Dental Issues and Questions

[kijip]

I am prone to cavities. Thank god for composite fillings or I would look like a very old woman as far as my teeth! I brush, I floss, I use Listerine, I use ACT floride rinse. I will admit to not being great about going to the dentist however. Since I have insurance, and time I decided to step to it and go back to a dentist. I found out today at my new dentist's office that I have TWO more cavities. 1 can just be filled. 1 is in a tooth with 2 fillings already. That tooth is all but gone considering the two existing fillings. It will need a crown (luckily, it will be tooth colored as well). I also have delayed shamefully (I even have good insurance) in getting my wisdom teeth extracted and attending to getting an orthodonitics consultation to consider more extractions (not for decay but for hidden/impacted teeth). So the wisdom teeth extraction is set up for Jan 30th. Yikes. The Orthodontics referral (I just called) is set up for the 23rd.

My wisdom teeth are impacted in my jaw, running a higher risk of nerve damage. Is there any way to investigate a dental practice to see if they are the best place to go? I don't want to end up with a shoddy job with complications. A website? A board of Dentists?

What about the orthodontist? I am going in for a free consultation on the 23rd but don't want to commit to a treatment plan and payment plan with a shoddy practice. Obviously treatment would not begin until after I was healed up from the wisdom teeth extraction. My insurance won't cover the orthodontist-I will need to pay out of pocket. But my jaw is getting crowded enough to hurt and my bite is causing headaches, I need to take care of it. Thankfully I will have some funds to cover it and the practice will take monthly payments via bank draft if I agree to the price. But I am worried about getting ripped off. Is there a place to price orthodontic procedures so I can compare the quote with typical pricing? I guess I would kind of like to know the cost range of what I would be getting into. But I don't know where to look. Do people shop around or does everyone have the same rates? This is going to be a financial sacrifice to make so I need to know that it is worth it by getting educated.

The place I went today (our insurance changed and my old dentist is not on the plan anymore) seems clean and the dentist was nice but I would like to be an informed consumer here. Honestly, the whole thing gives me the heebie jeebies. But they don't sell melt away dental fears pills so I am stuck!

[mom_hanna]

I am not an expert by any means, but I think to get different price quotes, you would have to go get consultations at a couple of different dentists and see if they come out in the same price range. You could also check out http://www.wsda.org/consumer/faq.view. You can call the Dental Quality Assurance Commission and find out if any of the dentists you have been considering have had any complaints filed against them...not necessarily reliable as I am sure a lot of people who don't like their dentist's work don't actually report it to the Commission.

Other than that, can you get recs from friends or former coworkers? HTH at least a little bit.

Jennifer

[Wife_and_mommy]

My only advice is to make sure your dentist has experience with the work you need done. I've had several bad experiences that my teeth are paying for because the docs in question weren't experienced in what I needed done.

Hope it all goes well.



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[lmintzer]

Honestly? For impacted wisdom teeth, I would go straight to an oral surgeon. I had mine removed as a college student without any trouble. He did it under conscious sedation, so no pain at all. He injected anti-inflamatory drugs while working to reduce swelling afterward and gave me an "ice sock" to wear around my face for 24 hours. I had almost no pain at all, almost no swellling, and could eat liquids/pureed foods that night and soft solids the next day. I can't say enough about how good my experience was. Of course, there are good and bad oral surgeons, but I think these docs. have much more experience doing tough wisdom teeth removals--they are surgeons after all and are "cutters" by training. Best of luck finding someone good. I know this is anything but fun. I need to go to a dentist too. It's been too long!

[nov04]

I had my wisdom teeth removed by an oral & maxillofacial surgeon, I would highly recommend it.

[kijip]

The sedation you described is the same that the practice I went to today outlined for me- conscious sedation, antibotics, anti inflamatory meds. But I think I am going to investigate using an oral surgeon.

Are oral surgeons medical doctors who specialize in oral surgery or are they doctors of denistry with additional training/specialization?

Happily this place has excellent recs from my neighbors and an old co-worker. Off to check the website above.

Thanks to all for the replies.

[MelissaTC]

I too had impacted wisdom teeth removed by an oral/maxilliofacial surgeon. It went really well. I had it done on a Friday (V-Day no less) and was back to work on Monday, feeling 100% fine. He was recommended to me by my dentist and is a member of the AAOMS.

Edited to add that you can located one that is a member of the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial surgeons through this link- http://www.aaoms.org/findsurgeon.cfm

[Elena]

I just had my wisdom teeth removed by an oral/maxillofacial surgeon a month ago. The surgery itself and the first days were not too bad at all, BUT I developed a complication called a dry socket. A "dry socket" occurs when the blood clot is lost from an extraction site prematurely. It is a very painful condition that occurs in about 2-3% of people after complicated tooth extraction. I had to go back to the office to have some packing materials placed to help ease the pain.

There are some activities which may increase the propensity for dry sockets: smoking, drinking carbonated beverages in the first 24 hours after surgery, spitting, or drinking through a straw - I did none of which - but often "dry sockets" occur for no particular reason at all, like in my case.

I just wanted you to be aware of this complication. If your pain gets worse after 2-3 days, go to the doc immediately!

[mskitty]

I agree with the previous posters. Run to the oral surgeons office! Mine were done at the oral surgeons... I was completely knocked out for mine and pretty much slept round the clock after. I had "phantom pain" (probably bruising of my sinuses) for two weeks. Because I had more jaw bone removed than wisdom teeth due to severe impaction, I lived on soup, applesauce and muffins for six weeks afterwards. I highly recommend going out for a great meal the day before surgery :)

Shop around for your dental care. My current dentist is good at what he does but doesn't have a fancy office or the newest, latest stuff. My mom picked a similiar type of orthodontist for me. They were only about 2/3rds the price of the others. They had a one price plan no matter how long it took to correct my teeth which was split into 24 monthly payments.

Try calling multiple dental practices and ask which doctors they refer their patients for oral surgeries. Likewise try the reverse.

MsKitty

[karolyp]

There was a post a few weeks ago from Consumer Reports about the surgeries you would be better without and wisdom teeth removal was on there. I don't remember the specifics, but maybe worth your time to look up.

Anyhow, I'm prone to cavities too (darn that chocolate :) ). But I've heard and experienced this twice (even happened to DH) where one dentist will examine my teeth and conclude that I have x # of cavities and then I'll get a second opinion in which the new dentist won't find any. I literally fell off the examining chair when a dentist told me I had 8 cavities and that it would cost several hundred dollars to get them filled, only to go to another dentist and have them say I have none. One denist told my husband he had TMJ and would cost $30K for treatment, only to have another dentist disagree. So I guess the moral of the story is to get a second opinion.

HTH and good luck in your search