Dentists reveal new tooth decay treatment • Hacker News Board

Re: Dentists reveal new tooth decay treatment

#111

Post by Karunamon » Mon, Nov 09, 2015, 9:05 PM UTC

Eldarrion wrote: post #80

merpnderp wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How was it possible to hold still while having a large nerve drilled out?

The way root canals were handled is by usually killing the nerve via opening up the nerve, putting arsenic in and sealing it with a temporary filling for 2-3 days. After that's all done, there's very little pain felt except when the doctor goes far enough to poke at the gums. The procedure does take longer than with anesthesia in that you need two visits for the whole process, but that's how they did it.

That explains a lot. I had one of these improperly done on a molar about 10 years ago. After the anesthetic wore off from the first visit, the pain slowly grew over the next few days until it was of brilliant, blinding, bang-head-against-hard-object make it STOP!! intensity.

After they took off the temp filling, the smell was nauseating. Apparently it wasn't cleaned very well.

Never went to that guy again.

Re: Dentists reveal new tooth decay treatment

#112

Post by merpnderp » Mon, Nov 09, 2015, 9:08 PM UTC

mikeash wrote: post #89

merpnderp wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

State Capitalism may be an actual thing. But no one means it when they say "capitalism". "State capitalism is usually described as an economic system in which commercial (i.e. for-profit) economic activity is undertaken by the state, where the means of production are organized and managed as state-owned business enterprises"

I find this response to be curious. Why not simply assume that the other person up there does include State Capitalism under the umbrella of "capitalism" when they say that capitalism and free markets don't always go together, rather than assume that they intend a definition of "capitalism" that automatically excludes the very thing they were saying?

Because the person I was responding to was saying that capitalism didn't include a group of "loosely affiliated" people competing for business. It obviously does.

State Capitalism would be if the government started a dentist company and, in this case, didn't offer new services in order to keep the profits artificially high.

Re: Dentists reveal new tooth decay treatment

#113

Post by m3Lith » Mon, Nov 09, 2015, 9:10 PM UTC

wpietri wrote: post #63

atom-morgan wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People still get their wisdom teeth taken out without being put under. I heard one person describe the process inside your mouth sounding like a tree trunk being snapped in half.

I am one of those people. The oral surgeon offered me the option of being put under for an extra $600 for the 45-minute operation. There are probably things I'd pay $800/hr for, but that wasn't one of them. He seemed kinda irritated; that meant he had to give me something like 16 shots to properly numb everything. Personally, I didn't mind it. It was an interesting experience. I knew I was made of meat, but the smell…

> the smell of bits of it cooking

Can you explain this part? I'm considering my wisdom teeth pulled out.

Re: Dentists reveal new tooth decay treatment

#114

Post by anonymfus » Mon, Nov 09, 2015, 9:30 PM UTC

pavel_lishin wrote: post #31

benjaminwootton wrote: post #14

In a few years I think we will look back on how today's dentists look after teeth with shock, similar to how we do now knowing that they used to treat depression with a frontal lobotomy. "They used to DRILL your teeth? And if that didn't work they yanked them out of your jaw?" It all seems so low tech.

No need to wait. A few decades ago in Russia, anesthesia wasn't used during dentistry. That was a fun time period to grow up in.

It's still not used by many poor/old patients here because mandatory insurance don't cover it.

Re: Dentists reveal new tooth decay treatment

#115

Post by pavel_lishin » Mon, Nov 09, 2015, 9:35 PM UTC

anonymfus wrote: post #114

pavel_lishin wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No need to wait. A few decades ago in Russia, anesthesia wasn't used during dentistry. That was a fun time period to grow up in.

It's still not used by many poor/old patients here because mandatory insurance don't cover it.

That's terrifying; isn't it just discouraging people from going to the dentist? How much can dental anesthetic injections cost, anyway?

Re: Dentists reveal new tooth decay treatment

#116

Post by groby_b » Mon, Nov 09, 2015, 9:37 PM UTC

m3Lith wrote: post #113

wpietri wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am one of those people. The oral surgeon offered me the option of being put under for an extra $600 for the 45-minute operation. There are probably things I'd pay $800/hr for, but that wasn't one of them. He seemed kinda irritated; that meant he had to give me something like 16 shots to properly numb everything. Personally, I didn't mind it. It was an interesting experience. I knew I was made of meat, but the smell…

> the smell of bits of it cooking Can you explain this part? I'm considering my wisdom teeth pulled out.

