dentist fear

[ntica]

A horrible subject (I think)... Lived with Dentist fear most of my life. But as a step of the way, I've "gonedown" to buisness. And takeing care of this ordeal.
And why I mention this... Never underestimate a horrible tothache, And can see the real danger far from land, wierd of all the painkillers in a bad seastate.
Yes this is obvious for most people, but people like my self "denys" bad toth health, unfortunatly. and as a serious step towards my life dream, this was/is one of the "has to" do before set sail!

[CapnK]

I don't fear the dentist, or what (s)he can do to me (my mouth), I *do* fear the bill they send!

But - that's cheaper than having to end a voyage, I guess. :)

I have read of sailors who had dental kits and were able to make their own temporary fillings and such when needed.

I guess if it was bad enough, you could yank your own tooth out with a pair of pliers or something like that, but that is something that is hard to contemplate right now without having a very bad headache and swelling and sleeplessness and such... ;D

[CharlieJ]

I've pulled two of my own. Not THAT big a deal. Channel locks work well.

[s/v necessity]

I've always been curious of this whole "pulling your own tooth" thing.  Do you feel there was any risk of pulling the wrong tooth (Dont laugh, it's a serious worry (i.e. paranoid fear) of mine!)  I ask because I've had stuff stuff stuck in between my teeth and in my gums before and it was disconcerting as to how often I was off on my targeting when I addressed the matter.

What size channel locks? The little 8" ones that are handy in a pocket, or the big guys...

[CharlieJ]

LOL- in my case, both times, there was NO doubt!!

I think I used some 12 inchers. Washed first two.

[Capt. Tony]

This is a topic I have thought about more than once.  Like Kurt I fear the bill the most.  But what do you do when you're in the situation far from "home", limited funds, at the mercy of others that may ultimately view you as a number?  I've had loose teeth come out relatively easily when I was a kid.  The one tooth I had pulled as an adult was like a wrestling match!  I swear he tried to ambush me and the whole ordeal is still vivid in my memory right down to the sucking "pop" of my gums giving up the roots.  That memory alone leads me to believe I'd swallow another Tylenol 3 before I would dare reach for the channel locks...

I gotta ask, Charlie, how the #&!! do you knowwhen it's time??? :o  I smashed a couple of toes one morning and when I pulled my shoe and sock off to assess the mess, I noticed one of the nails was split up the middle and barely hanging.  One side came off with a good jerk.  I thought I might as well take the other half off too so I didn't run into any problems.  I started with a tweezers...then a trusty 8" hemostat...then (what was I thinking) needle nose pliers.  I had a real bloody mess on my hands (so to speak) by the time I grabbed my giant electricians pliers and ripped that other half off.

So...I couldn't imagine going though that scenario with channel locks and my mouth.  I mean, I can drink with a bandaged toe. ;D

[CharlieJ]

ROFL. The tooth had split on Friday evening. By Sunday noon I HAD to have some respite. So I yanked it.  My wife thought me crazy, the dentist said i was more man than he was.

But it HAD to come out, so I did it.

The second one was easier. My dentist says I am "Much a man" but I'm just a guy. If the 'stuff hits the fan', you do what you must

There once was a south american single hander who seriously contemplated amputating his arm at
sea. He did't have to but when in serious kaka you do what MUST be done to live.

Pain is a relative thing- you  CAN live with it short term.

[ntica]

Belive me I also fear the Bill ;) but the dentist more. I', curious how you manage to pull your own tooth's? I've tried seriously, more than once. but my teeth seem to got stuck somwere between my toes, eunormous roots. impossible.
Kurt Bjorklund did operate him self, on one of his circumnav's.
A glass split in his hand, cut him self up with a razorblade and pulled out, and then sew it. Need some mental strenght I guess.

[Captain Smollett]

Charlie, you ARE 'the man' for pulling your own teeth.  That's guts no matter what the situation...

I once had an abscess on a wisdom tooth and it had to come out.  The infection had gotten so bad that there were infection scars on my jaw bone (and I learned that that getting infection on your bones can kill you...who knew you could die from a 'toothache'?).  "They" said it'd be best for all my wisdom teeth to come out.  A couple were not yet erupted from the gums.

This was real surgery...they had to be sawn into pieces while still "in" and the pieces removed.  The roots on one of them were hooked, "j" shaped, and there was NO WAY that tooth was coming out by pulling...at least without doing tremendous damage to gums, nearby teeth, etc.

I cannot imagine pulling those by myself.  I had full-blown surgery and a three to four day post-op recovery.  Shoot, I could not even hardly SEE the tooth that was giving the original problem...the gum in the back had partially grown back over it.

Now, pulling a 'regular' tooth that is giving problems?  Maybe, if it got bad enough.  I can take a LOT of hurt while waiting for more knowledgeable care.   ;)  Once had a root canal "not take" and it hurt so bad to whole left side of my body ached and throbbed.  The second root canal, about two weeks after the first, fixed it.

Now a kidney stone...that's another matter.  That hurt so bad words just cannot describe it.  Until THAT day, I thought those two 'teeth' incidents mentioned above were the pinnacle of pain.  Between the stone, the surgery I had to remove it and the allergic reaction to a post-op medication, that dang little piece of calcified rock had me out of commission for FIVE WEEKS.

[SeaHusky]

So the bottom line is to prepare yourself properly.
Before going on a lengthy cruise you should remove all your wisdomteeth, your appendix and at least one kidney!

[ntica]

Sea Husky, the teeth would be enough ;D
Cpt. smollet I know what your'e talking about...No way you pull out those "monsters" by yourself. Talking about infection my lower jaw was so infected, I looked like a comic figure, when look in the mirror, and the pain was redicolus :P Morhpine and antibiotics for at least 10 days, maybe more I was in a sad state.
I do belive HC Andersen, Danish writer died by "toothache"...?! I'm sure it was a mafous Danish anyway, can not belive how his pain was in those days.
The bottom line is: "Take care of your teeth" ;)