Terrible idea? Or....awesome money saving idea?  

I find out in about 30 minutes.

I had a root canal done many years ago that gave up the ghost a few months ago.  Last night the remainder of the tooth broke.  It's kind of loose but still being held in there pretty good.  It is extremely painful and while I know the dentist will have to be seen I gotta fix this now.  

I feel like it's 80% terrible idea...maybe 90% but this tooth pain is forcing me into it.  Unless I chicken out, which is a very real possibility.

I'm at about 95% bad idea now.

So I was really hoping one of you guys jumped in and said "Don't do that! Stop! Never do that" but no.  


Anyone remember that scene from Step Brothers where Dale runs in the parents room and yells "what a terrible idea! Why did you let us do that! There's blood everywhere!"?

Yeah, I'm living that scene right now.

I should have taken it as a sign when I finally found my bag of tweezers, scissors and forceps only for it to spill it's entire contents as soon as I picked it up.  Nope, too much pain for that to stop me.  Fortunately I did have a pair of curved forceps that were perfect for the job.  

Good news is that I got it pulled out.  Bad news is that I'm pretty sure part of it is broken off in the bone.  So pain much better, one less thing for the dentist to overcharge me for and I feel a little proud of myself for actually doing it and not chickening out or passing out lol.  I did get a little woozy though.

 Bad news is I gotta go to the dentist for the rest.  Assuming my insurance covers dental that is.  If not there's no way I'll be able to afford it and I'll have to deal with as is.  At least it feels soooooooooo much better now.

That's a bummer. I can recommend a good dentist in Alpharetta who is also open on Saturday. They did ok by me paying out of pocket.

That seems like a really good discount.  Is there a reason to have your wisdom teeth removed after they've already grown in?  I mean if they aren't damaged in some way?  I broke one of mine off a couple years ago and the base of it is still in there.

It's really embarrassing but I've always had a fear of dentists, even as an adult.  It's stupid but most phobias are I guess.

1.) They're usually so far back in your mouth that they're hard to brush/clean and end up rotting/causing problems;
2.) They sometimes push your other teeth forward and cause your remaining teeth to get crooked.  If they're already done moving, and you haven't noticed an issue, it likely won't start to be one.

At least that's what the Army dentist told me 20 years ago

That makes sense.

I would encourage you to go 2x a year.  The main reason is that the dentist keeps your bones from receding.  When a dentist cleans you get cleaned under the gun line where you cannot clean at home.  Bacteria in there will cause your bone to recede.  It is your body's defense against infection.  This is why the term for older is "long in the tooth."

If you have not gone to the dentist for years, he can probably still do a deep cleaning, but it is probably already time to transfer to a periodontist.