Posted: 9/4/2008 8:27:24 AM EDT
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I was in the dentist's chair this morning for a marathon session. Two filling & a crown prep, 2hrs worth. As a died in the wool SF participant the idea of how to get decent dentistry following an event rattled around my head. Preventive care is really important as we all know. Oral hygene products just went higher up the list in importance among my preps. Tooth paste, tooth brushes, mouthwash, cute dental assistant  ..... |
hydrogen peroxide works better than most mouthwashes that I've tried, most of which have sugars and other junk in them that seems to breed bacteria....my hygienist has noticed it too. Keeps the plaque down and kills any organics in your mouth...just don't swallow any of it. Don't forget your dental floss |
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Obviously, preventive care is important. You can "brush" your teeth with your finger. You can also use a chewed up twig. Baking soda is a pretty good dentrifice and both alcohol and peroxide will work as disinfectants. I would also imagine that in a survival situation your intake of processed sugar would drop dramatically and sugar is a major contributor to dental caries. I think that the bigger concern would be protecting your teeth from external damage by impact, abrasion and detritus in your food. As far as the human body is concerned a tooth extraction is simple and about the least traumatic and most survivable operation you could do in a SHTF situation. For a long time extraction was the only remedy for a rotten or broken tooth. It's always the infection that's been the killer. |
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The book Where There is No Dentist should be in everyone's library. Medical Corps does "survival" medical courses. I attended on of their classes 6 years ago and was impressed with the dental portion. Wal Green's has a pretty good selction of emergency dental supplies. www.medicalcorps.org. is Medical Corps web address. Hope I was able to help. Medicguy |
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ugh that reminds me of what my dentist told me last time I visited. That two, possibly three teeth will need crowns soon. They are mostly metal and I have put off fixing them for a while. Can you say lots o $$$$  I should get that out of the way as soon as possible though. Because I don't want to have to remove those teeth with a pair of pliers or an ice skate. 
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i'm sure wilson will stand by while you're pulling teeth. does remind me, i also need some crowns.  developed the habit of grinding my teeth at night while i was in law school and i have hairline cracks in some of my teeth.
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here ya go: where there is no dentist |
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For those of you facing the prospect of big $$$ for crowns, I will again suggest looking into your local dental schools program. It's usually about half of retail. U of MD has a two tier system, the upper tier is comprised of graduates who are interning. It's not as cheap as the student program but still a lot cheaper than the street. Implant and crown about $2000. |
There are not many dental schools, unfortanetly. The work at one should be acceptable tho, if you are on a budget. |
Good for you with the implant. More expensive, but a much better alternative. I would suggest you make sure the surgeon doing the implant has access to some form of 3d imaging- hopefully onsite. It could make a huge difference in the procedure. IM me if you have questions, and no, I am not a dentist. |
Ask about ceramic/tooth color options(look much better)- you could also get it done in one visit with one of the new 3d milling machines, and avoid the hassle of a temp. |
long day you got the point there, is that better now be careful, if you go spelling nazi on anyone else, you will go over your 6 post per month quota. jk  |
CT scans are rarely necessary for the placement of dental implants. But, hey if you you have an additional $400 burning your pocket what the heck. I know. I place implants. |
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Once while out in the field at Ft Hood, I was enjoying some downtime with a peppermint that a buddy gave me. A filling had come out some time earlier in the field problem, but had given me no real trouble up to that point. Good thing too, because you don't get brought in from the field over a missing filling. As I was chomping on the peppermint I forgot about the missing filling until a little sliver of the mint drove itself straight down into the open cavity in the tooth. The pain was so perfectly exquisite that I literally couldn't breathe for a few seconds, not even to screech like a little bitch the way I soooooo wanted to. The medic was with the other platoon several kilometers away, so I was at the mercy of my buddies, one of whom performed the extraction by knocking the tooth to the side with a screwdriver to loosen it enough to be pulled free. Field expedient dentistry is most unenjoyable. |
As a dentist as well, I agree. They're getting pretty simple and scans aren't needed. Be sure to floss!! |
Ouch! |
I am not a dental profesional. That being said, the times when a CT scan is needed are unfortanetly often not known until after the surgery. I am sure that if you guys are in the dental field, you have seen the results of a botched implant simply because the dentist did not have enough information- by relying on a pan or intraoral xray which simply overlays everything onto a flat image. Every dentist that I have seen go from only xrays to some form of 3d imaging has been amazed at what additional imformation and detail is available to him (or her, in a few cases). The tools available to dentists have certainly made it easier for implants to be placed in a general practice, but personally if I was having an implant placed, I would go to a dental surgeon who specializes in implants, and get a CT scan done first. If the surgeon has a scanner on site, then he is putting his money into his practice to improve his patients care. Odds are, Hawk_308 does not need a CT scan before his procedure. For a little exra money (implants are already very expensive) he can make sure his dental professional has every advantage to do the best job possible. This is simply my opinion, and feel free to disagree, and I encourage you to voice your opinion. I do not believe this is to far outside of the thread context to be considered a hijack, but if it is, I apoligize. |
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Teeth are important. I thought I had really good teeth and just skipped going to the dentist for years. <insert Doh!> Short story, I had been slowly accumulating problems and I'm now about 5 grand poorer. ...or well on my way to a million dollar smile.  Can't remember the source, but some historian found death records from the 1600's London -- fully 25% of all deaths were attributed to dental problems - abcesses, bone infections, systemic blood poisoning and the like. A toothache is NOT just a minor inconvenience |
"An ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure." - Ben Franklin Ben knew what the f$ck he was talking about. Once the SHTF, sugar, candy, soda etc will forbidden to myself and family as resupplies of tooth paste, floss, etc become more scarce. |
I completed a residency in which the main focus was on implant surgeries. In my experience, botched surgeries are usually attributed to either 1) improper preoperative assessment (not failure to do CT scan, but rather failure to take diagnostic casts and bite records, choose correct implant size, etc. or 2)failure to fabricate and utilize a surgical stint. If you feel that a CT scan is necessary, then by all means ask for one. I can assure you that in 95% of the cases, they are not warranted. |
I Agree.... |