The Vent and Rant Thread

[Rumpelteazer]

Originally Posted by CRussel

If you're someone who gets "anesthetic hangover", it means you're most likely very sensitive to epinephrine ("epi" in dentist talk). Have a discussion with your dentist, and with the specialist you see for the root canal and tell them to use "No Epi" anesthetic. Some will be fine with that, others might grumble a bit. But if anyone tells you no, or tries to tell you that theirs only has "a very small amount", RUN, don't walk, to find a new dentist.

And yes, I am one of those. And no, losing an entire day to an Epi hangover is NOT the price you have to pay for going to the dentist.

FWIW, the epi is there because it causes the anesthetic to "stick" in the location longer, so they don't have to give you multiple shots when your procedure takes a while. So it's for THEIR convenience, not for any medically necessary reason.

Normally it doesn't hit me this hard, I just feel a bit blah the rest of the day. But I think not having slept much in two nights made it worse. The painkillers worked, should have taken them sooner. They don't do anything for the sore injection area though. My mother gets really sick from anesthetics, I just feel lethargic and they wear off slower than normal. But I'll discuss it with the specialist when I go back.

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

For clenchers or grinders, a self-molded bite guard can be extremely helpful. These last me about 6 months before I have to get and mold a new one. "The Doctor's Nightguard"

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0036WTV2C

He didn't say anything about the clenching. I have also made an appointment for a general check up, and I'll discuss it with him. I do it when I'm really stressed, so not too often and I've seem to have replaced that habit most of the time by bending my right wrist inward, hard. Leaving me with a sore wrist. I've gotten a brace for that.

On a positive note; my irritated ear isn't irritated anymore. Yay. It was annoyed with my new earplugs early last week, but it seems the recent irritation was due to the toothache. I knew it wasn't an infection, that feels different. When I was young I've had numerous ear infections and I injured that ear in my teens, since then it's easily annoyed, mostly nowadays when I get new earplugs. I think that after the pandemic is over I'm going to get custom made plugs, I've never been really satisfied with OTC earplugs.

[badgoodDeb]

Earplugs: brands differ. I kept buying and hating the compression type ear plugs until I found the purple ones by brand FLENTS. They work well for me. I gave all the other unused ones away.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

Earplugs: brands differ. I kept buying and hating the compression type ear plugs until I found the purple ones by brand FLENTS. They work well for me. I gave all the other unused ones away.

I worked graveyard for many, many years. I had to wear earplugs at work because of the noisy environment, and I wore them to sleep in the daytime (busy street). Now, many years removed from those jobs, I still wear them to sleep -- I have trouble falling asleep without them, even though where I live is _extremely_ quiet at night. The ones that I'm most comfortable with are Howard Leight LPF-1 Max Lite. (Green, very soft, compressible.) I buy a box of 200 pair at a time.

[binaryhermit]

Man, the NFL could make bank selling merchandise for Washington Football Team that just says "Football Team" on it to people who find the whole "Washington Football Team" thing absurd.

Alas, as far as I can tell, no such official merchandise exists.

[Rumpelteazer]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

Earplugs: brands differ. I kept buying and hating the compression type ear plugs until I found the purple ones by brand FLENTS. They work well for me. I gave all the other unused ones away.

I don't like the foam earplugs either. I have been using the ones with flents, but it seems they are either a little bit too big or too small. The ear canal on the left side is sensitive and easily annoyed, too much pressure and it starts acting up. Add to that that I'm a side sleeper and a lot of the earplugs with flets stick out too far and end up pushing too deep in the ear canal.

I've been thinking of getting custom made ones for a while now. At least they won't be too long and hopefully they don't put too much pressure on my ear canals (yes, I know they need to in order to block the sound). It's not cheap, but hopefully it's worth it.

I slept well last night. The thing that's still painful are the injection areas, I've never had this problem before. So they either have another anesthetic or the dentist hit the wrong spot. My irritated throat is also acting up again, after days of not having bother me much at all. But the irritated throat area is near the injection area, so I suspect that might have something to do with it. My irritated throat might also be the reason why the injection site is bothering me so much.

I'm glad I ordered extra painkillers with my order from the drugstore earlier this week.

[Rumpelteazer]

Up until last night my root canal was doing well. Yesterday morning I was pain free. Until last night, when it suddenly started hurting and the painkiller did little again. Luckily it did subside and was able to sleep okay. This morning I was again pain free, until about 8.30. A painkiller didn't work. So I called the dentist and was able to get an appointment 40 minutes later.

I did get a different anesthetic, directly in the root. However, because of the infection it didn't work great. It felt like the dentist was sticking a live wire in my tooth! I had the shakes for a while after the treatment. But the pain has subsided and the tight feeling in my jaw is almost gone. I'm not sure if that the anesthetic doing its work, the painkiller or a combination. The dentist did mention that it might be painful for a while and I shouldn't hesitate to take painkiller.

On a more positive note, he was able to move the appointment on the 28th, to finish the root canal, to this Thursday. This made me happy, since I'm very afraid something goes wrong with the temporary filling.

I also just got the bill for last week's work, just over €100. I already paid and put in the claim at my insurance. I glad I have the extra health insurance so I can claim up to €250 a year. With a bit of luck I'll get the money back before the end of the week and hopefully the treatment will be below the €250, if not the insurance has saved me a lot of money.

[Deskisamess]

This type of dental work can be so distressing. My daughter recently had a front tooth start looking dark. Then it started hurting, so she went to our dentist. Turns out the tooth is dead, and knowing her anxiety of dental work, he immediately slapped the "laughing gas" on her and said she needed a root canal.

