Dentistry thoughts

[alexxkay]

So yesterday, kestrell and I went to the dentist. It was the first time either of us had been in literally decades. We each have some cavities and wisdom teeth that 'need' dealing with, so we'll going back for a consult on Friday, and for the actual work at the end of the month. Bleagh.

I gotta say, dentistry as a basic concept is a hard sell for me. In order to prevent some unknown amount of future mouth pain, I voluntarily sign up for a system where, every six months they (at minimum) torture my entire mouth so that it hurts for the next 24 hours. Plus maybe more advanced torture to put in fillings and such. I'm pretty sure that I don't generally have that much mouth pain in a year *without* dentistry. Kes points out, correctly, that there is a marginal benefit in being able to *schedule* trauma, as opposed to having it be on an emergency basis. But it's pretty darn marginal. I doubt I'd do it if I was paying for it directly, rather than through insurance.

Comments

[lauradi7.livejournal.com]

If you do the regular thing regularly (without skipping years and years) it only hurts while they're doing the scraping and poking, plus a couple of hours after that. Flossing at home helps a lot.
Due to toughness training as a child (in my extended family, only my father ever had pain-killers while having his teeth drilled), I can cope OK with dental pain. Drilling without anesthetic is painful, but the feel of vibrations and the sound are worse to me anyway. I have no idea whether gas would make those areas of unpleasantness go away.
On the other hand, careful upkeep does not necessarily prevent something like an abcess. If you ever suspect an infection, get the antibiotics
IMMEDIATELY. Don't let the dentist blow you off in a "wait and see" kind of way. The resultant root canal
causes no pain, because the nerve is dead. I have two crowns but haven't had the problems that calygrey has had.

Much of preventative dental care is for the benefit of your gums as much as your teeth, because susceptibility to cavities is partly in your DNA - the hardness of the enamel, the angles in which your teeth grew in (and therefore impactedness), all of that stuff comes from your parents, although flouride in early youth can
add to tooth strength.

[alexx-kay.livejournal.com]

it only hurts while they're doing the scraping and poking, plus a couple of hours after that.

Obviously, your family has higher pain tolerance than mine. When I *did* go regularly, I still experienced pain for ~24 hours after a cleaning; that hasn't changed.

Much of preventative dental care is for the benefit of your gums

Makes sense in principle. But given how much abuse my gums take during a "cleaning", I am skeptical about their methodology.