W
wangmo
Junior member
- Joined
- Sep 13, 2019
- Messages
- 5
- Location
- Vancouver, Canada
I had some bad experiences previously:
All my wisdom teeth were extracted while in my late teens (impacted) and my 1st molars are all removed for braces. All my silver fillings have been replaced over the years with white composite fillings. I am 54 yr old.
This all relates to the upper jaw.
Two 2nd molars received crowns, each about 1 year apart. There were high spots on both crowns and the dentist worked a little bit to alleviate the high spots but didn't really believe me... consequently my lower jaw bite is shifted "back" (like it would be if my jaw were resting while lying back on the dentist chair). I'm also a bit of tooth grinder (apparently).
During this period, gaps between my 2nd and 3rd upper molars got wider and immense food traps formed. The dentist filled the cavity on the inside edge of the 3rd molars (facing the crowns) and created a little overhang to "bridge" the gap (so to speak) This did prevent everything I ate from getting wedge in there but I now have a nice little cave/tunnel food trap under the composite overhang. This was 2 years ago. One of those fillings was at my last appointment at that office, a dental student did the filling (3rd upper molar) and it has been painful on and off ever since, food trap not resolved etc.... I nearly fainted when I stood up. I haven't been back there and I've been depressed about my teeth...
A few weeks ago, I was eating a "power cube" (a little 1" cube of peanut butter, coconut oil? etc.. soft but a bit chewy). They were good so I chewed a bunch of them only to experience extreme dental pain a few hours later in the quadrant last worked on by the dental student! Wow! Hot and cold sensitivity in 3 places in my mouth.... Time to face it. My teeth/gums are in rough shape.
I went to a new dentist last week after agonizing over who to go. I would really like a holistic or naturalpathic dentist but don't think they really exist in Vancouver, BC. Anyway, The dentist I went to seems very nice. Really conscientious about making you feel at ease and has a gentle hand. She did a cleaning and my gums felt immediately better. Now comes the scary part!
The diagnosis and treatment plan (the scary parts):
The two upper molar with crowns: Both have 'pits' that measure 10, 8 and 5. Both have a cavity down under the gum line. Both have bone loss but one side has severe bone loss and an apparent abscess (this is the side that pained me after eating the power cube). This Bone loss may be below where the second root branches off. Xray was unclear and she referred me for a Cone Beam Computed Tomography which will be almost $300 and is not covered by dental plan. (This is to determine if she can do a root canal on both molars and replace the crown or do an extraction.)
She also wants to do a root canal/crown on the 3rd molars (both of them). They both have cavities. One has an open cavity at the gum line and you can see it in a digital photo this it has cleared out some of the pulp from under the edge of the dentine and looks "riddled" with holes (like a meally apple) on the inside back corner and would need to be referred to a specialist to do the root canal because the tooth is almost laying sideways (it has started to travel to where the wisdom tooth would be) and has a twisted bent root.
Alternative to Root canal: Extract the molar with crown (if bone loss is so much that a root canal isn't feasable) and do 2 root canals/crowns on 3rd molars to support a bridge.
She also said that the third molar on my lower jaw needs a filling at the gum line. She said that she could do a beautifil filling there but given that she dosen't think I will take care of that tooth she wants to do a root canal/crown instead.
If there is no problem with the root (no pain, no infection) then why does she want to do so many root canals!
I just read somewhere that if the hot/cold pain sensitivity resolves relatively quickly (within a few minutes) then the tooth isn't dead. For me, hot/cold sensitivity resolves quickly and dose NOT linger for hours.
Am I right to question this? I have a big decision and not a lot of money! I am feeling more toward extracting the 4 upper molars and going for a partial but I'm scared and I don't want to make an irreversible decision that is reactive (no more drilling please!!!!) and maybe not the best treatment?
Please help me.
All my wisdom teeth were extracted while in my late teens (impacted) and my 1st molars are all removed for braces. All my silver fillings have been replaced over the years with white composite fillings. I am 54 yr old.
This all relates to the upper jaw.
Two 2nd molars received crowns, each about 1 year apart. There were high spots on both crowns and the dentist worked a little bit to alleviate the high spots but didn't really believe me... consequently my lower jaw bite is shifted "back" (like it would be if my jaw were resting while lying back on the dentist chair). I'm also a bit of tooth grinder (apparently).
During this period, gaps between my 2nd and 3rd upper molars got wider and immense food traps formed. The dentist filled the cavity on the inside edge of the 3rd molars (facing the crowns) and created a little overhang to "bridge" the gap (so to speak) This did prevent everything I ate from getting wedge in there but I now have a nice little cave/tunnel food trap under the composite overhang. This was 2 years ago. One of those fillings was at my last appointment at that office, a dental student did the filling (3rd upper molar) and it has been painful on and off ever since, food trap not resolved etc.... I nearly fainted when I stood up. I haven't been back there and I've been depressed about my teeth...
A few weeks ago, I was eating a "power cube" (a little 1" cube of peanut butter, coconut oil? etc.. soft but a bit chewy). They were good so I chewed a bunch of them only to experience extreme dental pain a few hours later in the quadrant last worked on by the dental student! Wow! Hot and cold sensitivity in 3 places in my mouth.... Time to face it. My teeth/gums are in rough shape.
I went to a new dentist last week after agonizing over who to go. I would really like a holistic or naturalpathic dentist but don't think they really exist in Vancouver, BC. Anyway, The dentist I went to seems very nice. Really conscientious about making you feel at ease and has a gentle hand. She did a cleaning and my gums felt immediately better. Now comes the scary part!
The diagnosis and treatment plan (the scary parts):
The two upper molar with crowns: Both have 'pits' that measure 10, 8 and 5. Both have a cavity down under the gum line. Both have bone loss but one side has severe bone loss and an apparent abscess (this is the side that pained me after eating the power cube). This Bone loss may be below where the second root branches off. Xray was unclear and she referred me for a Cone Beam Computed Tomography which will be almost $300 and is not covered by dental plan. (This is to determine if she can do a root canal on both molars and replace the crown or do an extraction.)
She also wants to do a root canal/crown on the 3rd molars (both of them). They both have cavities. One has an open cavity at the gum line and you can see it in a digital photo this it has cleared out some of the pulp from under the edge of the dentine and looks "riddled" with holes (like a meally apple) on the inside back corner and would need to be referred to a specialist to do the root canal because the tooth is almost laying sideways (it has started to travel to where the wisdom tooth would be) and has a twisted bent root.
Alternative to Root canal: Extract the molar with crown (if bone loss is so much that a root canal isn't feasable) and do 2 root canals/crowns on 3rd molars to support a bridge.
She also said that the third molar on my lower jaw needs a filling at the gum line. She said that she could do a beautifil filling there but given that she dosen't think I will take care of that tooth she wants to do a root canal/crown instead.
If there is no problem with the root (no pain, no infection) then why does she want to do so many root canals!
I just read somewhere that if the hot/cold pain sensitivity resolves relatively quickly (within a few minutes) then the tooth isn't dead. For me, hot/cold sensitivity resolves quickly and dose NOT linger for hours.
Am I right to question this? I have a big decision and not a lot of money! I am feeling more toward extracting the 4 upper molars and going for a partial but I'm scared and I don't want to make an irreversible decision that is reactive (no more drilling please!!!!) and maybe not the best treatment?
Please help me.