Primitives discuss wisdom teeth WARNING: Graphic photo

[BattleHymn]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1018628382

Mon Jun 16, 2014, 10:22 AM
Star Member Phentex (9,536 posts)

Do you still have your wisdom teeth and if so, why?


My son has two upper wisdom teeth but he's never had any pain or issues so far. We just looked at an xray and the teeth are very straight. The wisdom teeth are still pretty high up but they seem to be coming in straight as well.

So the dentist says the usual "He could have problems down the road, there could be over crowding, and since he doesn't have lowers, they really serve no purpose." Take them out.

I heard the same thing for 20 years. I am beyond middle age and I still have two wisdom teeth on the bottom. They came in like other teeth and I have never had any problems whatsoever. The dentist doesn't say anything to me about them any longer. The truth is during the years they were coming in, I had no way to pay for getting them removed. I just prayed they didn't cause me any harm until I could afford to get them out. Then later when I could afford it, I just didn't see the point.

So what do other people do? Get them out regardless? Wait and see if there are problems?

My son doesn't care either way. Right now, it seems to be more of a scheduling thing. He could plan to get them out next summer and that's where I'm leaning. My husband says why take them out at all? The dentist says the sooner the better.

What say you? What are your experiences with this?

Mon Jun 16, 2014, 10:57 AM
Star Member onehandle (41,162 posts)
4. Bottom ones came in fully, but started deteriorating in my 30s. Had them removed.

The top ones are so deep up in my skull, that they almost look like they are above my eyes.

Weird.

The dentist said that there was no reason to bother with them.

A primitive with bad teeth.  Imagine that! 

Mon Jun 16, 2014, 10:59 AM
Chan790 (16,563 posts)
5. I have all four.

Ironically, because I was supposed to have them out, had a scheduling issue so I pushed it almost a full year and then they came in and obliterated my other teeth. So I have them because they're like the only molars I have.

The Chan790 primitive, who is as far as I know been unemployed since August 17, 2011. 

Wed Jun 18, 2014, 04:17 PM
nomorenomore08 (9,765 posts)
85. So you had to have your other molars removed? n/t

Wed Jun 18, 2014, 05:49 PM
Chan790 (16,563 posts)
86. Yes.

When the wisdom teeth came in, several of my other molars broke and had to be extracted.

Mon Jun 16, 2014, 11:09 AM
DebJ (6,562 posts)
7. I kept mine and was very glad I did!!

Ultimately, I lost all of my teeth by my late forties because of a genetic condition in which
I was losing them from the inside out: xrays showed they were all becoming hollow inside.
Dentists don't know why that happens, or didn't at the time, but sometimes there seems
to be a genetic factor, and my pattern of tooth loss did follow that of my Mom and both her
sisters.

As I was losing other teeth I was so very, very glad that I had my wisdom teeth to chew with.
Incredibly glad.

For a 'doctor' to suggest removing a perfectly healthy body part because it 'might' cause trouble
some day is ridiculous. All 52 of your teeth might cause trouble some day, so yank all of them now?
How about your liver, your pancreas, your gall bladder, your appendix? That is the most unscientific,
ridiculous, and perhaps simply blatantly greedy proposal I can imagine.

Apparently, this primitive is still sporting a set of baby teeth along with their adult teeth.  Or maybe they're all on a string around their neck like THomWV.

Mon Jun 16, 2014, 02:02 PM
Star Member TexasTowelie (9,598 posts)
53. Are you a shark?

Humans have 32 teeth, not 52.

Mon Jun 16, 2014, 02:33 PM
DebJ (6,562 posts)
59. haha no but my computer screen is on the blink, literally. hard to see what I typed. LOL. n/t

Mon Jun 16, 2014, 02:00 PM
Star Member Phentex (9,536 posts)
52. My neighbor swears she had all four out with no anesthesia...

I find that to be cruel and unusual.

Paging frank...

