Why do South Africans take out their teeth?

A root canal is really not that bad, pain-wise.
 
If the dentist gives you enough anesthetic then yes. For me the worst is the drill.
 
Lupus said:
It's cheaper as medical aids see most dental work as cosmetic and not necessary and also most dentists don't seem to contract to medical aid anymore so you've got to pay and claim back. With the price of about 2 to 4k for a root canal you can see why people say pull it
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Flip I wish my root canals cost R4k. I think they were over R6k each. And that isn't counting the two crowns I need because without crowns, root canalled teeth are far more likely to crack.

You can see why people would rather have the tooth pulled - R10k to spend on one tooth is a lot of money.
 
bokdrol said:
A root canal is really not that bad, pain-wise.
Click to expand...

I agree.
I had a root canal issue that was sorted without anesthetic but my dentist is actually bloody good.
He often does my teeth without anesthetic as it costs less firstly and secondly he knows he is gentle.
If I feel even a slight bit of pain he stops and asks if I'd like anesthetic.
 
Electric said:
I agree.
I had a root canal issue that was sorted without anesthetic but my dentist is actually bloody good.
He often does my teeth without anesthetic as it costs less firstly and secondly he knows he is gentle.
If I feel even a slight bit of pain he stops and asks if I'd like anesthetic.
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Apparently it is only really bad if you have an abscess under the tooth, partly because the acids in the abscess deactivate anaesthetic, meaning you can't really put the tooth to sleep.
 
I had a hole in my tooth that got infected and became very painful (the two nights before going to the dentist I took a handful of Myprodol that left me with stomach ulcers). I went to the dentist and he did the anesthetic then went to work. When I flinched he realised that my mouth wasnt numb enough. A second round of anesthetic and he started to drill... I was white knuckling the whole thing. When he saw that he stopped and gave me a third round of anesthetic. Then when that took effect he went to town. I could still feel it. He decided to plug me up with a temp filling and then sent me home with antibiotics that were very strong.

I havent been back because I fear the pain. I went through 3 years of orthodontics, have 5 adult teeth removed because I simply had too many teeth, and I had 4 wisdom teeth removed. I even had surgery to force a tooth to come down using tension (long painful story)... and all of this did not compare to the pain I felt when he started working on my infected tooth.
 
killerbyte said:
I had a hole in my tooth that got infected and became very painful (the two nights before going to the dentist I took a handful of Myprodol that left me with stomach ulcers). I went to the dentist and he did the anesthetic then went to work. When I flinched he realised that my mouth wasnt numb enough. A second round of anesthetic and he started to drill... I was white knuckling the whole thing. When he saw that he stopped and gave me a third round of anesthetic. Then when that took effect he went to town. I could still feel it. He decided to plug me up with a temp filling and then sent me home with antibiotics that were very strong.

I havent been back because I fear the pain. I went through 3 years of orthodontics, have 5 adult teeth removed because I simply had too many teeth, and I had 4 wisdom teeth removed. I even had surgery to force a tooth to come down using tension (long painful story)... and all of this did not compare to the pain I felt when he started working on my infected tooth.
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You should really go back because the longer you leave it, the worse your teeth might get.
 
killerbyte said:
I had a hole in my tooth that got infected and became very painful (the two nights before going to the dentist I took a handful of Myprodol that left me with stomach ulcers).
Click to expand...

Not meaning to go off-topic here but I'm currently going through something similar because of anti-inflammatory meds like Myprodol.
If I may ask, how where your ulcers treated? I presume through a combination of a certain diet and ?
 
SaoirseB said:
I've noticed that a lot of South African's are missing teeth and seem to have no problem with this.

I've been to one or two dentists who assumed I was there to remove a tooth. It irritated me that they automatically assumed and I never returned there. I've also seen people at the dentist remove more than four teeth at a time simply because it was sore. I've even heard of people removing everything and replacing it with dentures :wtf: I know it's horrible having a root canal, but isn't that better than completely removing your tooth? I mean say you remove a tooth every year, by the time you're old you'll have nothing left.
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calling bs with your tale

i have no idea what dentist you went to or where about, but i can tell you that dentists in this day and age, as in other countries, are loathe to extract.
then as for extracting 4 teeth at a time - dental work is done in one quadrant of the mouth at a time - simultaneously removing 4 teeth would cause the gum to collapse.

ps
your boyfriend and his dentist send regards
bf selfie dec2013.jpg
 
Electric said:
I agree.
I had a root canal issue that was sorted without anesthetic but my dentist is actually bloody good.
He often does my teeth without anesthetic as it costs less firstly and secondly he knows he is gentle.
If I feel even a slight bit of pain he stops and asks if I'd like anesthetic.
Click to expand...

OMG! :eek: I half die before the dentist even starts. I have a very low pain threshold. How the heck.
 
killerbyte said:
I had a hole in my tooth that got infected and became very painful (the two nights before going to the dentist I took a handful of Myprodol that left me with stomach ulcers). I went to the dentist and he did the anesthetic then went to work. When I flinched he realised that my mouth wasnt numb enough. A second round of anesthetic and he started to drill... I was white knuckling the whole thing. When he saw that he stopped and gave me a third round of anesthetic. Then when that took effect he went to town. I could still feel it. He decided to plug me up with a temp filling and then sent me home with antibiotics that were very strong.

I havent been back because I fear the pain. I went through 3 years of orthodontics, have 5 adult teeth removed because I simply had too many teeth, and I had 4 wisdom teeth removed. I even had surgery to force a tooth to come down using tension (long painful story)... and all of this did not compare to the pain I felt when he started working on my infected tooth.
Click to expand...

I feel your pain. I also always leave it till I can't take it anymore to get to the dentist. But you should go before it drives you nuts.
 
Vernon said:
Not meaning to go off-topic here but I'm currently going through something similar because of anti-inflammatory meds like Myprodol.
If I may ask, how where your ulcers treated? I presume through a combination of a certain diet and ?
Click to expand...

To be honest I was being a bit dramatic. I took enough Myprodol to disrupt my chemical balance in my stomach to the point that I was in pain for over two weeks and my stomach was a mess for weeks after that.

I couldn't handle things like coffee, and I basically ate very bland food for months.
 
grantza said:
calling bs with your tale

i have no idea what dentist you went to or where about, but i can tell you that dentists in this day and age, as in other countries, are loathe to extract.
then as for extracting 4 teeth at a time - dental work is done in one quadrant of the mouth at a time - simultaneously removing 4 teeth would cause the gum to collapse.

ps
your boyfriend and his dentist send regards
View attachment 184830
Click to expand...

I got a ridiculous quote once that my medical aid was not going to cover for some reason. The dentists secretary told me the dentist usually helped at the government hospital and they hardly charged anything. So I went there and was really impressed with the service.

A couple of years later my medical aid ran out so I went back to the hospital who couldn't fit me in until the next year so I went to another hospital who refered me to a clinic. When the clinic opened there were two dentists on duty. We were split into two groups. I was puzzled at first when each person who went in came out within a matter of minutes and got back to the tail of the queue. It turns out they were injecting everyone before hand and once you got to see the doctor again, the problem tooth was pulled out, also within a matter of minutes. When I went in, I just saw pliers upon pliers and she asked me which tooth I needed to pull out. I explained that I needed the tooth to be fixed not taken out and they told me to wait outside.

I went out and watched people filing in again and at some point a lady came out and someone asked her how many she had pulled and she held up four fingers.

In the end they couldn't help me, because they didn't have the equipment for root canals.
 
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