I have a bad tooth rot!?

Question

I have bad rot in one of my molars, I am traveling and won't be home until January, so can't see a dentist until then.

What can I do to prevent the rot from getting any worse?

Answer 1

You need to get it filled really, but if you cant get to a dentist. Keep it really clean.

Chances are though, depending how long your away, this decay could go into the nerve of you tooth and you could end up in alot of pain or with infection.

This could if left for a long time, lead to the loss of the tooth and bone where the infection is.

Im not talking tons and tons of bone.

Im not trying to scare you but that is a fact.

Answer 2

I hate for anyone to have to lose a tooth that could possibly be saved, but in this case it sounds like you should just visit a clinc, wherever you are, and have it pulled. If you're already in pain, and you can't get it fixed for another 4-5 months, it's probably going to need to come out at that time anyway. Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do to stop the decay once it's underway, and it doesn't matter how clean you keep the area. It's just going to get worse. Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

Answer 3

Once the tooth is damaged then it is pretty much done for which is why prevention is better than cure.  You may want to examine how you got here in the first place.

Drinking drinks that contain acid is probably the biggest cause of sensitive and brittle teeth.  The acid erodes the enamel of your teeth away which means that the dentin underneath the enamel containing the nerves becomes more and more exposed. You will notice this if your teeth are becoming see-through or you can actually see the yellow colored dentin underneath the enamel.  You can make enamel-erosion worse if you drink an acid-containing drink and then brush your teeth straight after as the acid will have softened your teeth.

The main acid-containing drinks are :  

*Fruit juices -  like orange juice,  

*fizzy drinks - like coca cola.  

--You should stop drinking these straight away and just drink water.  Or at least cut down to the bare minimum.  Fruits aren't as healthy as they are made out to be and are only good in moderation.  An orange for example is only high in vitamin C.  You are far better eating vegetables.  It is also better to eat the whole fruit rather than the juice because the acids are encapsulated in the cell walls of the fruit and so don't damage your teeth as much.  Either way, always swill some water in your mouth after so that the acid is gotten rid of and doesn't just lie on your teeth.

---Leave at least an hour of not eating or drinking anything before you brush your teeth at night.  

----As far as technique goes:

Use a pea size amount of toothpaste

Wet the brush and just brush in a circular motion for about 2-3 minutes, occasionally re-wetting the brush and spitting out the paste

make sure you clean every tooth - especially the back ones that are hard to reach.  Do not brush hard!  You only need to apply a little pressure when brushing.  If you brush hard then you could strip the enamel off.  

---Mouthwash and toothpaste contain the same ingredients and are best used at different times.  I would just brush at night and then swill with mouthwash in the morning.  As you can imagine, brushing your teeth after drinking a morning orange-juice is going to do more harm than good.  After eating and drinking your mouth produces saliva which lowers the ph of the mouth so any enamel that has been stripped off by the acidity of the food or drink, can be reapplied to the tooth.

---Finally, you may be deficient in calcium and vitamin D, which is essential to calcium absorption (your enamel is made of calcium):

The best source for calcium is milk or any other dairy product.  Drinking a glass of milk a day will go a long way to maintaining good calcium levels.  Another good thing to eat is oily fish.  The soft bones of the fish provide the calcium, and the fish itself is an excellent source of vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids.

Baby spinach leaves and broccoli are also good - try to get organic when buying vegetables.

The best source of vitamin D is through sunlight.  Generally for most people, vitamin D can be obtained by sunlight from March to October. So it is important to expose your skin to sunlight in Summer.  Only apply skin lotion after you have exposed your skin to the sunlight as the lotion blocks the UVB rays which the skin needs to produce vitamin D.  Those living closer to the equator can obtain vitamin D all year round.  In the winter eat plenty of fish to keep the vitamin D supplies up.

Answer 4

A root canal is way more expensive than an extraction.  If you cannot see the tooth when you talk or small, why not just have it pulled.

Answer 5

Nothing.  It just goes on its own.  A dentist needs to remove the decay and replace it with a filling.