Mon Jun 16, 2014, 02:15 PM
Star Member LynneSin (91,140 posts)
55. All 4

I have also had 2 regular molars removed (my molars are huge in size) and 2 of my bicupsids. I only have 24 teeth in my mouth (32 is what we should have). There are dentists out there that think we need to toss braces on the kid and force all the teeth to fit in the mouth. My dentist really felt that if I had all 32 teeth in my mouth that there would be serioius issue. I never had braces, only retainers.

This primitive sports only 24 teeth. 

Mon Jun 16, 2014, 11:56 AM
Star Member Throckmorton (2,727 posts)
11. I have two on the left

and none on the right. I am 52 and no trouble do they give me.

I had the two on the right removed when I was 22, they were impacted and full of cavities.

Mon Jun 16, 2014, 12:31 PM
Orrex (41,526 posts)
18. Have a heart, dammit! Dentists have to make car payments too!

Every dentist I've consulted in my adult life has promptly outlined a course of treatment that would cost me between $30K and $50K out of pocket, and they pitch the entire process as if every single element of it is vital and unavoidable. I'm sure that all dentists aren't like that, but...

Also, I have my wisdom teeth in a cup on my shelf.

Mon Jun 16, 2014, 01:35 PM
Star Member iscooterliberally (407 posts)
30. I actually had 6 wisdom teeth.

Yeah, I was super-smart as a kid.   I had to have them removed by an oral surgeon in the hospital at 18. This was during ray-gun's first year in office. We had to do it in the hospital so the insurance would cover it. I really didn't have any pain, but the dentist freaked when he saw my x-ray. The two extra were on top and pointing backwards. They said I was most likely going to have big problems later if I didn't take care of it right away. I couldn't speak for a few days after the surgery, but it went well, and I never had a problem after that.

I also had six wisdom teeth, two of which are still in place.  No problems here. 

Mon Jun 16, 2014, 01:51 PM
Turbineguy (18,768 posts)
42. My wisdom teeth story

In my early 30's they grew out and at odd angles. My dentist said it would take 2 visits. At the first visit to remove 2 teeth, he decided to do all 4. After the teeth were out they gave me a prescription for some wild painkillers and bundled me into a taxi. The Driver was given instructions.

The Driver stopped at the nearest pharmacy and I staggered in. Naturally they refused to fill the prescription as I was obviously under the influence of something. I guess the Driver suspected something and came in and yelled out "He's just had 4 wisdom teeth pulled!"

They filled the prescription right away.

How many teeth had this primitive had pulled before just to get some "wild" painkillers?

Mon Jun 16, 2014, 05:34 PM
grasswire (40,795 posts)
63. still have mine, no problem

And I am a senior. Never had any trouble at all.

I think it's a trend nowadays, the preventative pulling. A money-maker.

Judy the grasswipe primitive checks in with all of her toofuses.  Not everyone can say they have a great-great-grandmother with all of her teeth still in place. 

Mon Jun 16, 2014, 10:02 PM
RebelOne (29,743 posts)
66. Nope. Los all of mine by the time I was 30.

They just rotted out. Had them all extracted.

 

Tue Jun 17, 2014, 05:30 AM
SkatmanRoth (436 posts)
68. I still have all four of mine

They do not cause me any problems at all
Warning-  Disgusting image below:

Tue Jun 17, 2014, 06:18 PM
Star Member panader0 (10,823 posts)
74. I had all four out at once. I kept them and super glue into the spaces as I lose other teeth.

If this was anywhere but the DUmp, I would take it as a joke. 

Thu Jun 19, 2014, 09:14 AM
Star Member mucifer (9,529 posts)
90. I need all the wisdom I can get. I got none to spare!

How true for all the primitives. 

