Toothache.

[undeterred]

Left work. Appt in 1 hr. Miserable, no insurance.

[scarlet_owl]

1. I'm so sorry.

Here, have a hug. :hug:

[Ariana Celeste]

2. I'm sorry

Toothaches are the worst. I get them once in awhile- don't have insurance either so nothing to do about it. Hope you feel better soon, :(. :hug:

[undeterred]

3. Ugh. I have to do something about this.

I am in so much pain I can barely drive or work.

[Ariana Celeste]

5. That's really bad

Good luck with your appt, I feel for ya :(

[GoddessOfGuinness]

12. Upper or lower?

I've sometimes held a plain aspirin between an aching tooth and its upper neighbor, and it helps temporarily.

I hope you feel better soon! :hug:

[Akoto]

4. I'm going to the dentist in 30m for the same thing.

They say they are only going to take X-rays and look at those, because they won't have time to do the work today. I know I have a lot of cavities in the back of my mouth though. I have panic/anxiety disorder issues, and going to the dentist for anything really makes me tremble. :scared:

[undeterred]

7. I hope you get through it.

I am pretty good with the procedures, I just hate the bill.

Over the last few years my insurance has been sporadic and my teeth are not in good shape because I couldn't afford to keep them up.

You might want to try a dentist who can work on you asleep- there are a lot of people who hate going and they can sedate you now to make the whole experience less traumatic.

[Deep13]

15. Sometimes I get halcion for dental procedures.

Of course someone needs to drive me in and bring me home, but all the anxiety is gone, then.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

30. Please consider hypnosis.

I had it done, it wasn't expensive, and it made all the difference in my life. Now I look forward to going to the dentist with the same enthusiasm as going to a movie or out to dinner. It really works. Don't suffer or neglect your teeth because of this fear.

[cassandra uprising]

6. Yikes

That is no fun. I hope it's minor :hug:

[undeterred]

9. The tooth was healthy, but it broke badly

I just hope they can save it.

[cassandra uprising]

11. oh shit that sucks

Do you have someone driving you to the dentist?

[undeterred]

13. No, but its less than a mile.

I had to drive home from work over 50 miles.

[DainBramaged]

14. I've had two break (next to each other) since November, just from age

Never had fillings in them. The remains of them remain. $250 each to pull them plus $95 for xrays. Have to deal. The pain stopped in a few days when the nerves died. Dentist won't let me pay weekly or monthly, pig wants it all at once. :cry:

I know exactly what you are going through.:hug:

[Deep13]

17. They can with root canal therapy, but it ain't cheap.

Otherwise they can extract and you can either bridge it later or even get an implant. A bridge is still pretty pricey, but you can get a partial in the meantime.

[undeterred]

22. $1930 for one tooth with two roots

It never ends.

[samplegirl]

28. that is way to damn

much. Get another Dentist.

[LSK]

8. ibuprofen

If its a cavity get it taken cared of before you need a root canal which is even more expensive.

[Whoa_Nelly]

10. Total empathy

Had massive toothache back in November. Was on antibiotics, vicodin, ibuprofen, living from dose to dose for each dose. Ended up having tooth removed.

Ouch! I feel your pain!

:pals:

Update when you can.

[Shakespeare]

16. I just went through this....(and also currently without dental insurance)

The pain was so bad that, as my dentist described it, I was "ready to jump out a window." If you're in the same boat I was, you've probably got an infected/abscessed tooth. They'll probably take an x-ray, then prescribe antibiotics and pain meds, and have you come back in about a week to either get a root canal or get the tooth extracted. Since I'd already had TWO root canals on that stupid tooth, I opted for extraction (and will have a bridge put in in a few months).

ASK FOR PAIN MEDICATION. Tooth pain can be some of the worst pain you can experience (as you no doubt know). I got vicodin, and praised the heavens for it.

I signed up for a dental "discount" program the day of my appointment (after doing a little internet research), and it saved me considerable cash. The initial appointment was $40 for the x-ray and exam, and the surgical extraction a week later was $115 (would've been almost $300 without the discount). I used AmeriPlan, but there are several programs like this out there. It's worth the $11.95 a month (to me, anyway).

