Interesting Dentist Experience

[MorningStar]

Over the years, there has been a ton I didn't know about dentistry.  I never had a cavity until I was violently ill for months as a young adult, and that was just a tiny thing.  Years later after four babies, I had one more baby cavity. 

 

My old dentist retired and he had told me there was some dark areas in the grooves of my teeth, but that they were rock hard.  He said, "A younger dentist would probably want to make them pretty and white."  I appreciated him telling me this, because when I moved and found a new dentist, this guy was suddenly telling me I had 12 cavities.  I asked if there was any chance they could remineralize and he said, "No, they're breaking down."  He didn't even show me the xrays or anything after I had been there for 2 hours - so long I had to nurse my baby while having my teeth cleaned.  I asked him how I could suddenly have that many cavities and he said probably because my baby took calcium from me during my pregnancy.  And this was the first time I didn't have morning sickness!  I told him there was no way I could afford that and he said he could spread the work out over 18 months. 

 

The receptionist then printed me out an estimate for almost $3,000.  I was horrified.  She said, "That's because you don't have insurance."  I said, "I DO have insurance!"  I spent a long time filling out the info on their website, so that was very annoying.  The corrected estimate said it was still over $1,000.  Was this some sort of game to make me feel better about the sticker shock? 

 

I made an appointment to have some of them filled, but then I felt like the Spirit was telling me to cancel and then surprisingly, wait.  I wanted to get a second opinion after a friend who was a dental assistant told me that it shouldn't be, but that dentistry was "subjective".  I was about to schedule a second opinion, but felt the prompting not to.  After talking with another friend, she suggested "oil pulling" because she had tried it for 6 months and her dentist declared her cavities were gone.  What the heck?  I'm a major skeptic, but I decided to try it because it couldn't hurt.  I swished coconut oil in my mouth every morning and used ACT fluoride rinse every night before bed, also brushing twice and flossing every single day.  I was doing everything I could in hopes I could at least improve some things.  I figured if the work could be spread out over 18 months, what was the harm in waiting 6 months? 

 

Today I went to a new dentist and I wasn't able to get my old xrays in time, so he did new ones.  He was completely baffled and said, "You do NOT have 12 cavities."  He said there were two tiny ones I could put off for years that had probably been there for decades.  The other two needed to be filled, but no rush at all on those either.  They weren't anywhere close to being emergencies.  This is much more manageable! 

 

Now I'm dying to get a hold of my old xrays and show them to my new dentist.  Was my old dentist not thorough?  Was the guy after him overzealous or was he trying to rip me off?  Or was he correct and my teeth did in fact heal (despite his opinion that they couldn't). 

 

Either way, a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders today!  Tell me about your dental experiences.

[Traela]

Tell me more about this coconut oil rinse. One of my daughters can't go to the dentist for another six months (recovering from bone marrow transplant), and my other BMT daughter is two years past but still has terrible teeth.

[bluebell]

That is very intriguing.  Normally i wouldn't put very much validity toward such a story (if heard it second hand or something) but since i know you, and know that you're not a crazy person who thinks they can cure broken bones with essential oils (yes, i've heard that testimonial), I'm impressed!

[MorningStar]

http://www.webmd.com/oral-health/features/oil-pulling

[MorningStar]

Thanks, BB!  I'm not even sure if the oil helped.  First of all, I want to see the xrays from 6 months ago and have my new dentist take a look at them.  It might be the last dentist was either feeding me a load of crap or just felt like he needed to get rid of the stains that aren't cavities.

 

Second, my teeth have remineralized before without any oil.  If they did in fact remineralize, I don't know if the oil helped or not.  I just figured it couldn't hurt.  If they did just remineralize on their own, I'm still very annoyed at the dentist who insisted it was impossible.  I do know that pregnancy can take a toll on your body, including teeth.  It just didn't seem possible that I would have 12 cavities since my last visit.

 

I'm also allowing myself a lot more milk.  I drank crazy amounts of milk as a kid.  I've been drinking mostly water for 5 years and apparently my low sugar diet didn't do me any favors in the teeth department.  Figures.  I haven't had pop of any kind for 5 years and hardly any juice.  As a kid, I drank plenty of pop and could go to bed with candy on my teeth, never getting a cavity.  I'm sure that's genetics. 

 

The "oil pulling" was difficult at first, especially since coconut oil starts as a solid, but I got used to it.  

[Rain]

I had a lot done as a teenager. It didn't seem to matter how clean I kept them. My siblings didn't work as hard and were fine.

So 20 years ago it wouldn't have surprised me to get more dental work done, but when I went into a new dentist it surprised me when he wanted 6 crowns.

I got a second opinion and this dentist said I had few spots to watch, but needed no crowns.

Long story short I now have 6 crowns, but didn't get the last one till 5 months ago when the extensive work from my teenage years fell apart.

[MorningStar]

I'm sure genetics plays a huge part.  My friend's family always had multiple cavities at every visit.  I could brush my teeth once a day as a kid and go to bed after eating a bunch of candy.  Never a cavity until I was a young adult.  A close friend of mine took care of her teeth obsessively and still ended up having to have one extracted.   

 

I think one of the things that helped me is that I LOVE milk.  I drank huge amounts of milk as a kid and other dairy products.  I was reading that any kind of bone broth is good for teeth too. 

[Garden Girl]

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Edited October 4, 2015 by Garden Girl

[BlueDreams]

I have gone to a dentist all of about 5-10 times in my entire life....2-3 of those were for my wisdom teeth being yanked before my mission. The rest were mostly cleanings. I have fairly straight teeth and don't have a lot of dental problems ever. But I was similar to you, MS....i didn't get my first cavity until I was an adult and then I magically got 4. One of the fillings have apparently caused a minor problem with the gums in my molar...but that's apparently not worth fixing unless it gets worse. Next to that the last visit pointed to a few minor cavities. And I stink at flossing...though I don't do a ton of sugar.  

 

I don't know how I lucked out. My brother's teeth are like glorified swiss cheese and my other bros have definitely had cavities filled.  On my other side, they're all leaning toward needing braces.

 

I did oil pulling for a little while, mainly because it's also supposed to whiten your teeth a little....but I couldn't keep it up. 

 

But I just got my own dental insurance that entails a couple of free visits per year. So I'll probably go now a little more frequently. 

[Kyle Kenley Kopitke]

I do some oil pulling and I feel much better for doing it.

 

Regarding your Dentist: I too have had that where some will drill over a small nick in the tooth, while others will say that it is no big thing.  Today, many professions justify in their mind what they do; they all need money and sales or drilling brings it in.  I could go on but you get the point; buyer beware in all aspects.  Humans are humans.