carolinephillips

Ok, some advice needed. DD has all 4 wisdom teeth out a month ago, and she is having real problems with bits of food getting stuck behind her back teeth where they cut the gums to get access to the unerupted teeth. She has a syringe that the dentist gave her, but it isn't very effective. Last night she took 3 hours to eat her spaghetti bolognese!!

Jon77

When I was 17 a wisdom tooth grew in sideways (so the top of the tooth was facing the tooth next to it and grew sideways under the gum line quickly. First thing I knew about it was bad jaw pain.

Had to have that wisdom tooth removed quickly (still have my other three wisdom teeth) but because it had crashed in to the roots of the tooth next to it and caused issues I had to have a root canal done on it.

This was fine for 18 years or so until last year I was getting a few issues. I discussed the options with the dentist and he said that a tooth implant might not be possible for that tooth as the bone structure around where a root canal tooth has been isn't the strongest. They can do a bone graft procedure but that graft isn't always successful and is very expensive, basically the cost of the implant procedure x3!

Anyway I had the root canal redone on that tooth a year ago and it took a little while to settle but seems to be ok again. It isn't a tooth I will probably keep forever though unfortunately.

If I had the option of a root canal on a new tooth now versus going straight to an implant I would get an implant I think. Not planning on needing any more root work anyway.

Dental implants are ok, but the procedure isn't successful for everyone. Some peoples bone isn't strong enough and a graft won't work or they are just rejected and you get infection.

Also my dentist advised me that sometime dentists are too hasty to remove some wisdom teeth these days. Often if there is a problem with only one they will whip all 4 out. I still have both upper wisdom teeth and a lower one. If I lost an upper tooth say and had a gap then my teeth would shift a little but because I have both of my upper wisdom teeth the impact would be less and over a period of time the gap would close well on its own thanks to the extra wisdom teeth. That was basically their job one upon a time, to shift the teeth along and be an added extra tooth when another got worn out. I was given the option of having all 4 wisdom teeth removed at 17 and I declined and I am glad I did as the other 3 have been no problem at all and are like normal teeth.

lesleys

Would these help?
Piksters
You can bend the little brush so you reach into fiddly spaces.

spouse of scouse

Caroline, have a Google of 'dental water pens' or 'water picks'. I have no experience of them (yet) but apparently the water is pressurised and they are supposedly very effective at getting into nooks and crannies. 3 hours to eat a meal is a major p-off!

spouse of scouse

The time has come. Going into hospital on Monday to get all me teef out. I'll be toofless! The first person to call me Gummy gets belted

Treatment plan has been amended, in accordance with my needs as identified by my oral-maxillofacial surgeon. It goes like this:

Day admission to hospital, all teeth extracted, lower jawbone shaved and prepped as necessary, 4 titanium implants inserted in lower jaw, stiches. Upper jaw will have a pre-prepared full arch denture fitted in theatre.

2 days after surgery - present to OM surgeon's rooms to have temporary acrylic prosthesis bolted onto lower jaw implants.

Around a month after surgery - upper arch denture will need to be relined, as the gums recede once healing from the extractions takes place.

Around 3 months after surgery - present to OM surgeon's rooms to get temporary taken off, and permanent porcelain prosthesis attached.

Then schedule further surgery for upper arch implants - rest of the procedure the same as for the lower arch.

Best wishes
Gummy (thought I'd get in first)

gill556

Good Luck, let us know how you get on.

carolinephillips

Wow- SOS all that pain will be worth it when you end up with the world's best gnashers. Good luck.

spouse of scouse

Thanks Gill and Caroline

They'll be nice gnashers Caroline, but they won't be that dazzling, almost fluorescent Hollywood bleached white - that might look ok (although not realistic) on 20-somethings, but they don't sit so well in a 50-something face

spouse of scouse

24 hours post-surgery, and so far so good.

Surgery took longer than expected, 3 hours instead of 1.5, not sure why and will ask the surgeon when I see him tomorrow.

As well as the general anaesthetic, there was a shedload of local, so much so that I'm only just regaining feeling in the lower half of my face. The reason for that is now apparent, because the pain's kicked in. Got sent home with good drugs though, so it's under control.

Next step, attend my surgeon's rooms in the morning, the prosthesist will be there too, and they'll bolt the temporary onto the implants.

As always, anyone who's thinking of having something similar done, I'm happy to answer any queries. Now, what's for dinner? I can choose between ice-cream, creamed rice or mashed potato

gill556

It all sounds positive and hope everything goes well for you.

Daisytreadlight

How are you doing now, has the pain lessened and are you able to eat properly yet?

spouse of scouse

Not too bad thanks Daisy, still a fair bit of pain but it's only been a couple of days. The temporary looks good! Bit worried that my chin is still entirely numb, will ring the surgeon for a chat tomorrow.

Oh - still on a diet of gruel With a bit of luck I'll lose a couple of kilos.

Daisytreadlight

Glad you ok and temp looking good, hope the feeling comes back soon enough. The things we do to lose so weight eh xx

spouse of scouse

Yes, there has to be more pleasant ways

carolinephillips

You can also eat things like butternut squash/pumpkin soup, or mash up some sweet potato or squash.

Sometimes the numb feeling can last for weeks, because the nerves have been bruised and they take a while to recover. If you are really unlucky, that feeling may be permanent, as happened to my OH with a root canal. (The one he has just had redone and crowned.) He now has a permanently numb spot on his lower jaw so he can't tell if there are crumbs there. It is only in a small number of cases, so don't want to alarm you -his dentist in the UK was a bit of a butcher. She botched my teeth too.