An Olive

[tabs]

This is a cautionary tale. On Monday evening I prepared myself a salad in which I put some Kalmata Olives. As I was eating said Salad I bit down on one of the olives and heard a crack followed by pain in one of my teeth. I had fractured a tooth, the crack went vertically down below the gum line, splitting a quarter of the tooth off from the rest. So I knew it was a bad fracture. Three Ibufrophen tablets at a time kept the pain at bay until the next mornining when I was able to see the Dentist (BTW: It is Elvis's Dentist).

The Dentist took an X-ray which didn't show anything. The Dentist took one look at the tooth and said, "This is not a good canidate for root canal/crown. There isn't enough area for a crown to be attached and it will probably fail." So he recommended an Oral Surgeon to take out the tooth...I'm crying here.... So yesterday afternoon off to the Oral Surgeon I go. I asked him for a second opinion before he started...After looking at the tooth he said, "The crack goes below the gum line and the tooth won't have enough area to hold a crown. It's basically a no brainer."

So he shot me up with Novicaine and waited the few minutes to let everything become numb. Then he commenced with the pliers, hammer, chisel and drill. I closed my eyes and started praying for this ordeal to be over. A half hour later he is still at it cursing, putting his knee on my chest and screaming, "come on outa there U little B@$tArd." By this time I'm regretting not spending the extra money for the gas.....I can hear the cracking of the tooth, the smell of burnt tooth enamel and the taste of blood going down my throat. Finially as I am about to pass out, he finishs his work. Afterwards he told me that was the hardest tooth he ever had to take out..it was cemented in there....So I drove homewards with blood dripping from my lips and chin, had to stop and get the pain pills which I knew I was going to need as soon as my face stopped feeling numb. By the time I got home the pain was starting to set in, so I immediately took one of the pills and half an hour later was so zoned i could hardly get up.... It was about then that I just passed out.

Yep it's still mornining as I write this...I feel completely hung over, my outh is sore, and there still is some bleeding ...I havn't eaten a thing since Monday night and every time I take a drink of water some blood goes down with it...YEECH....I'm sooo Depressed...

AND ALL OF THIS OVER A FKING OLIVE.....

[BlueSkyJaunte]

You just described my wisdom tooth extraction adventure...except I had four teeth that had to come out and a bit of scalpel work before he could even get to the teeth.

My sympathies. Sleep on your stomach if you can so you don't swallow too much blood.

[Weaver]

I don't eat olives.









Just kidding! Sorry about your pain. Just had my first and hopefully last root canal last year. Not fun.

[Neilk]

Although it was probably a typo, when you wrote "my outh is sore", I could really feel the pain that one has after oral surgery. Hope you feel better soon.

[Owain]

I had a root canal done a number of months ago. Not much fun, an hour and a half of drilling and poking and cutting and burning-tooth fumes going up my nose. It didn't hurt too much as she froze me up quite well and gave me more whenever she saw that I was in discomfort. There was also a tv in the ceiling so I watched a WRC rally while the whole thing was going on. That helped to take my mind off it (although not too much).

Then, before I could get back in there for the crown work to be done, I was eating some corn chips and there was a huge cracking sound and no little pain as that tooth cracked in half all the way down to the root. I didn't even think that I had been chewing on that side of my mouth.

So back in I went. It was very upsetting to hear that the only recourse was to remove the tooth. I actually wouldn't let her do it that day, I went back a few days later to have it done. I guess I needed some time to come to terms with it (eating was VERY uncomfortable for that period). So there I was for another hour and a half of treatment similar to what you describe. That tooth came out in about 6 peices. Luckily it was a Friday and there was some F1 qualifying on the tube. After I left the office, however, I couldn't recall a single qualifying run I'd seen. I still didn't know who was on pole and I was completely physically drained as though I'd had all my muscles tensed for the entire time (most likely did).

Now I've gotten used to the hole in my mouth, I don't really notice it too much unless I'm chewing something sharp that cuts up my gums there. Also there's no longer any thermal protection there. If I put something into my mouth that's too hot I used to be able to open my mouth slightly and breath in and out to cool it a bit while keeping it on my teeth. Now it just burns the gums in that spot. I'm adapting, though.

I keep being reminded by my dentist that I have to go in to have a bridge made but the way they do that is to make a crown for the tooth on either side of the hole with a third suspended between them. I can't bring myself to let her grind all the enamel off those two good teeth just to fill the hole. The problem is that those teeth on either side shift a bit and have the possibility of tilting into the hole. I guess I should just go have it done so that the tomorrow-me can have nicely aligned teeth and be able to chew properly but the today-me doesn't want to go through all that again.

I guess I could just schedule it so that there's something good on TV

[id10t]

As a tip for the pain, if the narcs are too much for you (they are for me) call and ask for a script for toradol - it is a high-end anti-inflammatory. Worked great when my wisdom teeth had to come out (I paid for the gas and IV drugs for that one.. )

[dd74]

No buffets for a while, eh Ted?

[Schrup]

Bourbon helps the opiates work better. Seems when ever I get a pain prescription I get the directions mixed up & end up eating four every one hour. Something tells me that your not gonna waste away if you can't eat for a few days & I'm sure the buffets will appreciate the reprieve. Actually Tabs, I feel for you, I've had some bad dental episodes myself & can see one on the horizon.

[vash]

tabs have a martini. the toothpick stabbed through the olives should provide enough proof that you are pit-less. you may feel better if the bartender lets you do the olive stabbing. feel free to cuss. get a gold tooth, G-MONEY!

[Hugh R]

I had my wisdom teeth extracted by a Navy dentist on board a ship in the Sea of Japan while I was seasick.

[Overpaid Slacker]

Tabs, as a man of wealth and taste, eschew the olives and have a Gibson. Nobody's ever broken a tooth on a cocktail onion.

JP

[dd74]

Someone out there has to be selling a nice lid of Turkish hash. You could remove your own tongue after a couple hits of that.

[cowtown]

My parents brought up a 5-pound jug of Kalamata olives last time they visited. Man, those are some good olives.

[RickM]

I love olives too.

Looks like time for an implant....save your buffet money.

[Doug Zielke]

Tabs,
Olives are a wonderful food.
I only wish someone would have warned you not to bite the pits.

[island911]

Originally posted by RickM
Looks like time for an implant....save your buffet money.

Thats what I was thinking. Have you (or anyone else reading this) had an implant?

I'm considering that route myself.

I've had one dentist tell me implants take more of the patients time, (and money) than say bridge-work.
I guess they cut into the gum & jaw/bone, place a Ti base, close you up, and let the gum heal over, to allow the bone to grow into the Ti. Then a few months later, they go back in (cut the gum) to place the "tooth"
. .and on cost; I've been told, totals are ~$2500 per-implant, by one DDS, and told ~$4500 per, by another DDS. (?)

[juanbenae]

tabs dont be such a pu$$. you sound like my girlfriend when shes having her "time".

[Moneyguy1]

Just be grateful if was not an Avacado.,

[tabs]

I was Quoted $2800.00 for an implant...Now let me see at an average price of $11.00 for a Buffet...I will have to eschew roughly 254 Buffets...

One word...Scotch

[dd74]

Originally posted by tabs
I was Quoted $2800.00 for an implant...Now let me see at an average price of $11.00 for a Buffet...I will have to eschew roughly 254 Buffets...

One word...Scotch

When you say "an implant" does that mean $2,800 for one tooth? So if a dentist is faced with the average adult mouth of 32 teeth and all 32 need implants, that equates to $90,000.

Well darn! I should've gone to dental school.