SHTF Dentistry

[Guest guardlobo]

Teeth could really be a pain. I'll have to think more on this one.

[Whistle4Fly]

Revisiting this topic. I have had the eye opening experience dealing with some of the worse dental pain I've ever had the past two nights. Has anyone added anything to their bags to prepare for this. I know last night the pain was so bad I laid in bed soaking in the back of my mouth with whiskey. Rinse for 45-60 seconds. I'm probably adding some clove oil and strips. Any other suggestions.

[Lumber_Jack]

Revisiting this topic. I have had the eye opening experience dealing with some of the worse dental pain I've ever had the past two nights. Has anyone added anything to their bags to prepare for this. I know last night the pain was so bad I laid in bed soaking in the back of my mouth with whiskey. Rinse for 45-60 seconds. I'm probably adding some clove oil and strips. Any other suggestions.

 

do you know the source of the pain? and I dont mean your tooth, I mean broken cap, need root canal, etc

Edited February 11, 2013 by Lumber_Jack

[Whistle4Fly]

not exactly sure. I have an apoointment with the dentist in the morning. most likely need a root canal.

[Lumber_Jack]

not exactly sure. I have an appointment with the dentist in the morning. most likely need a root canal.

 

yeah that's what I was figuring.  Well if your Dentist is the friendly kind, ask him what he would do if no professional help was available.  I'm not sure if pulling the tooth would stop the pain or not.  

[Mike]

Pulling the tooth will stop the pain. It's better to get the restorative work done though if the tooth isn't too far gone.

Mike

[Oh Shoot]

Yeah, if abscess is down in root area, pulling it will relieve it.

 

Sometimes you can get abscess on side of tooth you can actually drain yourself, though. If either side of gum looks blue, can often be relieved by pulling gum away from tooth and/or (shudder) sticking needle or knife point into it. Yes, I did this once on a rear wisdom tooth. Was blue on both sides and behind it, and was able to drain it by prying gum away from side until it released the pus.

 

- OS

[Caster]

Makes me thankful. I have had a lot of problems with my teeth and sick of spending thousands, I just started having them pulled a few years ago. I still have all my front teeth but all my wisdom teeth and molars are gone. SHTF, a fella can throw back half a bottle hooch and let a buddy snatch out a canine or incisor but a molar is hell on earth to pull minus novacaine.

As soon as funds allow, I'm going to go buy me a really nice set of teeth, best I can afford and have all these others pulled too. Then I'll save and buy a set of e cheapest dentures as a back up. I know when my mother in law gets a tooth ache, she drops them in a glass of water with some Efferdent and the pain magically vanishes. Having had many bad teeth and spending thousands of dollars in wasted efforts to save them, I can't see how that's a bad plan.

[Jonnin]

I would rather have a doctor onhand.  Teeth problems suck, but you can always pull em out if it comes to that.  The rest of the body is less forgiving. 

[monkeylizard]

Caster, go for the dental implants. All the benefits of real teeth with none of the drawbacks of real teeth OR dentures.

 

The downside.....expensive, painful, multistep procedures.

 

You can get them cheaper south of the border. :)

[mcurrier]

My next door neighbor is a barber, so...I'm good to go.

[Backon4]

I work at a dentist office and my dentist is in my prepper group. First thing I do in any instance is clean out the office. I could jerry rig a regulator to run an air drill

[Backon4]

Caster, go for the dental implants. All the benefits of real teeth with none of the drawbacks of real teeth OR dentures.

 

The downside.....expensive, painful, multistep procedures.

 

You can get them cheaper south of the border. :)

Not true, implants can and do fail. If you have periodontal disease you have to treat the implants just like natural teeth. You can get abscessed implants. Good luck getting one out.

[Mike]

minus novacaine. .

FWIW, novocaine(procaine hydrochloride) hasn't been used in quite some time. Local anesthesia is typically lidocaine, septocaine, or mepivacaine in dental operatories

Mike Edited February 12, 2013 by Mike

[Caster]

FWIW, novocaine(procaine hydrochloride) hasn't been used in quite some time. Local anesthesia is typically lidocaine, septocaine, or mepivacaine in dental operatories
Mike

Didn't know that. It's all "Slobbercaine" to me. It works, that's all that matters.

