So my wisdom teeth have been growing in the last week or so. Since I trust you guys more then any dentist I ever met (all 4 of them), do I wait for the pain to stop (its stopping already) or do I just get them pulled?

Since I had 4 dentists screw up so far, never managed to get a cavity or other "problem" with daily brushing and lots of fluoride enhanced water, other then having most of my "baby teeth" still in my mouth, I am good so far. So I am figuring I may as well keep them in. But this last one so far is a B*%#h so far.

Dimitri

I still got all of mine, I don't pull out parts of my body just for the heck of it.
On the other hand, if they grow crooked, yeah you may want to pull it out before they create further problems
such as worn out (clicking) jaw hinges.

I'm with Gelan on this one mate. Don't remove them for the sake of gettin' rid of them.

Mine were removed when I was quite young, but as Gelan said, they can grow crooked...which mine did...and create problems. One of my daughters has to have hers removed because they are coming through at an angle and pushing against the next tooth in line and putting it out of alignment as well.

If you are in any doubt as to the Dentist's motives mate...ask to have a look at the x-rays...that way you can see for yourself if they are coming through cock-eyed and likely to create problems down the track.

It's not necessarily a nasty procedure, although to have all four removed at once is pretty uncomfortable...biggest bug-bear is the cost...it ain't cheap mate.

Good luck buddy...I hate toothache, although I have been known to go to sleep in the Dentist's chair.

Cheers, Vince

The US Navy mandated that I have all four pulled out before my first sea duty. They didn't want to have any associated medical issues while a sailor is out to sea and medical care is an ocean away. If pulled, I get all four done at once. I also got my buddy to agree to get his done at the same time - misery loves company.

Wierd slimjim...Spent 22 years in the "Canoe Club" The Navy never said that to me. They did pull two and I still have the other two...

Dimitri wrote:

Since I had 4 dentists screw up so far

I thought the Canadian health care system was the best on Earth !!!


D, I would have an x-ray taken to show any potential over crowding that will cause you troubles down the road.
It's possible that the pain will subside but become worse in the future and be more of an issue to pull by waiting.

Chambered,

Canadian Health care in a nut shell .... www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2jijuj1ysw

My experience mirror's what he tried to do. If I could save the tax rate difference between US taxes and Canadian Taxes if I opted out of Socialized Health Care so I could just pay my own Health Insurance I would in a heart beat.

Dimitri

Dimitri wrote:

Chambered, My experience mirror's what he tried to do. If I could save the tax rate difference between US taxes and Canadian Taxes if I opted out of Socialized Health Care so I could just pay my own Health Insurance I would in a heart beat. Dimitri

Yep until you needed major surgery, or had a major illness like cancer. If not for our medical system my father in-law would not have been able to afford the cancer drugs or treatment. The sale of his farm he worked all his life on, likely would not have paid his medical expenses. One of the injections he got was like 5 thousand dollars a pop and that one was every day for a while, and that didn't include the handfull of pills he had to take every day, the chemo, etc plus the rooms (off and on for like weeks at a time) in the hospital since last August. So if your not sick ya it seems like paying US taxes would be good but it's a lot different when you need medical help. No 'Mitri we are damn lucky when you look at the big picture, furthermore everyone no matter rich or poor gets the same health coverage.

I remember about 20 - 25 years ago, at a GM course I was at, an Instructor from the U.S. (Florida) got talking about our health coverage and he said it cost him something like (I don't remember exactly) $1000.00 every month or few months for medical coverage for him and his wife and at that time us Canadians couldn't believe how costly it was for him and how lucky we were. He thought so as well.

chambered221 wrote:

Dimitri wrote: Since I had 4 dentists screw up so far I thought the Canadian health care system was the best on Earth !!!

Our health care system does not cover Dentistry, it only covers Medical care and some prescription drugs are totally covered. Other prescription drugs are covered after you have paid X amount. I don't remember what the amount is exactly. Low income Seniors get all there prescriptions for something like $15.00 not matter how much more they cost.

I was being just a bit sarcastic due to the push we're having down here !!!

1895ss wrote:

Yep until you needed major surgery, or had a major illness like cancer.

I guess so, I am glad about your father in law however.

I still know a girl that is on a indefinite waiting list for knee surgery caused by the doctors messing up the first time (shes been in surgery already to partly fix the damage since). Its been over a year since they even had a specialist check her knee. I know others who have gone and paid cash in the US, and elsewhere to get major surgery done cause their life "expectancy" was less then the wait time for the surgery. Paid by line of credits and second mortgages.

To quote the Supreme Court on the issue. "Access to a waiting list is not health care", and that is the reason other then travel costs our public health care insurance is willing to pick up most of the tab for out of country procedures.

Dimitri

I waited as long as I could to get my wisdom tooth pulled. It pain would come and go over several months. I let it go until I couldnt stand it no more. That came on a friday night at about 11pm on a midnight shift. Called my dentist, he was on a boat deep sea fishing. He pulled it monday morning about 7am before reg business hours. Worst weekend of my life. It was comming in sideways too I waited so long.

chambered221 wrote:

I was being just a bit sarcastic due to the push we're having down here !!!

No problem chambered, I just thought I'd remind 'Mitri how good we really do have it here when it comes to medical coverage......

1895,

I am not saying we don't have it good, just saying our "good" monetary wise is not necessarily the best over all.

Dimitri

Ok you want some advice? I work for an orthodontist. I do lab work but I've been an in-house lab tech. for 30yrs and I've been through the hoops. My advice is have the ones that bother you taken out. From an orthodontic point of view, the ones left in your mouth could cause crowding, could become fused to the bone in a laying down position, but I have to tell ya if you leave one there that is bothering you, eventually you'll have it taken out. The longer you wait the worse it gets. That pain is not going away for long. I had one removed that was fused to the bone and it was and still is the worst pain I've ever been through. Lots and lots of nerves in the face and cheeks and they don't hesitate to relay messages to your brain. If you've ever broken a bone and know that pain, think about what it would feel like in your jaw. Otherwise an extraction is very mild and you probably won't even need any meds to get you through. Get an x-ray to see if it's going to be an easy one or not, if it's not just make plans for a couple days off. (grab some booooze) Personally I wouldn't have them removed all at once, just my opinion, but if you have complications with just one of them, it makes the whole experiance sort of......... jaded...... ya know what I mean?


Go to it!
Suz