Cauterization of the wound, I'd expect. Stops bleeding via cooking you.

Re: Dentists reveal new tooth decay treatment

#117

Post by yourapostasy » Mon, Nov 09, 2015, 9:42 PM UTC

kbutler wrote: post #88

mixmastamyk wrote: post #46

Interesting. There was another unique treatment that hit the news perhaps ten years ago, but didn't happen apparently? The idea was awesome, they genetically re-engineered the "tooth-decay" bacteria in your mouth to stop producing acid, combined with a mild antibiotic to out-compete the original form. I've been waiting a long time for it, unfortunately. I think this was it: http://www.oragenics.com/?q=cavity-preventi…

I've read about this previously, and would love to see it take place. But would kissing spread the non-tooth decay version of the bacteria, or the tooth decay version? Testing must be done! Also, TIL that bottled water promotes tooth decay (by displacing flouridated tap water consumption) " there are several factors that are likely to increase the incidence and frequency of tooth decay, including increasing consumpti…

> TIL that bottled water promotes tooth decay (by displacing flouridated tap water consumption)

The elite-branded bottled water that go to lengths to set themselves apart from tap water (spring-fed-only, or rain-only, or some other esoteric, "natural" source) will not have fluorine. But many a budget-brand is simply expensively-packaged municipal tap water, and about 2/3 of municipal tap water supplies in the US are fluoridated. I suspect it is a relatively safe bet that when at a department/grocery store, if you simply pick up the house brand bottled water, it will be sourced from municipal tap water and fluoridated.

Re: Dentists reveal new tooth decay treatment

#118

Post by bigethan » Mon, Nov 09, 2015, 9:47 PM UTC

merpnderp wrote: post #32

bigethan wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It'd be impossible for a dentist to go rogue if the main lobbying group for the dentists wasn't allowing any new treatments to get government approval. Also, I'd argue that capitalism is what causes the entrenchment of industries that get addicted to their profits and don't care about the customers.

Wouldn't the government approval issue be more of a socialist factor? Would a socialist government, who's dental representatives want to protect their slice of the public pie be more or less powerful than a capitalist leaning government who wants to limit interference in the market? For instance, is the teachers union more or less powerful than the dental lobbyists?

>Wouldn't the government approval issue be more of a socialist factor?

One uses money to manipulate the people in charge of socialist government programs. I'd bet that the dental lobbyists are stronger in their niche than the teachers union is because there's less public knowledge and interest there.

Re: Dentists reveal new tooth decay treatment

#119

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Nov 09, 2015, 9:49 PM UTC

jensen123 wrote: post #7

In 1939, the book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration was published. In it Weston A. Price explains that you can avoid cavities by eating a good diet. I wonder if most people will ever become aware of this. Probably not - they don't read much, and certainly not non-mainstream stuff like that book. Edit: I would also recommend reading The China Study by T. Colin Campbell, since Weston A. Price did not get everything r…

[deleted]

Re: Dentists reveal new tooth decay treatment

#120

Post by vectorjohn » Mon, Nov 09, 2015, 9:49 PM UTC

takeda wrote: post #81

vectorjohn wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This can't be real. I've had a couple root canal procedures done, and even with local anesthesia, sometimes a jolt of pain comes through. It would be impossible to take, I would think.

It really matters at what stage the tooth is in. If the tooth is dead (e.g. you have pain that intensifies to heat, and cold helps)[1] then anesthesia won't make much difference you won't feel a thing anyway. If you're getting root canal, because cavity is close to the nerve and your dentist don't want to use amalgamated filling then you will need anesthesia, because the nerves are alive. [1] It gets a bit complicate…

Hmm. Both of mine were on molars and certainly alive, so that explains that.

But I don't know how a dentist could possibly tell the nerves are dead before drilling in. And the way they know is that you say ouch that fucking hurts.