Plaque, teeth cleaning

[James Bond]

I went in almost a year ago to have my teeth cleaned. My dentist told me that while my teeth looked good, I had a lot of plaque. She said that because I generate plaque so quickly, it would be a good idea to come in at 6-month intervals to prevent gum disease.

I'm days away from getting dental insurance (starts Feb 1), and all of a sudden my gums are beginning to hurt. They felt perfect until this weekend, but now I'm bleeding when brushing my teeth and eating some foods is causing pain.

Do I wait the few days for my insurance to kick in, or do I pony up the cash and go tomorrow (that's assuming I could get an appointment). I would rather not have to pay, but if its urgent or irreversible (gum disease), I would go asap..

Anyone have any advice on this?

Edit 1-27-2010:

I'm totally freaking out today. Just as bad as yesterday. If I even poke my gums they bleed.

My bottom gums are swollen today, I can feel it. Hurts some to eat, too.

I just can't fucking believe that I had been perfectly fine up until a couple days ago and now I'm all of a sudden freaking out about Gingivitis and periodontitis... As long as I'm fixable I'm fine...

I have an exam at 1PM... she said she wasn't sure if she could fit me in for a cleaning or not (at this point I couldn't care less about the insurance paying).

Ironic that I wanted 4 extra months to have my teeth cleaned and covered by insurance, and now I'm going to end up paying out of pocket just a couple days before my coverage kicks in. Stupid. Shoulda just done it on time.

 

[Gunbuster]

You can wait a day or two

 

[jaedaliu]

You can wait a day or two

use sensodyne, and tell your dentist about the pain when you see him/her.

 

[coldmeat]

I thought everyone went every 6 months. I've gone twice a year my whole life.

 

[Brainonska511]

I'd say wait till the insurance kicks in. To help alleviate the problem faster, consider flossing twice a day, combined with twice a day brushing and a mouthwash. You might just have a mild gum infection.

 

[ViviTheMage]

I go in every 6 months, regardless of how bad/good my teeth are. It's a free checkup through my insurance, and they clean my teeth oh so well!

I'd wait until insurance was working.

 

[FoBoT]

yes wait
you aren't going to die from your teeth before next week
wait for the insurance

 

[moshquerade]

I went in almost a year ago to have my teeth cleaned. My dentist told me that while my teeth looked good, I had a lot of plaque. She said that because I generate plaque so quickly, it would be a good idea to come in at 6-month intervals to prevent gum disease.

I'm days away from getting dental insurance (starts Feb 1), and all of a sudden my gums are beginning to hurt. They felt perfect until this weekend, but now I'm bleeding when brushing my teeth and eating some foods is causing pain.

Do I wait the few days for my insurance to kick in, or do I pony up the cash and go tomorrow (that's assuming I could get an appointment). I would rather not have to pay, but if its urgent or irreversible (gum disease), I would go asap..

Anyone have any advice on this?

BRUSH AND FLOSS BETTER!

Alright, but man, you have a lot of plaque because you don't clean it off. That's a fact. Ever think of getting an electric (battery op) brush like Sonicare or Oral B Sonic?

 

[lxskllr]

BRUSH AND FLOSS BETTER!

Alright, but man, you have a lot of plaque because you don't clean it off. That's a fact. Ever think of getting an electric (battery op) brush like Sonicare or Oral B Sonic?

Extra baking soda on the toothpaste helps also. My teeth look better when I do that for a couple of weeks. I always mean to keep it up, but I end up slacking. It's salty, and doesn't taste the best, but it leaves your mouth feeling good a couple hours later.

 

[Gibson486]

dam...i have not hit the dentist in like 10 years.....

 

[PepePeru]

Sometimes, the gums around my wisdom teeth hurt, so i just get back there with a piece of floss and floss the shit out of them until they bleed. It seems to help me, the pain subsides a few days after that.

 

[moshquerade]

Extra baking soda on the toothpaste helps also. My teeth look better when I do that for a couple of weeks. I always mean to keep it up, but I end up slacking. It's salty, and doesn't taste the best, but it leaves your mouth feeling good a couple hours later.

