Teeth Suck

[Ood Sigma]

For me, it's my gums that really suck. My dentist is sending me to a periodontist, and my first visit is next Tuesday.

Every time they clean my teeth I bleed like a stuck pig. Surprisingly, I have very few cavities, although I did have a chipped tooth that I broke on a popcorn kernel a few years ago.

 

[Lindley]

My dental hygiene used to be somewhat lacking, but between the prescription toothpaste, flossing, and ACT mouthwash, I haven't had major problems lately. Except for one filling that fell out and had to be replaced.

 

[Sam_I_Am]

I can't imagine not brushing for a year. I'm big on oral hygiene, I brush twice a day and time it religiously with my watch, floss before bed so nothing can fester in the night and mouthwash after brushing and sometimes in the day if my mouth gets grungy. I used to sometimes brush three times per day but my dentist told me it wears the teeth down being too anal about brushing.

I like my teeth and want to keep them. I used to be less healthy: I always used to brush but didn't floss until I was around 16.

Nowadays I can't sleep if I don't brush even if I have to use a finger.

 

[Pingfah]

As a result of these problems and just general carelessness (where I went a whole year sometimes without brushing...)

I don't see how this is even possible.

You couldn't even have a conversation with someone who hadn't brushed for year. Your breath must have stank to high heaven.

 

[Sam_I_Am]

Maybe it gets self-regulating after such a long time. Like how hair can clean itself if you don't use shampoo for a while. Of course, I just mean breath, it would still put you in terrible danger of cavities and other problems that give my teeth the willies just contemplating them.

 

[edisraf]

Quote: Every time they clean my teeth I bleed like a stuck pig.

At the risk of sounding "tooth nerdy."

My gums used to bleed every time I brushed too. So I went to the dentist, got them cleaned and then began to brush and floss twice a day, and never skipped. That solved the bleeding problem after about a week.

Here's how it works. (So my dentist told me) Teeth get tartar on them. Tartar can be brushed and flossed away easy enough, but after about 17 hours it hardens into plaque, and then it can only be chipped away by a dentist. Mean time, it is hard enough to injure your gums, hence the bleeding. That is why once a day is not quite enough. But brushing and flossing every twelve hours will keep most of the plaque away. Of course, some of it will still form, so you should have your teeth professionally every six months.

I have been doing this and went from bleeding every time I brush to no blood at all for several years.

And just another cheerful note. Inflammation in any part of the body can cause inflammation in the arteries, which can lead to heart attacks, as well as some other physical problems that I don't remember.

So, yea its expensive. But so is a coffin!

raf

 

[Sam_I_Am]

But it's not really THAT expensive. In the UK, a roll of floss is about £1-£2, toothpaste you should be buying anyway, and mouthwash is probably the most expensive, the better brands being about £4-£5 and lasting about 2 weeks. But mouthwash is probably the least necessary of the three.

Added up, it's probably a lot cheaper than the work that would be necessary at the dentist if you fail to use them.

 

[LitmusDragon]

I also hate the dentist. About a year and a half ago when I was starting to take better care of myself I decided to go back and got a cleaning and removed 2 of my 4 wisdom teeth and had a cap installed all at the dentist's suggestion. The reason I only did 2 of the 4 is because my insurance was up at that point (only covers so much per year). The wisdom tooth procedure was very unpleasant and frankly the place where those teeth used to be is nearly as bothersome as the teeth themselves were. It tends to itch, even now, over a year later. The cap they put in has never felt right- I can feel the "nub" of the tooth under it and it feels like there is pressure on it, but when I told this to the hygenist on my last visit she laughed at my use of the word "nub" and didn't really take my complaint seriously. Obviously I need a new dentist but I don't think I'll be going back until I have some kind of serious problem. I do brush and use mouthwash but some of my teeth are pushed too close together to floss properly (without a lot of pain) and so I don't do it.

 

[backstept]

my teeth are fine, but I have such a small mouth that everything is crowded and crooked
3 of my wisdom teeth are perpendicular to how they should be, but they aren't showing signs of wanting to come in
no cavities or fillings

 

[Mr Silver]

I don't see how this is even possible.

I used mouthwash, my teeth would bleed if i brushed them and it caused me a lot of pain, so my breath smelt resonable. Like another poster said, it is a medical fact that the mouth is self regulating and it does clean itself to a degree, but no where near what you would get from brushing twice a day, etc.

Sorry for grossing anyone out, but its something I was also pretty ashamed of and now i've turned it around, i'm willing to share my experiences to encourage other people to keep their teeth clean, because its just not worth the hassle of pain and problems for not taking 10 minutes out of a day to take care of your teeth.

 

[Ood Sigma]

Quote: Every time they clean my teeth I bleed like a stuck pig.

At the risk of sounding "tooth nerdy."

