What to do about wisdom teeth?

[nodoubts2k]

Hey all,

My wisdom teeth have just started hurting..a lot. I was supposed to get them out before I went abroad, but the dentist said I had to wait a little. I am now in Barcelona, Spain, and am without medical insurance (much less dental), and I was wondering, what I should do about this. I am really hesitant to fork over the huge cost (in euros) to get them removed, and I wont be back in the states for another 7 months. Any opinions as to what I should do?

 

[Azraele]

Call your regular dentist and see what they suggest.

 

[vhx]

If you are having problems with soreness and such just rinse with some warm salt water. Sometimes the soreness or tenderness could be an infection that got in to them.

Call your dentist and make an appointment when you can.

 

[wwswimming]

look for a teaching hospital.

i went to a local dental clinic in the US for a teeth cleaning.
they cleaned my front teeth, then told me i needed deep
scaling on my back teeth. 4 deep scaling sessions, $300
each. "your teeth will fall out if you don't do it". i called
Western Dental and they started talking about FINANCING.

i just wanted a teeth cleaning.

i went to the teaching hospital, and lucked out. the
student i have is on par with the best dentist i've ever
met, in San Diego.

also, they've got no problem with anaesthesia. give
you all you need.

granted, some of the dental students are pretty clueless.
most of the sessions, my student dentist has an assistant,
who has been a woman dentist. the one time we had
a male student dentist assisting, he would use some
stainless steel thing to hold my tongue in place while
student dentist #1 drilled away. oblivious to the fact
that a piece of my lip was caught between the stainless
steel thing and my teeth.

another dental school i went to for a wisdom tooth,
they extracted it without anesthesia. just CRACK,
like the sound of a chicken bone or carrot breaking.
then they handed me a small pack of aspirin. it was
classic. i had a midterm exam that day for an electronics
class.

i suggest starting with an exam, so you can check
out your dentist, and they can check out your teeth
to make sure you don't have an infection in the process
of spreading.

 

[nodoubts2k]

Does anyone know if they practice dentistry free in any european countries, that I could probably travel to and get it done?

 

[gnumantsc]

You went away for months and didn't take insurance? Are you freakin crazy? Usually those free countries are for taxpayers as they pay high taxes so they have reduced or free rates for dentistry.

If it hurts try putting some cloves on the gum it will numb it for you. It must be just cutting through the gum.

 

[imported_Imp]

Just "man" it out. I've been taking the pain for 2 years now, think I screwed up a few of the nerves in my cheek where my wisdom teeth keep biting on (I don't feel anything anymore). I'll be taking them out in the summer, 4 mother f***ers!!!

 

[2Xtreme21]

I went abroad for 3 months and we had complete health insurance-- didn't have to pay a dime for anything we needed. The only thing that wasn't covered was like, cosmetic surgery, but if your wisdom teeth are hurting you, I'd highly suggest you go get them out. There should be some kind of study abroad coordinator at your school that you can talk with that will answer all your questions. (Provided you're doing this through IES or something like that. If not, call your home school and speak with the study abroad coordinator there-- your student visa may entitle you to a portion of health care costs paid for.)

 

[IEC]

Ouch, if it is indeed wisdom teeth causing you trouble, you need them out ASAP. Mine haven't grown in yet so I can't get them removed without costing ridiculous sums of $$$...

 

[Cdubneeddeal]

Take high doses of Ibuprofen for now until you arrive back in the states. The pain should be occasional so I think you can handle it until the 7 months are up.

 

[nodoubts2k]

Originally posted by: Cdubneeddeal
Take high doses of Ibuprofen for now until you arrive back in the states. The pain should be occasional so I think you can handle it until the 7 months are up.

Taking 600mg doeses and some antibiotics (amoxicilina/ácido clavulánico)..helps a lot

 

[tokie]

Get them taken out. Either way you're in for tons of pain, so you might as well have 2 weeks of pain vs 7 months. If you're in Spain for another 7 months, see what you can find out about residency health insurance (by the government, of course). That's assuming that you are an EU citizen though.

 

[Platypus]

fyi.. mine grew in sideways up top and were piercing my sinus tract which can kill you

not trying to scare you but your body is something you shouldn't fuck with... pain is its way of saying you need to take care of it.

 

[ArmchairAthlete]

Could do what my uncle did when he couldn't afford it and get a lot of hard liquor and a razor blade and do it yourself!

Granted, he didn't have to cut out the tooth, just cut away some of the gums around the wisdom teeth that were really hurting.

Later he saw a dentist for another issue and the dentist asked him who did his wisdom teeth, even mentioning that the guy did a good job.

 

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: nodoubts2k
Hey all,

My wisdom teeth have just started hurting..a lot. I was supposed to get them out before I went abroad, but the dentist said I had to wait a little. I am now in Barcelona, Spain, and am without medical insurance (much less dental), and I was wondering, what I should do about this. I am really hesitant to fork over the huge cost (in euros) to get them removed, and I wont be back in the states for another 7 months. Any opinions as to what I should do?

What reason did your dentist give you for not getting them out before you left? Why did you have to "wait a little"?

 

[nodoubts2k]

Originally posted by: moshquerade

What reason did your dentist give you for not getting them out before you left? Why did you have to "wait a little"?

Dunno, he said they needed to grow in more (this was before they peirced the gum), it didnt bother me so i didnt question it at the time

 

[wwswimming]

Originally posted by: ArmchairAthlete
Could do what my uncle did when he couldn't afford it and get a lot of hard liquor and a razor blade and do it yourself!

Granted, he didn't have to cut out the tooth, just cut away some of the gums around the wisdom teeth that were really hurting.

Later he saw a dentist for another issue and the dentist asked him who did his wisdom teeth, even mentioning that the guy did a good job.

God. this reminds me of that scene in Cast Away
where Tom Hanks uses an ice skate that floated
up on the island.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: Cdubneeddeal
Take high doses of Ibuprofen for now until you arrive back in the states. The pain should be occasional so I think you can handle it until the 7 months are up.

Be careful with that ibuprofen (or similar compound). Recommended doses and always take them at mealtime. If you get casual with them (take them a few times between meals), you are apt to irritate your stomach and could find yourself battling chronic indigestion. BTDT.

My dentist said to me one day casually, "let me know when you want those wisdom teeth out." It took me completely by surprise. I'd had no problems with them. He told me that as time went on, it would prove beneficial to remove them. That's because they aren't needed and they are relatively difficult to maintain, keep clean. They eventually are likely to become problematical and can cause serious problems. So, he recommended removal even though I didn't have pain, etc. I had them removed 2 at a time. I don't recall any major discomfort. In fact, the experience both times was quite preferable to suffering a virus infection.

 

[alimoalem]

i had 2 taken out like 3 years ago. a few months ago, the other 2 started to act up and hurt like hell. i had massive swelling cause the area was infected (tooth cut through the gum or something, allowing for infection) so that was the reason for the pain. i took penicillin for 3-4 days, swelling greatly reduced and pain was nearly completely gone. had the teeth pulled on the 4th day and had no pain at all with no pain medications taken after the surgery. only downside was for the next 2 weeks i'd get half-centimeter sized chunks of food stuck in the hole but they came out when i brushed.

anyway, infection is probably what's causing the pain so get some penicillin or something. if it still doesn't help, get the teeth out.