He quickly did the first part of the work, but after a couple of days, the pain worsened again. Turns out the infection was worse than first thought, so more antibiotics, and another procedure. She was finally free of the pain and pressure.

We have a great dentist, he never hurts you, and is a genius with giving the lidocaine to the correct nerve to block pain. It will be a sad day when he retires. Out daughter is moving to KY, so she will need to find a new de twist.

One thing our dentist told us years ago was that there are clues by what triggers tooth pain. If something cold triggers it, it's a cavity. If something hot makes it throb and you feel pressure, it's usually from infection.

[4691mls]

Rumpelteazer, that sounds awful! I hope it will really be fixed on Thursday. That's good that you have insurance.

The last time I looked into dental insurance here in the US the premiums were costly and the insurance would cover only a very limited dollar amount of work. It made more sense to leave the money in my savings account in case I needed it, rather than spending it on the insurance premiums.

[Deskisamess]

We pay $29 per month for dental insurance for the two of us, and get 2 exams and cleanings each per year, paid 100%, and pay we 15-20% of procedures. Medical deductibles don't apply to our dental bills.

4 cleanings and 2 bite-wing X-rays per year would cost more than our premiums. It also makes us more prone to go for the cleanings, which prevents problems also.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by 4691mls

Rumpelteazer, that sounds awful! I hope it will really be fixed on Thursday. That's good that you have insurance.

The last time I looked into dental insurance here in the US the premiums were costly and the insurance would cover only a very limited dollar amount of work. It made more sense to leave the money in my savings account in case I needed it, rather than spending it on the insurance premiums.

I have yet to find a private dental plan that would actually save me money. What's covered (cleanings, etc.) costs less than the premiums. And if you need something big (root canal, caps) the payout is less than you've paid. It's absurd.

Absolute worst thing ever; if you don't have company-paid dental, included in your healthcare coverage, it's bl**dy impossible to find decent dental and believe me, I've been looking ever since my last "good" plan was nuked. People who have company-paid dental have no idea what it's like trying to find viable private coverage.

@Rumple: with my crap Irish teeth, (despite flossing and waterpiking and all that like an obsessive loony forever) I've had a number of root canals and the only time I've ever had pain, after the first part of the Root Canal, was when the dentist at the time drilled the WRONG damn tooth. I've never had pain like you've described after the first step and I hope he figures out what's going on.

Hitch

[binaryhermit]

This time in the right thread...
I went back to work yesterday after over 3 weeks off, I had a customer threaten to call the cops, and I heard a different coworker got flipped off by a different customer.

Regarding the customer threatening to call the cops, what it was over sounded to me like it wasnt actually against the law, and given that the cops didn't show up, either the customer was bluffing or I was right.

And don't get me started about the Nazi-adjacent rally right by where I work.

[Rumpelteazer]

So far so good. Just over nine hours ago I left the dentist, so the anesthetics and the painkiller I took before that have worn off. And so far no pain. I do feel the tooth, especially when I chew on food, but it isn't painful or numb, it just feels different. The only thing that is painful are my gums. They put a clamp on the affected tooth on which they put a type of rubber shield, probably to protect your mouth, and they put the clamp down low and it poked into the gums on the outside of my jaw. Hopefully the dentist got everything (infection, nerves, etc) out and I will be pain free.

The type of anesthetic I got today didn't numb my mouth and didn't leave me feeling blah the rest of the day. After the pain of the treatment wore of I felt fine. I had one painful root canal before this, that tooth was infected worse than the current one. The other root canal went fine, once the anesthetic wore off I felt no pain, I'm hoping that's also the case on Thursday.

Re: Dutch health insurance. I do pay extra for the dental insurance, not sure how much. And it's been years since I've had anything more than regular check up and the dental hygienist. But I"m glad I have it now! I pay about €150 a month. But since I earn less than a certain amount I get a health care allowance each month from the government of €104.

For over a decade the government have been preaching about "free market forces" in health care. But since the pandemic they realized that might not be a good thing. Although when the pandemic is over they'll forget that again most likely. But for most treatments you don't have to pay extra. There is a €350 deductibles/excess, for some care you have to pay up to €350 a year yourself. For instance the Prednison I took, or when I get anti biotics for UTI or have to get an X-Ray. You can get, more expensive, insurance with a lower deductible or cheaper insurance with a higher one.

[PeterT]

Grett.

It's the Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada. Normally my wife and I head down to a friend's house and celebrate with 15 to 20 people (all long term friends). This year due to COVID-19 and the current restrictions that's not happening, so we bought a turkey which my wife is meant to cook.

Of course now her IBS is acting up (plus she is a champion procrastinator who has little if any self confidence in her ability to do stuff) and the odds of it being cooked today have gone from slim to nill.

I'll be back to work tomorrow, so won't be around to gently suggest she work on it.

Something tells me this bird will never get cooked

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by Hitch

I have yet to find a private dental plan that would actually save me money. What's covered (cleanings, etc.) costs less than the premiums. And if you need something big (root canal, caps) the payout is less than you've paid. It's absurd.

Hitch

Exactly. I didn't see any point in it. I just pay for the regular cleanings myself. The last time I checked, coverage for expensive unexpected problems like a crown or root canal was extremely limited. I figure I'm better off keeping the money in savings rather than spending it on premiums.

[binaryhermit]

I think it's the same with vision insurance. I suspect the only way either one could possibly be worth it is if someone else, say, your employer is paying a huge chunk of the premiums.