Just saw my new German dentist today. He's actually an American who lives in Stuttgart and speaks German fluently. He got very high marks among other Americans and he specializes in gums and implants. That's why I went to him. I have a baby tooth that has been infected for a couple of months and needs to be dealt with. There is very little pain, but I do have a fistula in the gum above the tooth.

So anyway, I got a cleaning, which in and of itself was pretty amazing. It was not like any American cleaning I've had done. They pretty much sandblasted the plaque off my teeth. They are super clean now. And the dentist took an x-ray and said it appeared that the pulp chamber of my baby tooth appears to be "obliterated". He said he could try to root canal it, but because it's a baby tooth, he didn't advise it. Or he could just extract it and then I could get an implant.

I had been steeling myself for this news, so I'm not surprised. I asked him about my nerves before the procedure and he said, "Don't worry, we have Valium for that." I have never taken Valium, so I asked my husband what it's like. He says it's like having a couple of drinks and then jerking off.

Should be fun...

I am not a candidate for implants because of problems with infection. So, I have bridges and root canals with crowns. Root canals with a crown often have to be redone. After fussing with a tooth in the back of my mouth for years, I finally had a gold crown done and it's worked perfectly.
I've lost teeth, and had every kind of craziness done. Now I'm happy with well done bridges!
I can empathize with your situation! I've gone through so much dental work, starting at age 10, I hope it is finally finished for the rest of my life!
I am the patient that wants "gas" for a cleaning!
I wish you the best! Hope you get through this with ease! Dental work has improved. But I've never had my cleaning down by sandblasting! I may ask for that next time! hehe (With the few original teeth I have left!)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/2015 03:02PM by SusieQ#1.

My husband has 4 implants. He's had them for about 10 years now. He's never had a bit of trouble with them. They look and feel just like his other teeth. He was so relieved to get rid of the bridge that he used to have to wear. It was a pain. Also, the bridge would damage the teeth it connected to. He ended up with 4 implants because of that damage.

Implants are amazing.


Curious, do you need an implant because there isn't a permanent tooth coming in behind the baby tooth? I had four teeth like that. They came out by themselves. I had braces when I was young, and that filled in the gaps. Two of them were wisdom teeth though. That just saved me a lot of money.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/2015 03:24PM by madalice.

I have two baby teeth with no teeth under them. I also have no wisdom teeth.

The dentist was surprised I still have my baby teeth. I'm 42 and he said those who have my problem usually lose their baby teeth by age 35. My other baby tooth seems okay for right now.

I am not in pain, at least.

knotheadusc Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> so I asked my husband what it's like. He says it's
> like having a couple of drinks and then jerking off.
>
> Should be fun...


Bwahahahaha! Best description I've read.

Yeah, that made me crack up too.

If you are considering the root canal, I would go to a specialist (an endodontist.) Mine took under an hour for three canals. The endodontist took immediate x-rays and saw that one of the canals had to be redone (it had a weird hook at the end of it.) He redid it and it was perfect. I found the root canal to be an easier process than getting crowns put on.

A friend got implants and he was very happy with them.

Good luck, Knotty, and let us know how it goes.

The dentist said a root canal would be tricky because it's a baby tooth. He said in the long run, an implant would probably be cheaper. The idea of having the tooth extracted is a bit creepy to me. I have had an extraction before, but it was when I was 16 and there was a tooth underneath.

I'm such a wimp when it comes to these things.

You might get a second opinion from an endodontist. I wouldn't have anyone but an endodontist do a root canal. My own root canal was a fraction of the cost of what an implant would run. Don't take your dentist's word for it -- check costs.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/28/2015 05:33AM by summer.

I am seeking opinions from people in the community who have had work done by this guy. Just chatted with a woman who had an implant done and she's very happy with her results.

But I haven't made any binding decisions yet. Will continue to collect information so we make the right decision.

After three bridges in the same area the last one finally gave up the ghost. Because of those bridges I ended up without enough bone in the jaw for an implant. These started in the 80s.

So now my teeth end early in the back but not early enough to show a blank spot when I smile.

Still feels weird though not having teeth back there.

I had the same thing, missing permanent teeth. My siblings have the same thing. It’s a symptom of Odontoonychodermal dysplasia. Do you also have ridges in your finger nails? I do, its another symptom of the dysplasia. I had bridges for years, and a few years ago had implants, and capped my other bad teeth. Now I have perfect white teeth (think movie star). Well worth it. Oh, and during the implants, they gave me propofol, so I never felt a thing!

You know, now that you mention it, I think I do have ridges in my fingernails.

Knothead,
If you have the means I highly reccomend an implant. The Valium will work wonders for your nerves. When they extract your deciduous tooth you may lose some bone as baby teeth in adults tend to cement to the surrounding bone. They can introduce cadavar or bovine powdered bone before the implant. Either way, it will take several months as well as a few appointments to finish the work. Implants stay very clean and are very easy to maintain.

Yes, the dentist said I might need to get a sinus lift. I'm a little freaked out now.

Its best to have a oral surgeon or a good periodontist do the lift. With Valium and local anesthesia, you'll be fine.

