Here's the situation. I am a 21-year-old girl with no insurance whatsoever, and no income, either.
I have a wisdom tooth which came in (a little sideways, pointing outwards, digging slightly into the bone back there, and I did nothing about it. Something, I can't remember what, broke it slightly. No big deal, except it was sharper, and a bit more irritating. More and more, very small pieces kept coming off at different times. The pieces, I notice, are often partially dark, like they're decayed. Now, there is between a third and a half of my tooth missing, I think (can only tell by feel, can't see that far back). The middle of what is exposed has a small piece which I wonder if may be covering the nerve, I don't know... but there has been no pain yet.
The thing is, I can't afford getting worked on... so what I want to know is what I can expect, and if there's anything I can do to slow the obvious deterioration of this tooth. What I suspect is once the nerve is exposed, I will be in severe pain... Which I quite honestly don't look forward to.
Any help?

By the time the nerve is exposed, you will already know if it is going to hurt or not. You would be surprised at the amount of crap that gets stuck in the cracks, if you have not had any pain as of yet, then I would not worry too much. But you should try to get to the dentist, he will only pull it out, it is not expensive at all. I have had similar probs in the past, and I would never wish the pain of an exposed nerve on you. Also, no matter how much you brush, you can't get rid of the stink of decaying teeth, so the impact this has on your social life alone is worth a trip to the dentist.

I have had the same problem with my top two wisdom teeth. Mine have been breaking off slowly for at least a year now. First on a Dorito, then on a hard taco, and the two most recent times were on a hot dog and a cheeseburger from McDonalds. Surprisingly enough, half of one of them is gone and I've only felt slight sensitivity, never any bad pain. Unfortunately, as the person above said, you can't get rid of the smell so my boyfriend has repeatedly told me that I have bad breath.

Also, most dentists won't even see someone unless you have insurance. And if they will see you, you will have to pay for everything up front, no payment plan. That is why I put mine off for so long. You may be able to find some kind of dentist office for people with little/no income and then they base the rates off your income and it's a lot cheaper that way. I had an initial visit to a dentist which was $200 and the cost for getting all four wisdom teeth taken out is going to be around $1400 to $1600. Since my top two are breaking, I have to get the bottom two taken out as well since they will be useless without the top two there. Thankfully, I just got insurance. So your best bet would be to try to find some kind of dental service that bases it on your income, kind of like how Planned Parenthood works for birth control and such.

Hope this helps!

:confused: Im.only.14.years.old.and.i.have.1.wisdom.tooth.gro wn.in.and.2.coming.out.one.is.crocked.and.hurts.(i s.this.normal.that.i.have.m.wisdom.teeth.out.wen.i m.only.14?)

Darkserentity: I PMed you.