Tag Archives: Dental Implant

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No dental insurance and an infected tooth

I’ve had a lot of problems with my teeth. I am missing most of the teeth in the rear of my mouth, and now I have an infection that is really painful. It looks like I have a golf ball stuck in my cheek! I am out of work right now, and don’t have any kind of insurance at all. Where can I find someone to help me with this tooth? I asked the doctor at the Free Clinic, but he was not aware of any dental clinics that offer free treatments.

Is there anything I can do to treat this myself?

Thanks for your help.

Darren in Cleveland, OH

Dear Darren,

You’ll need help to get this infection under control. Especially do NOT take oral antibiotics without first treating the source of the infection within the tooth. If you do, you’ll never address the source of the infection and will make the bacteria that remain resistant to antibiotics. You could find yourself with an infection that NO drugs will effectively deal with, and that can be a very serious situation.

A tooth infection can spread to your brain. That is a sobering statement, but we want you to take this situation seriously. Infections in your teeth can also spread to your throat and cause swelling that could interfere with your airway. You have a couple of options here to address this. You can have the tooth extracted. It sounds as if you are missing a lot of teeth, so you may want to start looking into options to regain some functionality. Dental implants are great for replacing missing teeth, but they are expensive and never covered by dental insurance. Dental bridges might work for you, depending on the position of the missing teeth.

Your community may have a clinic where you can go to get the tooth extracted. If they don’t, check at the Free Clinic to see if any of the doctors know any dentists in your area that will help.

The office of Lafayette Louisiana cosmetic dentist Dr. Malone provides this blog as a courtesy.

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Front teeth loose after an assault—will they fall out?

I was recently the victim of an assault, and was punched quite hard right in the mouth. I had to go to the emergency room to get stitches because it tore the corner of my mouth. While I was there they did a CAT scan, and said there are no fractures, but my front teeth are loose. One is more loose than the other.

I don’t have any kind of dental coverage and am worried sick that I might lose my front teeth. From what I have described, does it sound like my dentist will be able to save them? I’ve been online, researching what treatments there are for lost teeth. If they fall out, I don’t think I can afford dental implants or a dental bridge, and it doesn’t seem like a partial denture would look good or be comfortable. I am trying to find out if I can sue the guy that hit me if the cops catch him, but that is kind of a long shot.

Eric in Sault St. Marie

Dear Eric,

We’re sorry that this happened to you. Hopefully the police will find the person who did this, and justice will be served.

In terms of your teeth, if the CAT scan was accurate and there are no fractures in the roots of your teeth, they should be stabilized in the correct position in the day or two following the injury. Your dentist should bond the teeth into place, fixing them in the correct position. The bone will then heal, and your teeth should be fine.

Two or three weeks from now, you should go back to the dentist and have him check for nerve damage on either tooth. If either of the nerves are damaged, you will need root canal treatment. If that is the case, tell your dentist that you do not want a dental crown. Some dentists will place a crown on any tooth that has had a root canal, as a matter of course. In this situation, a crown will actually cause the tooth to be structurally weaker. Also tell them not to leave any root canal cement or adhesive in the crown of the tooth, or the tooth will get quite dark in time.

This blog provided as a courtesy of Dr. Malone, Lafayette Louisiana Cosmetic Dentist.