Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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All my fillings from six months ago fell out almost all at once over the last two months (I'm finding a new dentist); I was very foolish and waited to schedule a dentist appt thinking that it might be possible for the hulled molars to recalcify. The nerve in one of them (#32) became exposed and the dentist that had filled them initially refilled that one first (all my other back molars are still hollow making it impossible to chew on the left side and painful to chew and dig food out of the right every time I eat). Three days later I go back due to excruciating pain from any trace of pressure (it hurt to drink water); he glances at it (no xray) and taps it twice, says I need a root canal and prescribes me penicillin (vk 500mg) -- once every six hours for a week (28 pills), 3 of which I managed to drop down the sink. It seemed to go away altogether after the first night but last night I could feel it was definitely worse. It seems a little better now but I'm sure it's still infected.

My questions:

Do I go back and ask for another round of the same stuff or do I need a stronger pscrip?
Is there a 'lesser evil' antibiotic I could ask for?
Do I do something else, i.e. immediate root canal?

I only went to this guy because he takes walk-ins (and is pretty inexpensive...); I don't know how soon I can get an appt at another doctor's office -- but I really don't want this dude to come anywhere near my teeth again. I could see going back just to renew my pscrip but if I need a root canal I don't know how immediate it can be.

Edit: I should make it more clear that my main concern is ending up with an antibiotic-resistant tooth infection if I don't go back and get more of the same or something new and stronger.

edited May 30 2012 at 1:21

asked May 29 2012 at 17:13

Kiba
11●3

	While you are deciding, you can take 40,000 IUs of Vitamin D3 (oil-based) for 2-3 days. At this level, D acts like an antibiotic & certainly won't hurt while you decide about more meds. – Dragonfly May 30 2012 at 1:42
	Dragonfly, wouldn't vitamin A and K2 be important too? – a tricksty trickster Jun 8 2012 at 4:16

AmandaLP · Answer 1 · 2012-05-29 17:57:08Z UTC

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First, tooth pain sucks, I hope it feels better soon.

Secondly, depending on the pain, there are a few things you can try. If the pain is bearable, you can try natural type remedies, like clove oil or oil of oregano, oil pulling, or a few others. check out "Cure Tooth Decay" on Amazon for a more comprehensive list.

If you are really in pain, try searching for a minimally invasive dentist, or one that will do the least amount of drilling to get the work done. Many times root canals are not needed, and will often lead to worse health outcomes.

If you dont feel comfortable with the dentist that you saw, DO NOT LET THEM NEAR YOUR MOUTH.

Lastly, try to get in some good probiotics or probiotic foods, to help with the gut decimation of antibiotics. Bone broth is also soothing for your intestines.

answered May 29 2012 at 17:57

AmandaLP
3,037●2●5●14

	Thanks for your response. Going on how bad the pain was before I started the antibiotics I'm afraid it will go back to that. Will hold out for the least drilling possible. I'm also definitely planning on a big pro/prebiotics course during the rest of this and after -- picking some acidophilus up later today and going to order some Theralac, which I've heard some good things about. Made my first batch of chicken bone broth/pig's foot jello a few days ago -- it's in the fridge :) – Kiba May 29 2012 at 18:05
	Try to put a drop of oil of oregano directly on the tooth,do it several times a day.Don't rinse afterwards.That should kill the infection until you find another dentist.Eventually you would have to get those teeth fixed,unless you follow a strict protocol for remineralizing,which can be quite difficult – desi May 29 2012 at 18:52
	Desi, the infection is under my filling -- will the oil be able to get to it? Thanks for the tip! – Kiba May 29 2012 at 18:59
	Yeah,it will,I have the same issue and for a year now,I've been keeping it under control this way,but it comes and goes,eventually I have to get it fixed,but the thing is every time it starts hurting I put the oregano and it clears the infection and then I forget about it until the next time – desi May 29 2012 at 20:28
	If the infection keeps coming back...it's not cleared. You're just smothering it a bit, beating it back. Be careful with that. – syrahna Jun 8 2012 at 4:41

Evelyn aka CarbSane · Answer 2 · 2012-05-29 20:54:03Z UTC

(1) Find a new dentist

(2) Get X-rays AND have the dentist review them with you. For example "this tooth is OK but needs filling", "this filling is compromised", "this nerve is exposed", etc.

