Okay first off im a 32 year old guy who is a bit on the bad health side! dental wise anyway! it all started back when i was in the army, i had enlisted into a newly tested drug program and all went well for the 3 years i was a part of it, but everysince then my gums and teeth have gradually and now rapidly started to decay at a fast pace! I was always one who took pride in careing for my teeth, but nothing i did stoped the decay and that put me in a deep depresion over the past couple years so much so that i pretty much became a solitary fellow, ashamed of my teeth problem, never smiled while in the public, havent been on a date in god knows when, not to mention it has reeked havoc on my work life as well! ive had several teeth just fall right out of the sockets with no warning and now most are down to the stubs close to gum level, and the pain in some is so un bearable that ive found myself setting up all hours of the nite trying to ignore the pain!Now im not a rich man and the one dentist i visited could not believe what he saw, he even alled several of his friends to talk about it! a surgeon last spoke to me and said that i had a rare form of decay that would eventualy lead to decay of the jaw bone?? wasnt clear on that but mostly i would like to see if any of you here could give me some valuable advise? thx in advance


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Is there a such thing as Emergency dental care for the non insured out there? most dentists ive called here in my town say oh well we can set you up for an apointment a week later?? not good for a fellow like myself whos pain is so unbearable!

[This message has been edited by jblade (edited 04-15-2002).]

You really need to get a 2nd opinion! & you also need to find a dentist that you like & that will explain things to you where you know exactly what he is saying! If you do not understand then you need to ask again & again until you get it! These docs just think that everyone should understand all of this medical mumbo-jumbo & do not realize they are not easily understood! http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/dizzy.gif
When you do find a dentist that you like you should not have any problem getting an emergency appointment. I have worked in the dental feild for 10 years & I do not mean to sound cold hearted but if we saw emergency patients at the last minute then we would never have time to see our scheduled patients. We have a schedule & if we were to work in all of the tooth aches that called us everyday then we would run hours & hours behind schedule. Most dentist will however work in an "exhisting" patient at the last minute if there is pain invovled. That is because the majority of these patients have regular visits & we can usually catch a problem before it becomes painfull & we have time to schedule what ever procedure needs to be done. Once you do find one that you like getting in for an emergency should not be a problem!
I wish you luck & keep us posted on what you find out!
Kim http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wave.gif

Thanks for the reply Kim, and i did go and see a nice doctor today who told me exactly what was wrong with me! the news was bad, and now im looking at a stay in the hospital, they are running tests and he thought that it might be cancer that has spread! not sure yet but it didnt sound good! anyway this is my last post for awhile, as i dont know how long ill be in the hospital, atleast 10days he said due to major infection

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I am so sorry to hear about your news! Please please please keep me posted! I am glad to hear that you have found a doctor that you are happy with! Did he mention what kind of cancer he thought you might have? Have they done any blood work on you yet? This is just crazy! http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/dizzy.gif I want you to know I will be thinking of you & you are in my prayers! Hang in there OK?


Take care & talk to you soon!

Kim http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wave.gif

http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/eek.gif

I AM FROM OKC ALSO! I just realized where you were from! What Dr. did you go see? Which Hospital are they going to have you go to? I can not beleive that! What a small world! I know things are crazy & you have a lot to deal with but if you get a chance I would like to know!

Talk to you soon neighbor!

Kim http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wave.gif

what a small world indeed http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif nice to have ran into another Okie, I live out close to the yukon area out by hefner, and the hospital I am going to is baptist im on the laptop now curently there! they have me on iv antibiotics and STILL running all kinds of tests on me, my doctor is paul mennings and the great news is that the area on the x-ray he took earlier was not cancer. The blood workup was NEG just the infection!
But they think now that i will still need surgery to remove the bad part of my jaw bone that has became very infected over time! the infection was spreading through my blood and that was what was making me so sick, so i got 5 days of in hospital care and then home for six weeks of taking pain pills and antibiotics
then the surgery after that, im still going to loose all my natural teeth and have to ware dentures! But i think getting support from all my friends and family and kind gestures from ppl like yourself, things will only get better! Im still realy scared of the surgery and having to adjust to waering dentures but god willing I shall overcome this and pick myself up again!
I realy do appreciate your reply today, kind words from another goes along ways when your feeling down and scared! I sure would like to keep in touch if thats ok with you, anyway take care and talk to you soon

Chris http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by jblade (edited 04-16-2002).]

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What great news Chris! I am so happy to hear that you are cancer free! I was very worried about you last night! Baptist is a great hospital! I was there for a fe days in November (i have epilepsy) & they took wonderful care of me!

Now....for the denture aspect of things! If you have had bad problems with your mouth for such a long time then the dentures are going to be a blessing in disguise! They will however be quite an adjustment, but after a few months you be used to them! It just takes a lot of strenght, patients, & willpower! As a dental assistant part of my job was to help our patients adjust to the dentures we would place! It is going to be a tough road, but I promise it will be well wortth it in the long run.

Are you married? Will you have some help from someone after the surgery? You will be pretty sore for a couple of days, but when they get all the infection & problem areas outa there you will feel a lot better & the uncomfertable tenderness you will have following the surgery will be a breaze!

I would love to keep in touch & help you out as much as possible! You can count on me anytime you need someone! If you want to go to my profile page & get my email you are more than welcome to do so!

Hang in there & I will talk to you later on today!

I live in the newcastle area & we zip down Sara road to Yukon to go to the movies at least once a week http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/bang.gif What a smal little world it is out there!

Hang in there & keep your chin up & take advantage of this time to get yourself back in good health!

You are in my thoughts & prayers!

Kim http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wave.gif

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Hi Chris! I have been thinking about you & was wondering how things were going! I have an appointment this afternoon w/my neurologist over at Baptist & I still think it is quite odd that we are so close to eachother! TOO FUNNY! I do hope things are going well for you & I hope to here from you soon & you have good news for me! Keep me posted on your situation when you have time & feel better!
Kim http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wave.gif


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Yesterday is the past, tomorrow is the future, today is a GIFT, that it is why it is called the present.

http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wave.gif Hi Chris http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/bang.gif
I have not heard from you in a while & I was just wondering how you were feeling. I hope things went as well as could be expected for your hospital visit. Please keep me posted on your progress!
I am thinking of you.

Kim

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Yesterday is the past, tomorrow is the future, today is a GIFT, that it is why it is called the present.

Hello Kim http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif
Thx for all your kindness
so far so good, im doing at home care now to get rid of all remaining infections and man all these drugs they have me on is realy draining my energy, but the pain is managable now atleast http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif they told me yesterday that I should be ready for my oral surgery some time next month based on the condition of the infections and if they are cleared up by then! Other than that Im doing much better these days, Yesterday I started working on my hoby again (flying model airplanes http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif)
Getting outside and doing things realy helps releive the stress of it all but boy with all this pain meds it kind of reduces my play time lol

PS how did your appointment at baptisit go? I hope your doing OK these days http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif

Talk to ya later, Your Okie friend Chris.....

http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wave.gif Hi Chris!
I am so glad to hear that you are doing much better. I have been thinking about you & am glad to hear all is better. How many teeth are they going to have to remove? What Oral Surgeon are you going to see? & where do you go fly your planes? That sounds like a lotta fun, glad to hear you are able to get & about now. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/biggrin.gif
My appointment went OK, they do not do much except change my meds around all the time. It is getting a little old. I am in search for a new neurologist!! Any suggestions? LOL

Keep me posted & take care!
Kim



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Yesterday is the past, tomorrow is the future, today is a GIFT, that it is why it is called the present.

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[This message has been edited by Well-come (edited 05-11-2002).]