky, whiskey, it's all fine stuff..(with the exception of jack daniels)..

Went to the dentist today to get my tooth removed. I will go through the visit in stages, for those who are interested:

1. I sat up on the chair and the dentist looked at my tooth with a mirror-device. He said that he needed an x-ray to determine the best course of action.

2. I went to get the x-ray, which took about 20 seconds.

3. I came back and the options were: a). removal and b). root canal.
He said that it would be a difficult extraction because of the shape of my roots.

4. I wasn't particularly fond of the tooth, nor was my wallet bulging, so I chose to have it pulled. I was extremely nervous about the "difficult extraction" part, especially when the dentist said that the extraction could take as long as 20 mins.

5. The dentist administered the anesthetic without numbing the gum before using the needle. It didn't hurt, which surprised me.

6.I had to wait 10 mins before going back in.

7. I went in and was given an extra dose to really numb the area.

8. From here on it gets sort of hard to explain because I didn't know everything the dentist was doing.. First he used some implement to "get to the root".. It didn't hurt. Then he grasped the tooth with some other implement and started to twist it, which wasn't painful, but the pressure felt awful.

9. I heard the tooth crack, and the twisting stopped. Mr. Dentist took up a scraper thing and went at the tooth. Bits were coming out. Then another, smaller (I think) grasping tool was used and the tooth was pulled and twisted some more.

10. It came out.

Cotton(?) pads were shoved into my mouth to cover the hole. They were taken out after about 10 mins and replaced. The bleeding wouldn't stop. I was given two more doses of cotton and sent home minus a tooth and a large sum of money.

The bleeding continued for 2 hours so I went back. I was told I was fine and to go away. It's still lightly bleeding 6 hours after removal.

Once the numbness wore off, I was in some pain so I took some Nurofen tablets (which contain Ibuprofen). Pain seems to be subsiding about 35 minutes after taking the tablets.

Anyway, that's it for now. Hope I don't get dry socket..

Slan Leat..

 

[bearchild]

Just going to move this amazing tale to the journal section in case anyone is having the same thing done..

 

[Alexandra1973]

I have two broken teeth myself--a wisdom tooth and a molar. Both of which need to come out. They hardly hurt at all, thankfully--the last time a piece broke off my wisdom tooth, it hurt a little bit but when I put coconut oil on it, it seemed to help.

I'm getting a total of 6 teeth removed next month--all four wisdom teeth (the top two, I believe, are impacted), the molar, and a bottom tooth next to the broken wisdom tooth.

I did have braces when I was a teenager and I wonder if the top wisdom teeth were impacted because they weren't given room. I had braces from age 14 to age 16, had the top two premolars and a bottom canine extracted when I was 15 to make room. I hated the sound and feel of the extractions so I'm opting for IV this time around.

I have half the molar left and I wonder if they'll have trouble getting the one wisdom tooth out...?