[Randall53]

Well crap....I'm gonna quit coming here....every time I think I'm getting somewhere in prepping, I come here and find something else.  Last time it was prescriptions...LOL

 

I guess I'll just buy me a cheap ice skate on ebay and a nice smooth rock in the back yard and put them in my emergency pack....

[Oh Shoot]

....I guess I'll just buy me a cheap ice skate on ebay and a nice smooth rock in the back yard and put them in my emergency pack....

 

I thought of Castaway during this thread, too! ;)

 

- OS

[Cherokee Slim]

I felt I was hijacking the other dudes thread so I started this one.


Where There Is No Dentist (this link supplied by OhShoot )

I have read some of it. There is a lot of practical information.
But you gotta have some supplies on hand, and you need dental tools.
Need a syringe and novocaine. Where do you get that at? Some sort of proper drill might be important too.

Basically I learned that it would suck pretty bad.

 We carried Dr. Mary Vanderkooi's "Where there is no doctor" all over South America for over 30 years.  She actually taught the first jungle medical class we attended.    The book was used every week for one problem or another.  There was  a primitive "where there is no dentist" booklet we kept with it.  When MDs or dentists came down for a medical brigade we always asked them to bring & leave extra tools.  That way my personal medical kit was always well stocked and we had enough extra to teach basic tooth pulling to someone in a remote village.  It actually gave them a small shade tree business when we left.  We never did fillings on our own, the teeth were always too far gone to fix.  Novocaine & lidocaine to do stitches is readily available outside the US at any drug store.  Too bad you can't get them & other things here.  You can however get left, right & straight tooth pulling pliers online.  We never really used anything else, but we used them a lot.

Cherokee Slim

 

The books made sure we did it right -

 

We built an air compressor powered drill for dentists to use for drills when they were there.  Never tried it on my own.

Edited February 13, 2013 by Cherokee Slim

[Dennis1209]

I've proposed this question a number of times with what it must have been like to live before modern dentistry...

 

I remember what it was like to go to the dentist as a kid and get a cavity drilled out and filled. Heavy stinky "smoke" coming out of my mouth and pain, then when the drill got deeper and hit the nerve...  At the time that was modern dentistry and very much appreciated in reflection. Look at where we are today where sissies get proper dental care.

 

Think you can do your own dentistry and pull a tooth when a SHTF might occur, think again.

 

There are certain things that are almost unbearable in life, a migraine headache, gall stones and a toothache to name just a few. I can't operate on myself so I'll share an experience.

 

About twenty years ago I developed a severe toothache on a Thursday. I'm thinking, I hate dentist's and maybe this thing will ease and go away. Go to work Friday and it's so bad I can't concentrate on anything and I need an appointment at the dentist office, NOW! I feel every heart beat in my tooth and it's impossible to go to sleep. I have the wife call our family dentist and the AH says even with an emergency, he can't see me until next Tuesday, not accpetable.

 

I tell my wife to call every dentist in the yellow pages and not tell me any bad news. She does, and the nearest appointment I can get is next Tuesday at noon. You got to be kidding me... My eyes have bags under them and I'm in severe pain and can't eat, sleep, concentrate or anything.

 

A new product is on the market called something like "oralgell" or something. I tell the wife to go out and get me a few gallons or so. It tastes very bad but works for about 10-15 minutes tops, it eases the pain about 30% but not enough to get any sleep.

 

I've been one who thought I had a high threshhold of pain, being tough and all. Well, I've heard of sailors and such pulling their own teeth. So, I proceed to drink about a twelve pack of beer to try and deaden the eventual pain. I get my straight end pliers, vice grip pliers and 90 degree offset pliers and decide I need immediate relief and some sleep.

 

It was a jaw tooth and I gave it hell, with no success. I successed in chipping the tooth and not even loosening it one bit with streams of tears pouring out of my eyes and a twelve pack of beer under my belt.

 

Needless to say, I made my scheduled dental appointment very early and humbled for relief.

