Dental Confusion

Energizer

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Joined
Mar 3, 2013
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611
Please bare with me while I try to explain my dental situation. I've had a lot of dental work done in the past 2 years. The reason being I suspect is that my mouth didn't use to produce much saliva, I took Adderall a while back for ADD for over a year (before I read about how toxic it is), and not eating well or brushing flossing enough.

I've accrued about 18 cavities (which may be an overestimation, but I know I definitely have tooth problems), had my front tooth pulled after a root canal was filled in with temporary material... and chipped off while I was eating a carrot salad. I'm missing a front tooth, have fillings in about five teeth, and I don't have any tooth pain, but I recently visited USC in Los Angeles for a dental assessment, and they said I'd need to probably stay at a hotel for 2-3 days and get work done all of the 3 days all day long in order to get it all done. I'm sure given hypothyroidism runs in my family and I've been self-treating for it (Taking 4 grains of dessicated thyroid, with 20mcg t3 split over the day), I would imagine that plays a role in the ordeal. Not to mention, I have a small mouth, and a large space between my jawbone and teeth, which apparently is also a factor in dental decay.

I'm only worried about the root canal, which I'm told, if I don't get it taken care of, I may die, but I wonder if that's actually true. They say the tooth opposite of my big tooth in the top front (just right of the empty space) has necrotic tissue, which is why I can't feel the infection. Can anyone weigh in on that? It makes logical sense, but I want to be more confident about it before I proceed. I already had one done on my front tooth, and they ground it down so much that it was basically a tiny stub by the time they were done with it, and then I went back to private practice, the dentist there saw the stub and just decided to pull it for some reason (why I agreed to that, I don't know, but there wasn't much left of it anyway), I don't think she wanted to deal with the hassle.

Here's the thing. All the dental work I've had seems to have made a cosmetic difference, but when it comes to chewing, the crowned teeth don't feel as strong as my natural teeth. Since the dental work I've had done, I don't feel like my teeth are any stronger. In fact, I feel like a lot of them are much weaker and my bite is weaker. So the thing I'm wondering is, I wonder how often dental patients get ripped off and oversold treatment out of ignorance or for profit or both, and whether that's happening with me, because it sure feels like it. The more I go in, the more they say needs done. They assure me, if they don't do it, things are just going to get worse, well needless to say, it's confusing.

And granted, I'm taking better care of my teeth now. I brush and floss every day, but they insist I need to use fluoridex (which I didn't use because, why would concentrated fluoride help my teeth if it's linked to causing brittle bones?) and chlorahexadine rinse, I used the chlorahexadine before, but I'm not fond of using these strong chemicals to clean my teeth instead of addressing the root of the issue, which, one can only speculate what the main cause is (perhaps hypothyroidism). As I mentioned in the other thread, I try to eat a nutritious diet, heavy on dairy (especially milk), orange juice, coffee, occasional oysters, some beef, and occasional mashed potatoes. (Although, I confess I've guiltily skipped out on liver for several months, but have been supplementing vitamin A 5000iu and 1-2 mg k2 per day)

I can't afford the cost of a private practice clinic, so I'm going to a dental school, which is probably not ideal, but it's way cheaper if you need a lot of work done. When I was at a private practice, the dentist couldn't even figure out a dental plan initially because she was just shocked at the level of decay. Now, I've got the chance to get more work done, but I'm not even sure how much of it is necessary. Am I just doing myself more damage in the long run? In reading about some people who've had a lot of work done, it worries me how similar their situation seems to mine.

Is anyone in a similar boat? The amount of stress that I have over my teeth is driving me nuts. I just want to not have to worry as much about it all. I really am starting to question if a lot of the treatment plans dentists are coming up with are overly aggressive to the problem at hand myself and possibly others are dealing with. It concerned me when my dentist pulled my front tooth, when she pulled it out, their still seemed to be quite a bit of tooth left at the root even though the top was just a small stub. I don't know, that just didn't seem right to me, but I never really questioned the decision as much as I should have. If I understand what they're telling me correctly, I really only need the root canal and the implant, but they refuse to put the implant in until they've worked on the other teeth, which, as far as I can tell, aren't life threatening, and only of cosmetic use. I've attached the treatment plan so you can see what work they want to do. It's 4 thousand dollars and basically probably about 24 hours of treatment over the course of several days, so it's not something I necessarily want to rush into.
 

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Joined
Nov 21, 2015
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10,501
What is your overall feeling about your health?

I think this is most important. Ray says gut health can fix dental problems and I think he is right.
 
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Energizer

Energizer

Member
Joined
Mar 3, 2013
Messages
611
Much better than before. Nowhere near ideal, but I used to have chronic constipation before changing my diet and supplementing thyroid, now I have regular bowel movements. Yeah I think that's probably true.
 
Joined
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Teeth can get a lot better on their own. A few things that you can do include using vitamin K2 on your gums. Getting more calcium than phosphorus, and enough magnesium. Some vitamin D3 probably can help. I take vitamin K2, vitamin A, vitamin E liquid, and vitamin D3 in a little coconut oil, and I put it in my mouth and keep it in my gums like oil pulling, and eventually swallow it. I don't brush my teeth much and I find that my teeth are in very good shape, and my dentist and hygienist say the same thing.

Years ago I had lost a lot of bone and had a lot of deep pockets, but now everything is almost perfect. I think teeth can get better on their own. It is possible that some antibiotics might help too, but I haven't tried it.
 

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