Blackjack's Thread of Illness and Ailments

Postby **NTP66** » Sun Jan 14, 2024 10:15 am

Woke up in severe pain again, so I have no idea what to think anymore. Got eugenol from Rite Aid to try and help while I wait for packing material for the extraction site. Literally doing everything I can to avoid bothering my dentist on the weekend/holiday so long as I can tolerate the pain. I **** hate all of this.

Postby **King Colby** » Sun Jan 14, 2024 10:56 am

Screw him, it's his job. You know your body best. Feels like 5 days in you should be moving in the right direction... don't mess around with possible infections

Postby **skullman80** » Sun Jan 14, 2024 11:07 am

Yeah I’d not feel bad about reaching out in that situation.

Postby **NTP66** » Sun Jan 14, 2024 11:10 am

The pain went down a bit over the last hour or two, so I’m going to see how it goes. If it’s manageable, I can accept it. I know this is just a time thing.

Postby **Shyster** » Sun Jan 14, 2024 1:53 pm

Are you taking any other pain meds, or have you tried upping the pain meds? For example, the OTC dose of ibuprofen is 200 mg every four hours, but the prescription dose is 400 to 800 mg every four hours. When I broke my ankle, the ER doc told me to just buy regular ibuprofen and take the bigger prescription dose if I needed it.

Postby **tifosi77** » Sun Jan 14, 2024 2:28 pm

If you had a severe toothache - like FML I'd like to die now, please - that might not be a good thing that the pain subsided. It could mean the infection simply killed the nerve inside the tooth, so it's 'dead' now. The infection is still present, there just isn't any mechanism for your body to transmit the warning sign ('pain'). If you let it go untreated, the infection could get into your gums and (worst case) possibly even get into your jaw bone.

Postby **NTP66** » Sun Jan 14, 2024 2:37 pm

Well, the tooth and subsequent nerves were extracted, so… I get it, though. I’m going back tomorrow morning at 7:30am so that he can take a look to make sure everything is good. I just wish there was better pain management, because Tylenol, ibuprofen and naproxen aren’t doing much.

Postby **NTP66** » Mon Jan 15, 2024 1:07 pm

Doc said it’s healing, so I’m still on track. He scraped it a little to bleed and clot, then packed it with medication. Honestly, today hasn’t been awful. I didn’t eat breakfast before I went, so my biggest issue was an upset stomach thanks to taking ibuprofen while empty. Finally ate at noon. Still on a softer diet, so this makes 3 out of my last 4 meals French toast.

Postby **tifosi77** » Mon Jan 15, 2024 1:09 pm

Yeesh, teeth pain sucks.

Postby **mac5155** » Mon Jan 15, 2024 2:46 pm

My dentist called today and canceled my cleaning for next week with no date to reschedule. This has happened now to my wife, son, and I all. I think it's unfortunately time to find a new dentist. If you aren't in the office Fridays and don't have a hygienist 1-2 other days a week, sorry it's not gonna work. Is this a global problem or just local to my dentist?

Postby **NTP66** » Mon Jan 15, 2024 3:35 pm

Never had that problem, personally. And IMO, a good dentist is worth their weight in gold. I’m thankful to have a great dentist and staff.

Postby **mac5155** » Mon Jan 15, 2024 4:14 pm

No complaints with my dentist either. But I think they treat their hygienist as contractors or something? Anyway. How can you expect to not have one available but keep patients. Maintenance work is a lot more prevalent than issues I'd imagine.

Postby **Joegap** » Mon Jan 15, 2024 5:01 pm

My permanent crown fell off last night and I swallowed it while I was eating gummies from trader joes. Thank god not experiencing any real pain

Postby **NTP66** » Mon Jan 15, 2024 5:01 pm

Gummies and **** like that are banned in my house.

Postby **shafnutz05** » Mon Jan 15, 2024 5:31 pm

No complaints with my dentist either. But I think they treat their hygienist as contractors or something? Anyway. How can you expect to not have one available but keep patients. Maintenance work is a lot more prevalent than issues I'd imagine.

They probably use all temps and the temp agencies don't have anyone. There is a major hygienist shortage, I'm so glad I'm not head of TA for a DSO anymore, it sucked.

Postby **shafnutz05** » Mon Jan 15, 2024 5:33 pm

Doc said it’s healing, so I’m still on track. He scraped it a little to bleed and clot, then packed it with medication. Honestly, today hasn’t been awful. I didn’t eat breakfast before I went, so my biggest issue was an upset stomach thanks to taking ibuprofen while empty. Finally ate at noon. Still on a softer diet, so this makes 3 out of my last 4 meals French toast.

Damn dude, hope that's the last complication you have to deal with

Postby **faftorial** » Mon Jan 15, 2024 6:11 pm

No complaints with my dentist either. But I think they treat their hygienist as contractors or something? Anyway. How can you expect to not have one available but keep patients. Maintenance work is a lot more prevalent than issues I'd imagine.
They probably use all temps and the temp agencies don't have anyone. There is a major hygienist shortage, I'm so glad I'm not head of TA for a DSO anymore, it sucked.

Insurance companies control pricing on teeth cleaning I believe.

Postby **mac5155** » Mon Jan 15, 2024 7:23 pm

No complaints with my dentist either. But I think they treat their hygienist as contractors or something? Anyway. How can you expect to not have one available but keep patients. Maintenance work is a lot more prevalent than issues I'd imagine.
They probably use all temps and the temp agencies don't have anyone. There is a major hygienist shortage, I'm so glad I'm not head of TA for a DSO anymore, it sucked.

That makes sense. This was the insight I was looking for

Postby **dodint** » Mon Jan 15, 2024 8:57 pm

My January dentist appointment was postponed to mid February for lack of an available hygienist.

Postby **Joegap** » Tue Jan 16, 2024 3:46 pm

My permanent crown fell off last night and I swallowed it while I was eating gummies from trader joes. Thank god not experiencing any real pain

Tooth is dead.. have to have it extracted and get an implant. Next available appointment is until Feb 27th. Guess ill be toothless for a while

Postby **count2infinity** » Tue Jan 16, 2024 3:54 pm

Just long enough for you to get used to it not being there and then replace it and bite your own tongue for a week.

I agree that teeth pain is some of the worst pain. Probably second to testicular.

Postby **NTP66** » Tue Jan 16, 2024 4:12 pm

My permanent crown fell off last night and I swallowed it while I was eating gummies from trader joes. Thank god not experiencing any real pain
Tooth is dead.. have to have it extracted and get an implant. Next available appointment is until Feb 27th. Guess ill be toothless for a while

Did they tell you it was a two part process? I don’t quite remember how it was with my implant, but I swear they put the base in right after extraction.

Postby **Joegap** » Tue Jan 16, 2024 4:44 pm

Yeah I think it is a two part process. I think the extraction area needs to heal and then they put the post or whatever in, and then the fake tooth

Postby **faftorial** » Tue Jan 16, 2024 4:45 pm

Implants ain't cheap either.

Postby **NTP66** » Tue Jan 16, 2024 7:08 pm

Mine wasn’t too bad, I don’t think. Around $1500 out of pocket for me.