OT: Any dentists in the house?
Long story, but to summarize:
I had a root canal, went in a couple weeks ago to have it prepped for a crown. The dentist was worried at first cuz there is a crack in the tooth, but after working on it he figured it was salvageable and he put some kind of rubber stuff around the gum line and temporarily capped it to get the crown in a couple weeks.
I was chewing something a couple minutes ago and the entire top of my tooth came off. Now it's a nub about 1/4 inch (totally guesstimating that). No pain, and it's all sealed up.
Is there any salvaging this, or is it gone?
January 29th, 2011 at 4:41 PM ^
Just put some Tussin' on it.
January 29th, 2011 at 4:45 PM ^
January 29th, 2011 at 4:51 PM ^
January 29th, 2011 at 4:53 PM ^
I've had a couple root canals as well. When they prep it for the crown, they take a lot more of your tooth then you think. I checked out my tooth when they took off the temporary and it was just a nub. I was surprised by what a small piece of tooth I had left.
So, hopefully just the temporary cap came off, and everything is still in place to have the crown put on.
January 29th, 2011 at 4:56 PM ^
January 29th, 2011 at 4:56 PM ^
January 29th, 2011 at 5:03 PM ^
January 29th, 2011 at 5:05 PM ^
You seem like a nice guy. i'll let you keep your avatar.
January 29th, 2011 at 5:12 PM ^
January 29th, 2011 at 5:31 PM ^
BOOOOM! That just HAPPENED.
January 29th, 2011 at 5:04 PM ^
First year dental student, so I can give my VERY unexperienced (yet very expensive) opinion. As long as you only broke the temporary crown, then it shouldn't change anything in the long run. I couldn't tell from your story, so I'm assuming the permanent crown hasn't gone in yet. Since the root canal is done, there shouldn't be pain regardless. If what you broke was the real tooth, then worst case scenario you'll need to get an implant, which isn't all that bad, actually pretty bad ass in my opinion.
January 29th, 2011 at 5:07 PM ^
January 29th, 2011 at 5:10 PM ^
then the dentist can probably have the lab whip up another temporary crown until then, might have to tough it out for at least a few days before then. wish i could be more help, there will probably never be another mgoblog thread that's more up my alley than this.
January 29th, 2011 at 5:15 PM ^
delete
January 29th, 2011 at 5:16 PM ^
January 29th, 2011 at 5:05 PM ^
January 29th, 2011 at 5:08 PM ^
January 29th, 2011 at 5:18 PM ^
January 29th, 2011 at 5:07 PM ^
why don't you just type this into google instead a website dedicated to sports?
January 29th, 2011 at 5:10 PM ^
January 29th, 2011 at 5:31 PM ^
+1. Posts always end well when there is a 'Fucktard' response.
January 29th, 2011 at 5:11 PM ^
Sincerely,
ESSSS EEEEE CEEEE FANS
/ZING!
January 29th, 2011 at 5:11 PM ^
I am wondering who did the root canal. I don't want their name, I am just wondering if your dentist did the root canal or if a root canal specialist (endodontist) did. The reason I ask this is that if a specialist did the root canal they will use a microscope during the procedure to evaluate the soundness of the tooth prior to doing the root canal. In most cases, if a fracture of the tooth is noted, they will not do the root canal and will advise you to have the tooth removed.
There are a lot of dentists who do root canals themselves, and there is nothing wrong with that, but sometimes they complete root canals on teeth that have fractures that make the tooth either very difficult or impossible to restore (cap/crown).
The hallmarks of a failing tooth are pain, swelling or discharge (pus). I would tell you that if you have any of these symptoms it is fairly unlikely that the tooth will have a good long-term prognosis. Antibiotic treatment may relieve symptoms temporarily, but the tooth would still need definitive treatment.
