Many problems!

[drewby00]

Hi-I haven't been to the dentist in @12 years due to major fear, I have 2 molars (one on each side) on the bottom that have now both completely broken off at the gumline. With one of them, yesterday when I was eating I somehow bit down hard on it and I feel like I jammed a piece of tooth deeper into my gum or broke the tooth in half, while in the gum, if this is even possible. I am haveing some major pain issues today with it now, up until then neither of them have hurt at all, just broke off from this inside. I cannot bring myself to call the dentist office here in town, b/c I know that they don't do sedation dentistry (I'm in the middle of nowhere in Iowa, about 2 hours away from any larger town) and going out of town to someone who does is just not feasible. I do have some antibiotics that I didn't use b/c they weren't strong enough (for something else) and I've started taking those just in case I have developed an infection, but I have no swelling, just sharp pains when I hit the area with my tongue or eat/drink. I am contemplating calling and trying to get an appt but wanted to get some info ahead of time, if this tooth was decayed all the way through to the root, it is likely unable to be saved? Is something like this easy to extract? I'm terrified at the thought of calling and actually going in, I'm not sure I can do it....

 

[rosy]

Hi drewby00,

I am sorry you are having problems with your back molars and I can understand yours fears,but somehow need to muster up the courage to get these teeth fixed or risk getting an infection and you might end up losing your teeth.

You can do like I have been doing and get someone in your family or maybe friend to call the dentist for you to get an appointment. I am currently in the process of getting several teeth filled. I just had two teeth filled last Thursday. I get nervous every time go,but I know it is in my best interest to this over with. The sooner it is taken care the better.

I have found that my fears of what might happened have yet to appear. Also it might be helpful to take someone with you for support who can go in the room with you while your teeth are being worked on. I always take my husband with me.

Hope this is of some help.

 

[DrMike]

Hi there
If the tooth is decayed throughthe root, and it is breaking down it may well need to come out. This is usually fairly straight forward even if it is broken down- the roots can often be 'wiggled' out with what are called 'elevators'.
If your dentist doesn't do sedation- you could tryasking if your dotor would prescribe you something to take before the appointment (eg diazepam). In some cases if youask, a doctor in the townmay even agree to come out on the dayof the procedure an give the IV sedation while you have the tooth out- it's worth asking around if you feel sedation would help. Before I trained in sedation, I had an agreement with a local doctor who charged a private fee for doing our sedations.
Kind regards
Mike