I know nothing about teeth so forgive me if any of this sounds silly.

I broke one of my back teeth today. Inside the tooth it's brown with like a honeycomb pattern. The piece that broke off was fairly small in comparison to the tooth and it doesn't hurt (apart from being sharp now).

I won't have the cash to see a dentist for gawd knows how long, is there anything I can do until then?
Should I brush it more than usual or use a certain mouthwash or anything?

I can't find anything online other than "Go to a dentist" which is not an option right now.

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Originally Posted by shazamataz

I know nothing about teeth so forgive me if any of this sounds silly.

I broke one of my back teeth today. Inside the tooth it's brown with like a honeycomb pattern. The piece that broke off was fairly small in comparison to the tooth and it doesn't hurt (apart from being sharp now).

I won't have the cash to see a dentist for gawd knows how long, is there anything I can do until then?
Should I brush it more than usual or use a certain mouthwash or anything?

I can't find anything online other than "Go to a dentist" which is not an option right now.

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Prepare for a LOT of pain... because its going to start to rot and maybe even get infected... which can quickly become life threatening. I'm serious if that infects and becomes an abcess and gets into your bloodstream it can kill you.

Try to find a clinic, maybe even a teaching college that's nearby if you are lucky. Those are cheaper than a regular dentist...

Brushing frequently can't hurt... but its inevitable what you really need to do. I don't know if they sell a mouthwash called listerine in your part of the world... but one like that might help prolong it a little as well.

You can brush like heck but won't do any good, sounds like the tooth was decayed inside, that is why it broke off. You should have immediate attention by extraction, root canal or cap. Extraction would probably be the cheapest way to go if you don't mind losing a back tooth.

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Originally Posted by smoothy

Prepare for a LOT of pain.....because its going to start to rot and maybe even get infected....which can quickly become life threatening. I'm serious if that infects and becomes an abcess and gets into your bloodstream it can kill you.

Try to find a clinic, maybe even a teaching college thats nearby if you are lucky.

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It takes quite a long time for an infection to become life threatening; normally that happens if you have a whole mouth full of rotten teeth and abcesses along with it, plus a low immune system.

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Originally Posted by tickle

It takes quite a long time for an infection to become life threatening; normally that happens if you have a whole mouth full of rotten teeth and abcesses along with it, plus a low immune system.

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Not really... there was a case just a few years ago here a kid with a single abcessed tooth the mother refused to pay to take to a dentist... that became blood poisoning and killed the young teenager... and they didn't have a weak immune system.

Blood poisoning could kill an Olymic Athlete if it happened to them. And it can happen quick..

Hell I can't remember the last time I ever got sick... yet I can't go to a dentist without taking 2,000 milligrams (yes that's right) of antibiotics because of what might happen if the bacteria in the mouth get into my blood. Minor heart valve defect nobody knew I had until I was in my 40's and almost never caught even then. Wouldn't have if I had not had an echocardiogram looking for a problem that ended up being a reaction to a medication.

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Originally Posted by tickle

You can brush like heck but wont do any good, sounds like the tooth was decayed inside, that is why it broke off. You should have immediate attention by extraction, root canal or cap. Extraction would probably be the cheapest way to go if you dont mind losing a back tooth.

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Completely agree there... no real alternative to those.

Thanks guys, it's rather scary :(

I haven't been to a dentist for probably 20 years, I know I need a lot of work done and I have looked into schools before wth no luck. We have dental care as part of the hospital but last time I checked (a few months ago) the waiting list was 14,000 people or 4 years.

I am also terrified of dentists, I'm not talking scared, I mean genuinely terrified, hence why I haven't been in so long. I tear up thinking about it.

I'll start being skint over the next month or so and get the money together asap then.

Whoa... 4 years waiting list? You should be getting at least cleanings every 6 months... so they can catch problems before they get too bad to fix.

I am terrified of dentists as well. You might want to check into a sedation medication about an hour prior to your appointment when you go. It worked wonders for me. I have to use it just to get my teeth cleaned.

Pay my air fare over, shazz, and we can work around the 'pulling out tooth with string method'. That is tieing one end of a string to a door knob, other end to the tooth, you stand on one side of the door and I on the other and very quickly pull the door too, instantly solved! *big grin*

Our dentist does sedation as part of his practice--like twilight sleep for anyone who wants it. Isn't there someone there who does sedation?

Sedation sounds pretty darn good. We don't do "happy gas" here any more so I can't even use that as a consolation. How would I go about getting that, just talk to my GP, or can you get that kind of stuff at pharmacies over the counter?

And yes, I know I have pretty much brought this upon myself by not going earlier. Lesson learned the hard way that's for sure.

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Originally Posted by tickle

Pay my air fare over, shazz, and we can work around the 'pulling out tooth with string method'. That is tieing one end of a string to a door knob, other end to the tooth, you stand on one side of the door and I on the other and very quickly pull the door too, instantly solved! *big grin*

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Nooooo way!

I'm pretty sure the only way you can be sedated by a dentist is at the hospital, which takes us back to 4 years again. I hate my small town.

Are your dentists even modern, with chairs that recline all the way back? I always hated it when the chairs remained upright (years ago) and the dentist had to practically sit in my lap to get into my mouth.

What is your biggest fear? The pain? Are dentists there up to date with pain meds?

I have no idea, though in my head they look like some sort of medieval torture chamber.

The pain is what scares me. The last time I went to the dentist which I think is the root (pun intended) of all my problems the dentist cut my gum open because she slipped. My mouth filled up with blood and I never went back after that. That was when I was in primary school and we had a dentist visit the school twice a year.

My mum went a few years back and she was terrified as well. Apparently her dentist was brilliant and didn't hurt at all, but that doesn't help my nerves.

Good luck. I am also terrified of dentists after a horrible experience with a surgeon who took out my wisdom teeth. It was awful all the way through, and painful too. Even with the injections I still felt the pain and when they broke one of the teeth off it cracked loudly and hurt terribly. That was in 2006 and since then I haven't been back to the dentist. But I am going Monday, because I have teeth that badly need attention.
The surgeon used laughing gas and it made me cry instead, and his assistant told me to stop crying!! She also said "Oh my god" when he pointed out something about my tooth while they were both working in my mouth inside a giant black funnel.
It was awful..