CVS sells temporary cement that you can use to re-cement the crown back on the tooth, providing there is still enough tooth to hold the crown. If your dentist feels the tooth is stable and can still be restored you will likely need what is called a post and core and then the crown. This will add to the expense of having the tooth restored, but will allow restoration of a tooth that has lost much of the structure above the gum line.
January 29th, 2011 at 5:17 PM ^
hey pullin4blue, know any dentists looking to take on an associate in 3.5 years? worth a shot.
January 29th, 2011 at 5:34 PM ^
CB2009,
The economy sucks right now so most people I know are not looking for associates or partners. However, you have the luxury of time. I'm seeing a lot of older docs, DDS and MD that are staying in practice longer only because the market isn't what they thought it would be when they hit their window for retirement. Having said that, in the next few years, as the economy continues to turn around, these guys will be retiring and looking for associates and partners. I would always recommend looking at specializing, but I understand that debt has to be paid off. You have plenty of time right now. Get good grades and try to develop good relationships with your instructors. They hire a lot of the grads.
January 29th, 2011 at 5:36 PM ^
That's basically what I've been hearing. I did undergrad at Michigan but I'm at U of Minnesota for dental school. It's pretty nice up here but I definitely would prefer to move back post graduation.
January 30th, 2011 at 12:21 AM ^
Nice? I saw you guys were subzero for a few days last week. I guess I shouldn't say anything though, I'm a D-1 at Case and it snows just about every day.
January 29th, 2011 at 5:18 PM ^
January 29th, 2011 at 5:32 PM ^
January 29th, 2011 at 5:41 PM ^
January 29th, 2011 at 5:48 PM ^
January 29th, 2011 at 5:55 PM ^
January 29th, 2011 at 5:29 PM ^
but I did sleep in my own bed last night.
January 29th, 2011 at 5:33 PM ^
I cracked the top off of a tooth once, playing baseball. I took a line drive to the face. They were able to glue the tip of the tooth back on after the root canal.....
January 29th, 2011 at 6:05 PM ^
as a soon to be graduating dental student it sounds like (without reading every comment on here) that the crown that is being made now will not fit and you should let your dentist know in case it has not been processed at the lab yet. Depending on what it looks like, the dentist may be able to salvage it by placing a post into one of the roots and attaching a core to that to build up tooth structure. Then a new impression would need to be taken in order to make the final crown.
January 29th, 2011 at 6:24 PM ^
Hey.....if there is enough tooth/root we might be able to cut away a little tissue and bone. The tooth may still be restorable. (I'm a periodontist......give me a call). If not we can slick it out and stick in a little titanium.
January 29th, 2011 at 6:40 PM ^
Enough of this already...this site is supposed to keep our minds off of real life things like dentists, not my favorite people at the moment.
I had an implant and graft done a week ago, with the damned implant placed 16 mm into my jaw, or so I think the oral surgeon said to me as I was coming out of the conscious sedation haze. Great stuff but still no fun. Still aches a week later.
Out of curiosity does Dante have a place in hell for people who bore into your mouth with drills spinning at a couple of trillion RPM's? And that's after they stick a needle into your gum that seems long enough to exit through the side of your neck. If not, we need to establish such a place.
January 29th, 2011 at 7:47 PM ^
Dentists her are advertising one visit crowns. They do the grinding, take some pictures and have a milling machine produce your crown in the same visit. Seems to be the way to go.
I had a root canal and crown after splitting my tooth. I used to grind my teeth while sleeping and now just chew the hell out of my mouthguard. About 3 years after I got my crown it came off. It looked almost exactly like what you describe. They reglued it and explained that it would come off every 5-7 years when the adhesive wears out.
I wouldn't worry, but just get to your guy/gal asap
January 30th, 2011 at 12:15 AM ^
CAD/CAM technology is ridiculously expensive right now. I saw a figure the other day that only about 3-5% of dentists actually have this technology. You'd have to be placing a ton of crowns to make it work.
January 29th, 2011 at 10:53 PM ^
If you want to check his references, just give this guy a call
