Dentist Advice

[pberggren1]

Thank you very much Jane.

[Pete]

I have had some sensitivity to pressure in one of my molars over the past couple of days. I went to see my dentist on Friday, and he could see nothing wrong with the tooth via x-ray, so he referred me to an endodontist who saw what he thought might be some sort of trauma to the tooth. He thought it might have been caused by biting down on something hard (like an olive pit -which I did a few weeks ago). The current plan is to monitor the sensitivity over the next week. If it stays the same or gets worse, the endodontist will do the root canal. If it gets better, no treatment necessary.

Also, the x-ray showed that one of my wisdom teeth has a cavity forming. It's in a very difficult spot to reach with floss and toothbrush (I use an electric toothbrush) as well as a dental drill, so the dentist is thinking that this wisdom tooth should come out. He said it would not be difficult to extract as the roots are all clustered together. I'm OK with this, as this particular tooth has come in crooked and has been irritating the inside of my cheek for many years. Getting rid of this irritant would probably be a good thing for me.

Other than our dumb disease, I'm pretty healthy. Any thoughts or recommendations about these plans?

[pberggren1]

I think I would have it taken out. And if he thinks you need a root canal then I would do that as well.

[mishb]

I still haven't been to obtain the letters required from my dentist, before they will look at my teeth.

I have a rheumy appointment in the morning so I guess I better speak to him about the letter.

Do you need to take antibiotics for a week prior to having any major dental work done?

[windchime]

Pete I would do the root canal if it's necessary and have the wisdom tooth removed since it irritates the inside of your mouth anyway. You can check with your medical docs on whether they feel you should premedicate. I've had hip replacements and have to premedicate prior to any dental work. The premedication I do is 2000 mg of Ampicillin 2 hours prior to the start of the treatment and 1000 mg 2hrs after.

My own dental plan, starting soon, consists of a redo of a prior root canal that has a nice crown on it already; a crown over a chipped tooth that has already had a root canal; a crown over a tooth that has a huge filling that is chipped; and last but not least replacing a crown that has been on since I was 19 as there is now decay under it. This one may require a root canal as the same tooth on the other side did and it also had the old crown. I so don't look forward to this, but at least I have decent dental insurance.

[Alysia]

I took out all my 4 wisdom theeths years ago. they were all half in half out and it was a kind of surgery. not very nice with pains after. antibiotics is a must. and I would ask your wg doc about doing any procedure. we weggies are delicate.
* I posted something for you on fb.

[Pete]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. As for premedication, my dentist said that my current dosage of bactrim DS is adequate. He installed a crown in my mouth last fall, and it was no problem. I don't have dental insurance. Before I got sick, I had had no issues for at least 15 years. So when dental insurance was offered, I decided to assume the risk and pay for routine exams and cleanings out of my own pocket. These two procedures will be expensive. I'll take a look at dental insurance at next year's open enrollment.

[windchime]

Yes unfortunately root canals and crowns are very expensive. Even with insurance I have to pay 50% of the crown and get lucky with the RC and only have to pay 20%. This is still better than cash for all of it.

[Debbie C]

I have an appt. with the dentist this week also. (Are all of our teeth going to start going now too )I had my wisdom teeth taken out last year,not all at once though and I never took any antibiotics. But it would not stop bleeding,I had to keep changing that guaze every 10 min. and was getting sick from the blood.I had to return the following day for him to put more stitches in.( on 2 different teeth ) This week I am supposed to see about getting a crown put on one of my side teeth. It will be around $700.00
I don't have dental insurance either but I signed up and got this thing called Care Credit,it's like a health credit card where you can make payments on it. Did I mention I HATE DENTISTS ALMOST AS MUCH AS WINTER !!!

[rebekah]

So glad I saw this post... I have an appointment on the 18th to see a dentist, and it's a nice reminder to ask my doctor if I need to be pre-medicated beforehand. I'm on Bactrim, too, but I'll be sure to ask. I really, really don't like going to the dentist either. I dislike dentists more than winter. I cry every time I go, like a little 5 year old kid (maybe I can get some anesthesia to knock me out?). I don't have insurance either - thanks for sharing the tidbit of info about that card, Debra. I'll look into to it.