Testimonies of our patients

Do you suffer from constant tooth pain? It can be a debilitating experience, affecting your daily life and overall well-being. In this article shares their personal experience with finding relief from permanent dental pain and the steps they took to find the solution. Moving away from a closed mouth to a smile Life with dental pain is no fun, from an abscess to a small hole and those words of dread “root canal” and finally there is nothing else we can do for the extraction. Now before we all jump up and down dental pain is caused by not looking after your teeth whilst in theory correct, the question should be why they have not looked after their teeth. Could it be from a childhood problem or an addiction some could be lazy that is true, and some could be suffering an illness of some nature. So, my story is a simple one as a child I brushed my teeth every morning and evening and rarely missed, I did not eat a lot of sweets or drink carbonated drinks and I drank vast amounts of milk. What happened to me was I kept collapsing as a child, taken to hospital and tested for everything they could think of for 4 years roughly once a month this happened (1968 to 1972), one day on a visit once more to hospital they asked once more what I had eaten, my tired and exhausted mum looked at the doctor and in a blunt tone said nothing at all he was not a good lad last night so bed with no tea all he has done is wash and brush his teeth. The doctor looking puzzled just responded and said ok let’s test toothpaste then nothing happened at first then I felt a little rough but ok, so they then rubbed some in to my gum and kept me at the hospital for monitoring sure enough that evening I collapsed again having spent all day nil by mouth the puzzle was solved and Fluorine an element on the periodic table but a component of the very stable fluoride which added to toothpaste but also fluorine is found amongst the salts and pumice used to make toothpastes. So that was the end of me using toothpaste and as my mouth health went down and blood was appearing my regular washing went to. Over the years that followed I had a dental record bigger than my doctors file, I was at the dentist so regular it was a weekly event trying his best with what was available to him, as I grew older it was approved that me and the other 3 people in the UK would come under direct management of Kings College Dental Hospital where we would get treatments above those normally provided by the NHS free of charge on medical grounds, by now gaps had opened in my teeth some were long gone to history and smiling in pictures had long gone a grin was about all you would get. For a few more years it continued but my tooth loss had decreased as a cleaning method seemed to be helping (sadly not for long) by my mid-twenties all my rear teeth had a crown and de nerved tooth abscesses had become the norm, then we were told that me and the 2 surviving others would no longer be able to have specialist care on the NHS we would come under normal care. If you are now thinking that would be bad, I can assure you it was. General partial dentures fitted not the most comfortable things, trainee dentists or those from college dictating that you must clean your teeth more with a strong toothpaste so ignorant of the problem I had. More years passed a couple more teeth gone and added to my denture, gaps now so wide a toothpick fitted through the gap. Toothache became my daily friend and pain level, or tolerance got so high I went through appendicitis treating it as unbelievably bad tummy pain and even flew back from Dominican with it, then ended up in hospital in the UK, guess my tooth issues had a small advantage I had a good stock of pain killers and antibiotics with me. Now fast forward to 2021, now living in Hungary with my wonderful Hungarian wife and a big toothache, luckily, she works at a dentist so appointment made and in we go, not your normal x ray here at S&Z its into a scanner and then a few minutes later a full picture of just how bad things are in my mouth, some immediate treatment needed another tooth leaves my mouth and my denture grows once more, but also after long discussions a possible way ahead, there is just enough bone for implants, or telescopic partial denture or a bridge and denture all would require extensive work for sure. What was nice was the lack of pressure to decide there and then, take the time to think it through. Leaving S&Z with my teeth gaps and partial plate off I went with lots to think about. Forward to November 2022 and I am back at S&Z my plate had become so loose the risk of a departure from mouth was real, and those little seeds from a strawberry hurt like hell when the sneak under your plate as for a Tomato you can imagine that one and very safe to say muesli had long been off my breakfast list for a long time and eating out was always a challenge. After a long informative discussion, I decide on the bridge and removable denture top and bottom, a big step awaits. November 21st, 2022, at 9am I sit in the chair at S&Z for what will be a long session, first the walk through and a new scan completed then a new form of scanning used to show a 3-dimensional profile. Then it begun the first injection of 4 in total went in, they still hurt as much now as when I was a boy, then the work starts a quick impression then after a check that we were nice and numb and the drill started up and the profiling of my last few remaining teeth begun, my old partial plate on the table, knowing that they would never again be fitted into my mouth, more injections and attempts at spitting and rinsing followed, sadly one more tooth was not stable enough so that went along the way. Then it was time for the impressions to taken needed a few and then a set of temporary crowns made and fitted. At this point I will point out that there may have only been few of my teeth left they were as sensitive as hell even with crowns on a diet of painkillers had begun. Next visit was more impressions next a test fit of the bridge without the porcelain on the, think of jaws from James Bond and you have an idea also at this point a lot of time spent getting the bite correct. Then on the 9th of December the big day arrives first a message from S&Z confirming that your new teeth have arrived. With nerves at full throttle off we go once more into the chair the old temporary crowns are removed hopefully for the last time and the trial fit begin and after a few adjustments the moment has come to cement them into place and an hour later it is all over, the weeks of pain from sensitive teeth hours in the chair and a lifetime of poor teeth, now for the first time in many years I can smile and not be concerned about people seeing my teeth I almost want them to see them, 2 hours later I eat my first meal that was weird chewing on both sides and biting properly. Been a few days now with a full mouth of teeth and it is all settling down very well, a little sensitive yes and brushing away the best I can and my water pick to clean underneath, going to sleep with a mouth full of teeth and a night guard (which is comfortable) starting each day better. With heart felt thanks to the long road and carful thoughtful work at S&Z I can smile once more and even better I can sneeze without fear and know that my fifty-six candles on my birthday cake are safe from a denture attack when they need blowing out. I sign off now because I want to go and bite food not because I am hungry but because I can. Clive Liddiard December 2022

Life with dental pain – Clive Liddiard