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Dead Tooth

Dead Tooth

WARNING: The following may or may not gross you out!

Tonight I was eating some popcorn, and when it came down to the end where some of the corn that did not pop is left in the bowl - I crunch on that too. Well, while doing so I felt something grainy, sort of like grit. I did not think much of it because I was already crunching something hard. Then when I finished and was cleaning my mouth / teeth I noticed my tongue could feel a sharp edge sensation on one of my teeth. At first I thought it was some corn stuck in between my teeth. After pulling out two mirrors I realized that the tooth chipped off and what I was actually crunching on earlier was part of my dead tooth! After having a sweet moment dwelling on that I realized that it was the same tooth that has been inflamed by the gum line for a long time. It is most likely dead hence I did not feel any pain from it. I will probably get it extracted tomorrow.

Tooth Dead

I have had that happen too. I do not eat popcorn but I have broken off parts of my teeth that were 'fixed' by a military dentist. I have spend a lot of money getting teeth pulled that the military has goofed up. I still have a ways to go. I am currently missing over half my teeth. I need to get more done before I can get a partial or a full set of dentures.

Dead Tooth Health & Special Psychology

Was that as a result of military training / accidents or bar fights?

Actually, I went to the dentist today fully expecting to extract the tooth but he was surprised I wanted to do that. He felt that I should do a root canal and then build back the chipped part of the tooth using "white filling" (I don't know the technical term). He said that apart from having a missing tooth it would cause a gradual movement of the other teeth as well and that can lead to other problems. He put me on a course of penicillin for 5 days to kill the infection as a start and then he do the root canal.

Is that similar to what you had done KN?

Tooth Dead

Yes the military gave me two root canals and pulled a couple others. One tooth was damaged upon extraction and I found out I had a exposed nerve in the middle of a combat zone. Let me tell you that is some pain I do not want to experience again. The two root canals that were preformed have since fallen out and those teeth have been pulled. Most of my problems with my teeth came from the Military dentist that worked on everyone before being shipped over to desert storm. I have good dental plan now and am working to get my mouth back in order. My dentist has advised he could save the lower front but the rest have to go.

Tooth Dead

First part of root canal completed. I did this with no anesthesia save for two 600mg ibuprofin I took beforehand just in case. He said the tooth had two roots and he cleaned both. There was no need for drainage because it was dry (most likely from the use of the penicillin). He placed on a temporary filling. In one week I have to go back and he will ensure it is still clean and then restore the tooth.

Dead Tooth

I'm done with root canals, personally.

I have one tooth that was "restored" many years ago that has decayed away under the cap, to the point that the gap between that and the next tooth collects so much food debris it causes a lot of pain. This got infected last year, but because of the cap I couldn't see the gap, and because there was no nerve in the tooth (because of the root canal) there was no pain until the infection was so severe that the gum and jaw were involved. They had to scrape out the debris and irrigate, I had antibiotics, etc. Next step is to extract the tooth, but it won't come out easily because it's mostly disintegrated. They may have to cut it out. Yuck!

Makes me want to have all the old root canals taken out and get a partial plate. Why save them or restore them if they will just rot out later?

Dead Tooth

Well, I would extract if I could afford a bridge, but that is about eight times the amount I'm paying now. So at least this will last a few years until I become rich from online advertising (yeah, uh-huh) and pay for something better. Makes me want to ensure I keep the rest of my teeth in order for sure.

Dead Tooth Psychology Special & Health

I am just working on my full dentures. That way if I want I can just gum things a lot.