I hate going but I have to (have a bit of an emergency situation), so I'm going at 1:20 today. Just hope they can fix the problem without having to pull the tooth out. Yikes!!!!! I'm trying to remain positive, since I know that dentists can do a lot of things now that they could not do before.

I have just been informed that my wisdom teeth are starting to screw up the rest of my teeth, and giving me these constant ear aches


so i have an appt next weds to talk to the oral surgeon


Im soo excited

funkpill said:

Aww thanks, funk, I needed that. I'm a big ole sissy when it comes to dentists.

ella731 said:

Uuuuggghhh, good luck with that, keep us posted. Gotta wonder why we even have wisdom teeth, when they cause nothing but problems.

Speaking of dentists. Last week had a wisdom tooth out due 2 some decay. Well it hasnt healed properly and now the nerve is funked up and its causing some of my other teeth to feel pain. So I went back today and he told me that If it dont settle in a few days I'm gonna have 2 have a root canal or another extraction. So much joy... I feel ya pain.

newpowersoul said:

I hope your teeth start to feel better.

I just went for the first time in over a decade cuz I had some pain last week. Now my wisdoms aren't out yet...and I suspected that with some cavities and a feww root canals.

Well...no cavities...but the wisdoms need to come out (2 of em) and then a DEEEP scrape needs to happen with my gums. Joy.

SO...when I get the extraction...do I go for the Nitrous...or get knocked out? Any advice is welcome. I hate the dentist and it's freaking me out.

superspaceboy said:

Im getting knocked out, i cant STAND hearing the noise of the dentist, especially since im getting the wisdoms cut out

superspaceboy said:

I definitely would get knocked out. I'm like ella, I can't stand hearing (or feeling) anything. I know, I'm a big chicken.

Just got back from the dentist, and it turns out that I need a root canal on my one tooth. I had a filling in it, but the filling came out due to decay below it. I'm freaking out too, because I have to go to a different dentist (an endodontic specialist, to be exact) for the root canal. I asked if the endodontic specialist did sedation dentistry, like my dentist does, and the lady said, "No, but you will be numb". Yikes, I don't want to be numb, I want to be asleep, so I don't see, hear or feel anything!

Funny how going to the dentist is the most dreaded thing in the world for lots of people. Good luck to you, superspaceboy.
[Edited 8/29/05 11:24am]

I've had my teeth drilled without any novacaine, it's really not bad at all. In fact, it's nice because you don't feel like you have a fat lip for the next several hours.

Some dentists are starting to use a laser to drill out cavities now, which is practically painless. I've had that done as well without getting numbed and it was even less of a bother than the drill.

Tom said:

You're braver than I am Tom, to be able to get your teeth drilled without novacaine.

I've heard of the laser drilling, it sounds wonderful! I asked a former dentist about it, and he told me the only catch with using laser drilling is that it can't be used on a tooth that has been worked on already. It would be nice not to have to listen to that whine of the drill, that sound drives me nuts and makes me nervous as hell! It's amazing what dentists can do these days!

psychodelicide said:

I know if you are someone who is very nervous at the dentist, period, that this probably won't help much but..

I've had two root canals done in the last few years, and before the first one I was SO SCARED. Going to the dentist makes me a bit nervous, but not too horribly, but the idea of a root canal just terrified me because I've heard so many horror stories about them.

Well, let me tell you - I don't know if it's that I have a higher pain threshold (I honestly don't think so, as I am a huge baby about pain), or that my dentist is just extra-gentle and good, or if it's that dentistry has advanced so much that nowadays root canals aren't the major procedure they used to be, or a combination of all of the above, but the root canal really, truly, honestly wasn't any worse than having a regular filling done (except that it took longer to do than a just an average filling)

First they numbed the spot up really well, then he drilled a bit.Then he took this weird tiny pipe cleaner looking thing and rubbed it around in the drilled area (that did NOT hurt, just felt strange, like a pressue sensation). Then he did that a few more times with smaller sized pipe-cleaner looking things, then he put a rubber wedge-ish thing in there, and then I had to come back in a few days and he finished things up. It's been a couple years since I had a root canal, so I apologize if I missed anything or got the sequence of events mixed up, but these are what I recall about my root canal/s.

Oh - one thing I forgot to mention...the night of my root canal, my tooth did ache a bit but a bit of ice and some aspirin took care of that. I think that aching that night after the work was done was the worst, most "painful" part of the whole experience for me.

Please try not to get too worried or afraid about your root canal. (easier said than done, I know) It will really be OK and not that bad...and you said you're going to an endodontic specialist, so they'll probably be even better and more advanced and more skilled than my regular dentist is at doing these things.

You will do great and it will all be fine, though I know my words probably won't do much to take away your fear. but I hope I helped a little anyway.

Good luck. and just try to keep remembering how healthy your mouth will be when this is all over.

superspaceboy said:

I just had two of my wisdom teeth pulled, and have to have the other two pulled this week. Actually, I just had laughing gas, and it was not big deal at all. I had NO PAIN. The healing process was uncomfortable coz you have to be careful not to cause a "dry socket," but I'm not even scared about going in this week. Now all of my wisdom teeth had already grown in straight, but my dentist thought it was time to pull em coz they were beginning to give me some problems as far as keeping them clean.

Also, my dentist suggested that I have em pulled two at a time coz that way the other side of my mouth wouldn't be sore. Also, there was not emergency as far as pulling them. I'm glad I did it that way even though I have to go in again coz it was kinda difficult to eat.

But as frightened as I was, it wasn't that bad. By the way, I looked up a bunch of stuff on the internet about the procedure, so that info. calmed me down a bit.

Isel said:

I had dry sockets in all four of my wisdom teeth holes. I was working full time and it was so fucking painful. I couldn't sleep so at night I would just lie on the couch with ice and watch TV all through the night. Then they started shoving medicated gauze into the holes and it really really helped.