Proceed from there. If you see gray areas around a tooth that is bone resorption = periodontal disease. Before wasting money on a root canal, see a periodontist for an evaluation.

I know there are all sorts of caries cure claims, etc. out there. If you've had teeth drilled and filled, you're past that point. Fillings should not fall out. If oral AB's don't knock clear infection down there are injectable ones that can be applied locally nowadays.

This is just me, but playing with natural remedies may work, or it may make you lose teeth. I err on the side of save the tooth if you can, intervene as early as possible. On the one hand I'm a lucky tooth decay resistant person. OTOH I've had isolated bone loss/infection problems now a decade ago and wish a dentist had diagnosed them sooner rather than do useless root canals!

Moonablaze · Answer 3 · 2012-05-30 04:01:24Z UTC

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Get to a GOOD dentist and ask him or her.

answered May 30 2012 at 4:01

Moonablaze
2,168●4●14

catemoon · Answer 4 · 2013-05-16 07:46:27Z UTC

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Why would you want an xray at this point on this tooth? The dentist could evidently see what was wrong with the tooth without bombarding you unnecessarily with ionising radiation. An xray has to be clinically justified. I bet if he had taken a whole lot of xrays that you did not feel were justified you'd complain about that too. I don't wish to sound harsh but you say that most of your teeth are "hollow", which suggests a lifetime of neglect. You need to make your teeth a priority. Get a recommendation from someone you trust for a good dentist, ask questions, work on your oral hygiene, get treatment, and be prepared to pay for it.

answered May 16 at 7:46

catemoon
201●4

I would downvote this, but I'm not going to waste a point on a driveby. This is TERRIBLE ADVICE. The dentist needs an xray to see what is going on with the tooth, the nerves, the canals and which canals, even how many canals the tooth has, and the jawbone itself. Any dentist who would do ANYTHING to a tooth other than clean it without an xray is not someone I would let near my mouth. (Not a dentist but until two months ago, I was a dental professional.) – Varelse May 16 at 12:18

Well I'm glad you're not a dentist then. I am. If there is clear clinical evidence of infection then the initial diagnosis is made. The first thing the dentist is obliged to do before undertaking anything else is to eliminate the infection, not mess around taking unnecessary xrays. If the treatment plan is then to extract or carry out root canal treatment, xrays will be indicated then. Every xray the dentist takes has to be clinically justified, and exposure to ionising radiation should be strictly minimised, as you should know as a dental professional. – catemoon May 16 at 14:11

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Indeed, special rules very much do apply. In the interest of transparency and credibility, anyone publicly claiming to be a credentialed physician must also publicly provide identity info on their profile page. e.g. link to their website, LinkedIn etc etc. If a physician wants to remain anonymous (and that is well within their rights), then they must not use "Dr.", "Doc", "MD" anywhere in their user-name. This applies to ALL credentialed physicians, naturopaths, chiropractors and what-have-you etc etc For more Paleo Diet hacks: paleohacks.com/faq#ixzz2TZdpqHGK – CD May 17 at 17:57

Nobody has to believe that I'm actually a dentist, but I'm going to speak out when I see poor advice given by lay-people. Check my advice with someone you know really is a dentist if you doubt it, and everyone should doubt all advice given on a forum like this, of course. – catemoon May 19 at 9:26

@CD, thank you. @catemoon - Then don't claim it if you aren't willing to back it up. Regardless of your dentist status, I still disagree. My old dentist, and my current dentist/former boss and our visiting specialists, would never agree with your advice. I would rather be exposed to a tiny dose of radiation in order to get an accurate diagnosis and a realistic prognosis than have a dentist go poking about blindly. Radiation exposure with current digital technology is minimal, and, IMHO and my dentists' opinions, is overly scare-mongered. – Varelse May 19 at 14:35

(Dentists please read!) Antibiotics haven’t worked yet… Do I take more?

4 Answers