[BattleHymn]

Since the ThomWV primitive is no longer around to post his teeth story, I'll add it here for our enjoyment, and the enjoyment of lurking "guests":

  ThomWV  Donating Member (1000+ posts) Sat Aug-15-09 09:42 AM
20. I have dental care but after spending thousand I started pulling my own teeth
I have dental insurance, the Government plan that Congressmen have. The coverage is so poor that after spending several years and thousand of my own dollars trying to save my teeth I finally gave up and as they went bad I started pulling them myself. I did go to the local teaching hospital about 5 years ago to see what really needed to be done at that time. They wanted to pull everything that was left and the bill to me (after insurance had covered some piddling little bit) was still going to be nearly $3,000. So I said **** it.

By the way, I have kept all of my teeth, in a box. When they've all come out I'm going to drill holes through each of them and put them on a chain which I will then wear around my neck. Its my way of saying **** you to dentists.

ThomWV  Donating Member (1000+ posts) Sat Aug-15-09 01:58 PM
Response to Reply #23
50. Once again, you'd be surprised. I can't eat apples of course, but most things are OK
I do still have that bridge and several bottom teeth so I've got something to chew against. On the top I just gum it but you'd be surprised how tough your gums get after a couple of years. I do have a problem with sharp or crunch stuff stabbing my gums though, and that can really be painful - and of course once it happens there will be a cut on my gums that has to heal before I can eat "normally" again - but they heal surprisingly fast, a day or two at most.

I don't want to make this sound worse than it is. Since I abandoned Dentists I've had little pain or difficulty. What pain there has been has always been associated with a tooth that had become very mobile (lose) and I've pulled every one of them with just my fingers. I have to tell you the truth, most of them haven't hurt much at all to pull out.

ThomWV  Donating Member (1000+ posts) Sat Aug-15-09 01:32 PM
44. No where near as bad as you might imagine
Now don't get me wrong, I didn't grab the vice grips and yank, for one thing virtually all of my teeth were loose to some extent and when I had to pull one it was one of them that all of a sudden was getting much looser. As for infection, I was just lucky - never had one.

As it stands right now I've got one tooth left up top and a bridge and about 5 left on the bottom. It was removing that last bit of mess that was going to cost me another three grand.

What really got me to do it was the futility of all the dental care I was getting. For over 6 years there was never a 2 month period in which I did not see the dentist (several of them actually). I was having cleaning done once every 3 months (insurance paid for 1 per year), I brushed after every meal and flossed twice a day (morning and evening). Nothing worked.

And the bills - they were constant. What was the killer though was not the bills so much as the notices from the Insurance folks (Blue Cross/Blue Shield) notifying me that the costs were above 'normal and customary' and that I had to pay this, and I had to pay that, and they paid some piddling little bit. Then to add insult to injury once every few months they would send me a letter demanding that I certify that I didn't have some other policy and was double dipping. They would suspend all payments until I responded - they did this constantly.

Let me remind you, this was the insurance that all Congressmen, Senators, and even the President himself has and it still sucked.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6311556#6311708

[franksolich]

Paging frank...

Here.

"back-porch dentistry"
http://conservativecave.com/index.php?topic=27817

True story; it happened in autumn 1981 in Allentown, Pennsylvania, when I was young.  It was a choice between paying $160 to have all four wisdom teeth extracted, or paying $25 to have all four wisdom teeth extracted.  Being a tight young 'un, I went with the latter, and had a plumber of Grecian derivation yank them out for me.

Nothing bad happened; I think it's a funny story myself, but others might differ.

[BattleHymn]

Here.

"back-porch dentistry"
http://conservativecave.com/index.php?topic=27817

Nothing bad happened; I think it's a funny story myself, but others might differ.

That's one of my favorite stories you've posted.  Too bad for the primitives, since they can't see it to read it. 

[Gina]

Mon Jun 16, 2014, 02:00 PM
Star Member Phentex (9,536 posts)
52. My neighbor swears she had all four out with no anesthesia...

I find that to be cruel and unusual.

My husband did this.  No anesthesia. They gave him a shot of the lidocaine (I think that is what it is called) and nothing else.  Makes me sick thinking about it.  I can still remember being knocked out but hearing the crunching when they pulled mine out.

