cavities Archives - Arnold Dental

My sister and I went to the same emergency dentist, both for a toothache, but ended up with completely different treatment plans. Kathy went first. Her tooth had been hurting her for a couple of weeks. He told her it was just a small cavity and fixed it right there. A month later I had a toothache. I went in right away because she really liked this dentist and I thought it would be useful to go to someone who’s been “tested” and get it over with. But, when I went, he made me get a root canal treatment. What’s the deal? Why was my treatment so much more invasive than hers? She always get the easy life and I’m stuck doing the hard things.

Kristine L.

Dear Kristine,

Sisters. You can be best friends one minute and fierce competitors the next. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the movie White Christmas but there’s actually a performance by two sisters. One of the stanzas in their song goes a like this:

Lord help the mister who comes between me and my sister,
and Lord help the sister, who comes between me and my man.

There are a number of factors which determine why one person just needs a filling and another may need a root canal treatment and dental crown. The first, is pain tolerance. I know you went in more quickly for your dental treatment than your sister did, but it’s possible you have a much higher pain tolerance than she does. Your tooth could have been damaged for much longer and you just didn’t realize it. By the time you recognized the pain, your tooth was much further along than hers.

Another possibility is the location of the decay. If hers was just on an edge and not affecting any other parts of the tooth, a simple filling would do it. Yours may have been through the enamel to the dentin and encroaching on a nerve. That would require a root canal treatment and possibly even a crown.

The bigger issue here (to me at least) is that this dentist is not explaining why he’s doing which procedures. Before moving forward in caring for someone’s teeth he should be certain the patient understands exactly what they need and WHY they need it.

This blog is brought to you by Dr. Fred Arnold.

I’m 16 and have never been to a dentist. Lately, several teeth have been hurting and it’s hard for me to drink anything cold. When I look in the mirror, I feel certain there are some cavities, especially toward the back. I asked my parents to take me to the dentist and I think I need a sedation dentist, because I’m pretty sure they’re going to need to do a lot. My best friend goes to the dentist every year, she said when she switched to a sedation dentist her visits were so much easier. My parents said I’m just being melodramatic. They’ve never needed a dentist and if I took care of my teeth neither would I. They also said that even if they were to waste money on a dentist, they wouldn’t spend extra so I could get high. Is there any information you can point me to that could change their mind?

Stephanie – Alabama

Stepanie,

It sounds like your parents have been very fortunate when it comes to having healthy teeth. However, you can do everything right and still get cavities. If you want to, you can print this out of send them the link to the url. Based on what you’ve described you’ve got some cavities and they may be extensive given your sensitivity to cold. You’ll likely need a root canal treatment, a crown, or (worst case scenario) an extraction. For a couple of those treatments, sedation is a very useful, and in some cases, necessary.

Preventative dental care is an essential part of your overall medical health. Dental problems are linked to diabetes, heart disease, and a myriad of other issues. As secondary effects of poor dental health, many children have low self-esteem and trouble eating or sleeping. It’s important to regularly see a dentist to catch problems before they blow up to where you get gum disease or need to replace teeth.

If it turns out any of your teeth need to be extracted, you’ll need to be advised on tooth replacement options. Given your youth, I’d do a temporary replacement, then once your jawbone is fully developed the best procedure would be a dental implant. It’s the closest to having your natural teeth back.

It’s possible your parents are acting like they don’t care because they’re worried about finances. It’s easy to lash out or make excuses when we’re scared. Most dentists have some type of payment plan options, either in-house or through Care Credit.

This blog is brought to you by cater to cowards dentist Dr. Fred Arnold.

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