Root Canal Question. Why me?
I have had perfect teeth all my life. Dentists have joked about how they "never make any money off my mouth." All I've ever needed is a good cleaning to "sand blast" the tea stains off my teeth. And now this! I am in my fifties, so my teeth have been working hard for a good long while. Severe tooth pain in a back molar sent me into my dentist's office. An x-ray showed one of my 12 year molars is in distress. I've got an appointment with an endodontist. But why me? Someone who has NO fillings, and only a bit of plaque that gets sandblasted and scraped away every six months. Why me? How could I have gone straight to root canal without even stopping at fillings?
I feel so "cheated" and like my teeth have declared war on me! Any dentists out there with some wise words?
Thank you.
Thank you "Dental Student". You're on to something.....
I did fall off my bike five years ago and hit my chin and really slammed my jaw. TMJ was insulted and I had to have stitches in my chin. Perhaps that is what set the whole thing off.
I want better teeth, what can i do?!?
Long story short I have bad teeth hygiene. Always have, very inconsistent brushing as a kid. I drank a lot of soda, tea, and ate lots of candy. I got tea stains and some white plaque spots. I could have stopped it there but as a teen I only got slightly better. I also drank less soda and ate slightly better but still lots of candy. I started using mouthwash and occasionally flossing but brushing was still never superb. Now I'm 18 and regretting it, I don't know what to do. Its hard for me to get into a habit of brushing and even harder to try to do it when it seems I'll never have nice teeth. Is there anything I can do to salvage my teeth, and make them at least pretty nice.
PS I had braces, I have some stains, the bigger problem was clarity of teeth in my teen years, and anyways just wanted to say I have straight teeth. Just not smooth and all white.
PPS I have tried bleaching but given the few different shades on my teeth it doesn't really work and having yellow teeth isn't really the problem.
Can anything rejuvenate your teeth?
I'm 18 and have bad teeth. Not horrible enough where getting cosmetic surgery would make any sense but bad enough to spoil that perfect moment where you catch eyes across the room and you both smile. As a child I simply didn't brush enough, once a week and on special occasions from 6-11 years old. (3-5 I brushed of course baby teeth don't last...oh my white baby teeth)
Even as a teen brushing was simply not a habit but seemed like work for me. From 12-14 I'd brush essentially everyday before school and on occasion before bed. Finally at age 15 I got my act together and it seems like I take care of my teeth not the great way dentists tell me to, but the same way all the people I know with good smiles take care of their teeth. It still doesn't seem to be enough, and on occasion I fall into old bad habits.
I have tea stains, white plaque spots from early childhood, clearness in spots, and ridged teeth on many.
Is there anything I can do to catch up? Any tricks to minimize this damage, or to gain back what I lost. I really don't like my teeth. If they were just more solid and consistent with even an offwhite color and smooth I'd be fine. So again...Is there anything I can do?
Is having 6 cavities bad for a 20 year old?
I have 6 cavities that I didn't know I had. My teeth aren't sensitive to anything. Hot, Cold, or sweet. I went to the dentist for the first time in a LONG while just for a normal check up and after reviewing my x-rays they showed me where my cavities were and pointed out 6. I always thought I had healthy teeth. I brush twice daily. Once when I wake up and again before I go to sleep. I floss and use mouth wash. The non-alcohol kind with fluoride in it. I have fluorosis on my teeth, so they're stained, but not cola or coffee or tea stains.
Why is it that I have so many cavities doing all that's needed to be done to keep up with teeth. And is 6 cavities really bad? How come my cousin, who only brushes once in a while only had 1 or 2 cavities his whole life? What's up with that?
Tooth "went bad" and had to be pulled, Was My Dentist Negligent?
Please, dental professionals reply to this query. Smart alec answers will be reported.
Up until this nightmare of having to have a tooth pulled, I have had perfect teeth. I am fifty-something in age and have no fillings, never even had to visit a periodontist. All dentists have had to do is "sandblast" the tea stains and scrape a little bit of plaque. So what happened to me this month was a total shock.
About 18 -20 months ago I began having painful "zings" in tooth #31. I told my dentist about the problem and all he told me to do was use sensitive tooth toothpaste. The zings would come and go and happen when I would even eat very soft food. Every visit I would tell him the painful zings continued.
X-Rays were taken, and everything looked normal. He had me bite down on something he called a "tooth sleuth" and my tooth did not "zing" me with pain. At my last visit in October he again had me bite on the "tooth sleuth" and my tooth did not hurt.
Around Christmas time the occasional "zing" became almost chronic jaw and facial pain, and on January 6th, I visited him again. He x-rayed the tooth area and said "root canal". WHAT?
The endodontist examined my tooth with his microscope and took a pano of my jaw area and declared the tooth could not be saved.
Having never had to deal with dental problems beyond the routine I was shocked.
Was my regular dentist negligent in brushing off my original complaints?
I am thinking of finding a new dentist because of this nightmare.
can tooth enamel grow back?
Yesterday I went to the dentist to get my teeth professionally cleaned from tea stains. However, I think she overdid the cleaning as even until today I still feel a smarting sensation on my teeth, particularly the mandibular incisors. My teeth have become very sensitive since yesterday, it hurts when I brush my teeth. The dentist said that it's normal, but I think it isn't because I've had my teeth polished many times before (every 2 years or so) and this has never happened. What is going on and what should I do about it?
I fear that she may have rubbed off some of my protective tooth enamel, but there's no way I can know that. Should I visit another dentist to have them perform a corrective procedure, or will this fix itself in a few days time with good calcium and protein intake?
i feel a very slight chip on the edge of my left central mandibular incisor. that wasn't there before i visited the dentist yesterday.
if enamel doesn't renew itself, then is it safe to get my teeth professionally cleaned every two years? i just do so in order to prevent calculus, and ultimately caries. or should i just let my teeth stain because they don't really harm my teeth?