My gums used to bleed every time I brushed too. So I went to the dentist, got them cleaned and then began to brush and floss twice a day, and never skipped. That solved the bleeding problem after about a week.

Here's how it works. (So my dentist told me) Teeth get tartar on them. Tartar can be brushed and flossed away easy enough, but after about 17 hours it hardens into plaque, and then it can only be chipped away by a dentist. Mean time, it is hard enough to injure your gums, hence the bleeding. That is why once a day is not quite enough. But brushing and flossing every twelve hours will keep most of the plaque away. Of course, some of it will still form, so you should have your teeth professionally every six months.

I have been doing this and went from bleeding every time I brush to no blood at all for several years.

And just another cheerful note. Inflammation in any part of the body can cause inflammation in the arteries, which can lead to heart attacks, as well as some other physical problems that I don't remember.

So, yea its expensive. But so is a coffin!

raf

Yeah, I definitely brush my teeth every morning. I don't always do it at night, though, and I'm bad about flossing. I do go through periods where I'm better about it, and the tartar still builds up.

 

[Pingfah]

These are my teeth today...If your are sensitive, you might wanna look away, although they aren't that bad

Hey, I don't mind the teeth, but you could edit out the snotty nostril as a courtesy

 

[Mr Silver]

These are my teeth today...If your are sensitive, you might wanna look away, although they aren't that bad

Hey, I don't mind the teeth, but you could edit out the snotty nostril as a courtesy

Thats my nose hair...Trust me, I thought it was that too, but I checked my nose and nope, dry as my cracked lips

 

[Holdfast]

Spoiler code exists for many reasons, dude...!





I've been pretty lucky with my teeth, at least in terms of fillings. My first was last year (I'm in my 30s), despite only brushing once a day and no flossing/mouthwash, and going for a period of about 10+ years without a visit to the dentist some years beforehand.

Since that filling I've been brushing twice a day most days, and flossing occassionally. Hopefully that makes enough of a difference to avoid more fillings, because I really don't want to have to bother flossing more regularly. I think I'm due my annual check-up in a couple of months time, so I guess I'll find out then.

I had braces when I was a teen, so my teeth are pretty straight. Before that, they were super-congested with an overbite. I had to have four pre-molars removed before the braces could even be fitted. What else... oh yeah, I had that tooth-whitening gel/UV light treatment thing about 5 years ago when I first started seeing a dentist again. That worked quite well, and they haven't really become particularly badly stained since, though a top-up treatment isn't completely off the radar at some point I think. I like how my teeth look at the moment though; not scarily white or unnaturally precisely straight - just a decent natural smile with no-one really able to know that it took some cheating to get there.

 

[I Grok Spock]

Holy crap, dude. Did not need to see that.

For those who have difficulty flossing, I recommend these. The floss part is a smooth plastic, not thread, so it slips between teeth very easily. The handle means you don't have to put half your hand in your mouth to use it.

 

[Mr Silver]

Point taken, the picture is gone...

For flossing I use Interdental Flossers, which is like a multi tool, but for teeth. Its got floss, a scraper and a toothpick.

 

[Sam_I_Am]

Holy crap, dude. Did not need to see that.

For those who have difficulty flossing, I recommend these. The floss part is a smooth plastic, not thread, so it slips between teeth very easily. The handle means you don't have to put half your hand in your mouth to use it.

Point taken, the picture is gone...

For flossing I use Interdental Flossers, which is like a multi tool, but for teeth. Its got floss, a scraper and a toothpick.

I used those too instead of the string, but I was cheap and used one for my whole mouth each night. My dentist kept telling me off, saying it carried bacteria from one tooth to the the next so I switched to the thread to stop her complaining, figuring it would be cheaper to buy the tape then go through a pack of the handled ones each night.

 

[Kirkman1987]

I've got decent teeth I guess. I have a slight overbite but that's it. I brush twice every day and use mouthwash. The mouthwash is more for my gums, which are prone to start getting red if I don't take care of them for a few days.

I've never had a cavity or any kind of dental work done outside of some cleanings.

 

[I Grok Spock]

Holy crap, dude. Did not need to see that.

For those who have difficulty flossing, I recommend these. The floss part is a smooth plastic, not thread, so it slips between teeth very easily. The handle means you don't have to put half your hand in your mouth to use it.

Point taken, the picture is gone...

For flossing I use Interdental Flossers, which is like a multi tool, but for teeth. Its got floss, a scraper and a toothpick.

I used those too instead of the string, but I was cheap and used one for my whole mouth each night. My dentist kept telling me off, saying it carried bacteria from one tooth to the the next so I switched to the thread to stop her complaining, figuring it would be cheaper to buy the tape then go through a pack of the handled ones each night.

Huh, my dentist hasn't mentioned that. I do clean the string with a tissue or rinse it after each, um, insertion to get rid of the stuff it pulls out.

...and the thread gets grosser.