Baking soda is too abrasive to use daily. Sure your teeth will look better for the short term, but you are slowly brushing your enamel away because of the abrasiveness. Beneath your enamel is a tissue called dentin which is yellow in color. Eventually, when your enamel wears thin, the yellow will show through more. No amount of baking soda is going to help you then.

 

[ElFenix]

Baking soda is too abrasive to use daily. Sure your teeth will look better for the short term, but you are slowly brushing your enamel away because of the abrasiveness. Beneath your enamel is a tissue called dentin which is yellow in color. Eventually, when your enamel wears thin, the yellow will show through more. No amount of baking soda is going to help you then.

how about novamin?

 

[James Bond]

BRUSH AND FLOSS BETTER!

Alright, but man, you have a lot of plaque because you don't clean it off. That's a fact. Ever think of getting an electric (battery op) brush like Sonicare or Oral B Sonic?

Yeah, its true and you're right. That being said, I do create much more plaque than the average person (according to my dentist). She said it has something to do with me always sleeping with my mouth open etc

 

[Jeff7]

I thought plaque is the stuff that builds up daily, and tartar is the hardened crap that they have to scrape off with the various charming steel implements.


I was just to the dentist today; it had been a few years, but, there I was. Tartar all over, scraped away, and there was the familiar taste of blood. Yay.
But, no cavities, no weirdness, and my wisdom teeth are fully in, and are acceptably well-oriented.

 

[FoBoT]

Ever think of getting an electric (battery op) brush like Sonicare or Oral B Sonic?

i have to recommend this, i finally got an electric and my hygienist finally stopped giving me crap for all the tartar , it really helped

 

[Riverhound777]

One thing I use that makes it way easier for me to floss is those 1-time use floss picks. I hated flossing before I started using them, but now I can't stand crap stuck in my teeth and use then at least once a day. They aren't as cheap as floss but its like $3 for 90 of them. Well worth it to me.

 

[coldmeat]

One thing I use that makes it way easier for me to floss is those 1-time use floss picks. I hated flossing before I started using them, but now I can't stand crap stuck in my teeth and use then at least once a day. They aren't as cheap as floss but its like $3 for 90 of them. Well worth it to me.

I use these too, and it does make a huge difference in whether or not I floss. I just use these while I'm on the computer.

 

[Riverhound777]

I use these too, and it does make a huge difference in whether or not I floss. I just use these while I'm on the computer.

Yup, same here. In fact instead of the once over with regular floss, sometimes i'll just leave it in my mouth and floss back and forth like 5 times while watching tv.

 

[JS80]

Call/ask your dentist. If he is shady enough he'll work on you now and tell the insurance he did it on Feb 1.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Try to just brush them super well compared to normal, and floss a lot, and use mouth wash too, and just try to always keep them clean. Go brush and wash again after a meal.

I'm no dentist so I could be wrong on this advice, but it seems viable. Probably what I'd do. I don't know if mouth wash really helps or not though. It does say on the Listerine commercial that it will prevent disease, but that's just a commercial, of course they're going to say something like that to sell the product.

 

[James Bond]

I called the dentist... They said I should be ok to wait until Feb 1.

I'm now even more worried though. Today seems worse than yesterday. Just now I went into the bathroom and spit and it was basically pure red with blood... Gonna call dentist and see if she can fit me in tomorrow. Fuck insurance

 

[Brainonska511]

I called the dentist... They said I should be ok to wait until Feb 1.

I'm now even more worried though. Today seems worse than yesterday. Just now I went into the bathroom and spit and it was basically pure red with blood... Gonna call dentist and see if she can fit me in tomorrow. Fuck insurance

Ask if you can get the work done but have the bill post-dated till after the 1st when your insurance will be active.

 

[moshquerade]

Call/ask your dentist. If he is shady enough he'll work on you now and tell the insurance he did it on Feb 1.

That's a Dentist who is committing fraud. Wouldn't want that type of character working on my teeth.

 

[James Bond]

That's a Dentist who is committing fraud. Wouldn't want that type of character working on my teeth.

I called and asked anyway.

"Hey, is it possible to postdate the work being done tomorrow?"
"Uh, that would be insurance fraud, so no".
"OK! Thanks anyway!"