Here's my dentist's resume. He actually specializes in periodontology and he's been doing implants for a long time. Those of you who have experience with dentists, let me know what you think!

http://www.dr-blair.de/Mainframeset2.htm

Americans around here love this guy and I chose him because of word of mouth. And, again, the cleaning I got yesterday is the best I have ever had. It was unlike any American cleaning I've ever had done. But I am a total wimp when it comes to these things. I don't mind paying well for something if it's done right. I just want to put this behind me, although I know getting an implant will take months.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/28/2015 03:29AM by knotheadusc.

Knothead,
Just wondering about your cleaning. What made it different and better than a stateside cleaning? You used the term sandblasted clean. Can you elaborate?

I wrote about the experience in detail here...

http://travelingovereducatedhousewife.blogspot.de/2015/01/my-new-german-dentist.html

I put it in my blog because a lot of Americans in the Stuttgart area have questions about dentists. Last time I lived here, I went to the military dentist and that experience was like going to a regular American dentist. They also did a good job, but now that we're not military anymore, we have to get care on the economy. We'd have to do that here anyway, even if we were still military, because there's not enough staff to handle things beyond cleanings and simple repairs.

Anyway, what made the cleaning very different was that it felt a bit like a spa experience. The hygienist used a very high pressure water/sand type procedure that blasted my teeth. And when she was finished, she gave me a hot, wet, lemon scented towel. There was also a polish and use of a probe, but it went far and beyond anything I've had done during an American dental cleaning. ETA: Looking at Google, I think it was a salt/water blast technique.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/28/2015 05:01AM by knotheadusc.

Sounds like ultrasonic maybe.

GET A SECOND OPINION!

The dentist can charge you more money for the implant, and dentists are often eager to practice doing these.

The cost of a root canal is much, much less, and you get to keep your own tooth. If the root canal fails 40 years later, then you can have your implant.

Don't have a regular dentist do either of these procedures on you.

An endodontist specializes in root canal surgery. I have had several of these, but the two that were done by a regular dentist hurt like crazy for 3-4 days afterwards! The regular dentists worked much slower, and didn't use the right equipment (the rubber dam, and the graduated files, used with a well-practiced sense of feel. One dentist root canal had to be redone two years later. One dentist spread the infection through all my nerves. The good endodontist was just like a regular 45 minute appointment. I went to work after, with an Advil. With the dentist root canals, I was unable to work for three days. Figure your time/salary cost!

An implant is a new procedure. The oral surgeon t was fairly new at implants, and he severed a nerve, and I have no feeling in half of my lower lip! I can talk, but I sometimes spit when I talk. It is horrible, and irreversible.

Your dentist wants your business. Probably he is already picking out a new boat to buy this spring, on your bill alone. Tell him you want a specialist, and maybe he can recommend someone good. Otherwise, ask around. The awful dentist and oral surgeon were Mormons, the endodontist was a never-Mormon.

The guy I visited yesterday is a specialist, not just a run of the mill dentist.

Knotty, you will need an endodontist for a root canal or an oral surgeon for the extraction/implant.

Yes, I know. This guy is certified to do those things.

Check out his resume.

http://www.dr-blair.de/English%20Site/englishMainframeset2.htm



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/28/2015 05:47AM by knotheadusc.

I have 2 implants and they are GREAT, people don't even know the difference unless I tell them.

From his resumee your dentist looks very qualified, I am happy for you.

Were you able to drive to his Praxis or how did you get there? I remember you had a problem also about driving in Germany.

(Too bad I moved further away, I was in the Rhein-Main area for many years, much closer to Stuttgart than now, we could have met!)

We drove. My husband went with me because he also needed a cleaning. This dentist's office is located very close to the Stadtmitte station in Stuttgart.

I have a feeling that if I get him to do the implant, I will soon have no problem driving to his office. I understand the process requires a lot of visits.

You have to wait a while after the extraction. Then depending on the location of the tooth, sometimes one procedure is needed to prep the area. Then the implant goes in on the second procedure. But sometimes the implant can go in right away.

Be sure to check costs. I was quoted a minor fortune for an implant, but it would have been a two-step procedure.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/28/2015 11:16AM by summer.

The person I chatted with this morning had her implant done by this guy and she said it required a number of visits. She also said that it cost a little less here than what she was quoted in the US. Fortunately, the euro is not as strong as it was when we moved here, so now might be an especially good time to get this work done.

My husband had his done in 2 steps. He didn't have any extractions though.

He had the posts with temporaries placed in one visit. He then went fishing the rest of the day. He's a tough old buzzard though.

Once the posts had sufficient bone growing around them, his permanent teeth were placed. They're his 4 front uppers. You would never know they aren't his real teeth. They really look good.


Now that I think about it, he must have had a visit several months before his posts were placed. The dentist would have to have made moulds of his mouth and teeth to have the temps made.

I was quoted $5,000 maybe six years ago from the area's most highly regarded practitioner. He did my extraction. Insurance would have covered some of it but I would have to come up with a lot up front. Since it was an upper molar that has an impact on my sinuses (I have had chronic sinus issues,) and it is not visible when I smile, I elected to go without.

To a guy with a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. Get an opinion from an endodontist whose speciality is NOT implants.

Dare I ask what that costs where you are?

RB