[Gina]

ThomWV  Donating Member (1000+ posts) Sat Aug-15-09 09:42 AM
20. I have dental care but after spending thousand I started pulling my own teeth
I have dental insurance, the Government plan that Congressmen have

So now that he can get that Obamacare does he have teeth left? 

[franksolich]

That's one of my favorite stories you've posted.  Too bad for the primitives, since they can't see it to read it.

Too much personal information in it about me, which would greatly assist the primitives stalking franksolich, which is why it's in that forum.

I will say that the enterprise wasn't as rash or foolhardy or stupid as it might sound; as related in the story, I'd gone to a professional bona fide dentist to have the teeth cleaned, and he'd suggested the four wisdom teeth be pulled.

He showed me the x-rays of the roots, pointing out that it'd be a quick and easy job; they'd pop right out, being straight down and not curled around anything.

The problem was, I'd recently moved to Pennsylvania, and wasn't made of money.

The plumber of Grecian extraction was a Godsend, although I wasn't fond of his using bichloride of mercury as the antiseptic.

Now, if the real dentist had indicated there'd be the least little problem, I would've starved myself until I amassed $160.  But he didn't, and there weren't.  Twenty-five bucks, a really good job.

[Gina]

Too much personal information in it about me, which would greatly assist the primitives stalking franksolich, which is why it's in that forum.
.

You don't worry that they have a mole in here?

[franksolich]

So now that he can get that Obamacare does he have teeth left? 

The mountain man primitive, the "ThomWV" primitive, a couple of years ago during brain surgery finally met God, Whose Existence he'd mocked and scorned.

<<<doesn't think the mountain man primitive has to worry about his teeth any more.

[franksolich]

You don't worry that they have a mole in here?

That's always a concern, which covers not only the Sandhills forum, but the women's forum and the "what I really think" political forum. 

But one needs 1000+ posts to see those forums, and that's a pretty high barrier; most primitive moles don't even get to 100 posts before they blow it.

However, if it became a problem, the minimum could be raised to, say, 2000+ posts.

And there's always the option of excluding specific members even if they've reached the minimum.

So you may continue to post freely and uninhibitedly in the women's forum, madam; only your friends will know.

[franksolich]

I had to look it up; it's been years since I've read it.  An excerpt, as it's a long story:

.....Then the plumber began working on the upper right wisdom tooth.

Try as he could, it would not come out.

He pushed my head so far back it flung against the back of the chair as I sort of watched the plumber's wife walk around the back porch, swatting flies that had been attracted by the blood.

He pulled.....

.....and pulled.....

.....and pulled.....

.....and pulled.

By this time, he was kneeling on my lap, crushing my thighs.  It was a hot summer evening, and both he and I were sweating profusely, my cologne wedding with his plumbing odors.

The plumber got off my lap and stood there, looking at me with vexation.  I was sort of strangling, from the blood and sweat running down inside my throat, and coughed and sputtered, "Okay, okay, that's it, no more, forget about it."

The plumber got on my lap again, and pulled.....

.....and pulled.....

.....and pulled.

I was not aware of human veinous anatomy at the time, but it seemed to me that there must be some sort of major nerve, running from the big toe of one foot up through the body to the top of the skull.  It felt as if the plumber was trying to pull a 6'3" rope out from inside of me, rather than just a tooth.

The plumber continued pulling.

.....and pulling.....

.....and pulling.

This time, it felt as if he were trying to yank out my right eyeball, from the inside.....

And the happy ending:

.....For the next few days, the sides of my face looked as if I had eggs on the inside of the cheeks, but as I had always tended to heal quickly, there were no problems after that.

Although every time I encountered the plumber while walking around the neighborhood, he stopped to stare at me as if I were Bozo from Outer Space.

Some years later, when I returned to Nebraska, I went to my former dentist for the usual standard customary no-problems dental check-up.  He had my old records, of course, and noticed the four wisdom teeth were all gone.

He looked inside, and then commented, "Good job; you must've had a really good dentist."