 

The dentist administered 3-4 shots of novicain with little effect, as he put his implement just touching my tooth my spincter muscle tightened so tight I broke his seat. Well anyway, I had to grin and bear the pain for awhile to get my relief. No wonder I couldn't do it myself, he had to drill a hole on the side of my tooth so he could put this tool that looked like a cotter key extractor in it an start prying, and after I heard crunching in my ear, he switched to some sort of stainless steel pliers to get it out.

 

I'm here to tell y'all, after that first crunch, I felt immediate pain relief. The rest of the prying, pulling and digging was nothing but an annoyance.

 

Based on my experience, a person can not remove his own tooth unless he's crazy. You can not see what you're doing and do not have the proper tools or knowledge to remove a tooth.

 

I always thought I was born 150 years too late in my younger macho years attitude and wanted to live back then. Not anymore, as I discovered real pain and the benefit of living in the modern age.

 

So, I'm not a tough guy after all. Real tough guys preceded me and have my utmost admiration, respect and sympathy.

 

No wonder their average life span was maybe 40 years. I'll bet a dollar to a donut their dental hygiene played the biggest part in their longevity.

Edited February 13, 2013 by Dennis1209

[Oh Shoot]

.....No wonder their average life span was maybe 40 years. I'll bet a dollar to a donut their dental hygiene played the biggest part in their longevity.

 

Used to photograph stuff for the Anthro Dept, and those folks seemed pretty confident that tooth probs a a leading cause of natives' death during the Woodland Period and forward. Third to warfare and childbirth, the'd say.

 

Rather makes sense, how ya gonna pull teeth with wood, stone, or bone implements? Get an abscess and eventually turns into general sepsis.

 

- OS

[Turf]

Hey guys.  Just found this, skimmed it, and figured I would chime in.  I am blessed in that I also can rely on my dad (not to mention many other family members) for dental care.  As to comment on rather having a doctor, I am glad to hear it as I am in medical school but I do not think this would always be the best option. 

 

If you ever go to a Remote Area Medical Clinic or on a medical mission trip, you will see the dentists about worked to death while the doctors (I can say this because I have worked with them and hope to be one) are many times sitting around twiddling their thumbs or giving prescriptions that will last the person a month or 2 but can't fix the underlying problem.  The doctors I have worked with are amazing people, but there is only so much you can do without equipment, pharmacies, labs, etc.  The dentist on the other hand may be able to drastically improve your quality of life in a short amount of time with relatively few tools (you may lose a tooth but you also lose the pain), and dentists are very knowledgable about many aspects of medicine that you would not expect (they deal with infection, hemorrhage, nerves, etc., etc.).  Now while you may only have limited dental issues, a dentist would be a great asset to any group to be able to handle dental issues, some medical issues, and be able to barter services.

 

I don't want to beat up too much on doctors because even though some are extremely specialized, all are receive some training in what most would consider core medcine (child birth, emergency, etc.)  Just saying don't pass over the dentist (or doctor) if you can help it.

 

Now, as to what you can do now.  Best thing you can do is take care of your dental health (brush, floss, see dentist regularly) and even spend the money to get your teeth their best.  You may have all the MREs you need, a great garden, pond full of fish, and the ability to get all the meat you want, but if you have an abcess you can't get rid of, well, thanks for preparing for the rest of us.

 

Also, ask your dentist about "mini" dental implants.  Some think these are "temporary" implants but I think the research is out to 20 to 25 years on these guys doing just fine and they are cheaper, less invasive, and take less time than "regular" implants.

 

Hope this helps.

[Mike.357]

dentistry is the scariest end of times stuff we really need to deal with.    This stuff will kill you!

 

Dennis's story resonates.  I gave myself a reason for a root canal by shooting a Mosin Nagant one day. Major toothache within minutes,  1K
+ worth of repairs within days.

 

This stuff above all else scares me.

[Moped]

So basically, what you are saying is I need to put looting a Dentist Office on my list for things to do in a GNW (Grand New World) situation...  That list is getting long.  Think I'm going to need a tractor trailer for all this! :)