It'll get better, but you have ALL of my sympathy. That stupid tooth totally sidelined me for a few days. It's been out for two weeks as of tomorrow, and I feel a brazillion percent better. Good luck to you!!

[undeterred]

18. The dentist was patronizing, I cried.

He didn't even look in my mouth, just at the xray. Asshole.
There is an abcess. He wrote a prescription for penicillin and gave me nothing for pain.
I have a choice between root canal and losing the tooth.
I've already lost 3 teeth in the last 2 years and this one is in front.

The dentist thought I should schedule the RC right away. $630 to start, total around $1900. I couldn't possibly have the $630 till April so I scheduled it for April.

I think he refused to give me something for pain to try to force me to have the work done sooner.
He just doesn't get it. :cry:

[Shakespeare]

19. That's sadistic.

Call his office back and tell them you MUST have something for the pain! It's unethical for him to deny you pain relief for what is by any account an extremely painful condition.

I'm so sorry to hear you're going through this. :-(

[friesianrider]

20. What he said!

I'd call them back and tell them you need something for the pain. It's ridiculous for this dentists not to.

I'm so sorry undeterred :hug:

[undeterred]

21. Well, I told them I had taken a vicodin for the pain

which I have because of my migraines. Occasionally I have refused an Rx from a dentist because I have vicodin on hand, but I've never had a dentist fail to offer me a prescription for pain medication when I was in obvious pain caused by a dental problem.

[nytemare]

23. That sounds pricey to me.

I went to a meat market type dentist a few years back when I needed a root canal. I had insurance, even with that they wanted to charge 1700 for an extraction and root canal.

I went to another dentist, and my insurance covered everything.

If you can, you might try calling around. I think dentists too often believe they have a captive audience. People aren't thinking as well when they are in serious pain.

I hope you can get some help. I am sure there are places out there that can sign you up to some kind of self paid dental plan that can help you out.

Good luck!

[LSK]

24. take ibuprofen for the pain

I just went thru this, trust me, it works miracles. Eventually the nerve will die and the pain will go away. My root canal cost me $913 and Im getting my crown completed tomorrow so that might be another $500 or so (im guessing). And this was on my last molar.

Dont you love this fucking shit country? In Europe, money would not be an issue, you would be taken care of!!! :grr:

[Deep13]

25. Find someone else.

Some dentists run root canal factories to pay their student loans.

I've never heard of a r.c. being used to treat an abcess. An abcess is outside of the root and damages the surrounding bone. My understanding is that an abcess can sometimes be treated with an apical root canal. That is one where the oral surgeon enters through the gum and bone in order to clean out the abscess and to secure the root.

R.C.s are not always successful when there is bone damage and at any rate a multi-root canal should be done by an endodontist, not a regular dentist. This requires the use of specialized microscopes to locate the root canals.

I am not a dentist, but have had about a dozen root canals, many caps, a couple bridges and an implant. Much of the work was done by students who were a bit cheaper, but did not have that anestesia thing down pat.

[undeterred]

26. Thank you.

Considering he didn't even look at my mouth, and I was angry at the way he treated me I would like to find someone else anyway.

He wouldn't be making money off this- its a referral to someone else. But I had the feeling he looked in my mouth and saw $ and wasn't concerned with my pain.

[catmandu57]

27. Ibuprofen is your best friend

I had teeth problems in my younger days, my teeth would hurt so bad all I could do was walk the floor and hold hot wet towels against my face.
Ibuprofen was the only thing I ever found to kill the pain.
I wound up having every one of them yanked, now, I keep my teeth in a cup at night, and I haven't had one regret.
I didn't have insurance, a job, nothing it was pure hell, the only thing to do was ride it out.

[Lochloosa]

29. My acupuncturist says to hold a piece of ice between

the meaty area between your thumb and index finger to relieve the pain.
Don't know if it works but you might try.