I know someone who suffered extreme toothache but could not afford the dentist so he drank lots of alcohol and took painkillers to extract the tooth himself with pliers. I could never do this but I have read online that people do it in desperation when they can't afford dental fees. Would you do this to save dental costs?
I would do this not only to save money but I am too afraid of the dentist. I would do anything not to go to a dentist. Your friend was very brave or as you said very desperate.
@wallet - but wouldn't the thought of the pain put you off? It must be excrutiating. At least at the dentist they have anaesthetic and make it as painless as possible. I can understand the fees are awful and you might do it for that reason. I hope you have good teeth!
I would never do this. Oh just the thought of it has my stomach in knots. I would pay the dentist the money to do it for me for sure. My dentist will work with me and I can pay them an agreed upon amount each month until my bill is settled in full. This is one reason that I love my dentist. It is expensive to go to the dentist but the alternative is to possibly end up with no teeth. I don't like that possibility.
That is just too much pain at one time! Like how did he even survive it? And its also very dangerous. He could have caught an infection or something could have gone terribly wrong while he was doing this. What if he swallowed the extracted tooth and choked? Bad things always happens when people are desperate and all reasoning seems to fly out the window. I would never do this in a million years. I will get the money somehow to pay a professional to have this done. One thing you cannot afford to play with or mess up are body parts. There are no returns or exchanges. Once it is damaged, it is over.
@tallulah I think he was lucky because as far as I know he had no problems apart from a sore mouth for a week or two after doing it. I really hope he put the pliers in boiling water before he used them but I can't say for sure. To this day he walks around with a gap in the front of his mouth as he would never go to the dentist even to get a false one fitted.
Really?! Tooth extraction is very painful. Extracting your own tooth is like self torture. That's why Dentists inject anesthesia near the tooth so you won't feel the pain during extraction. In my country, tooth extraction is not very expensive. It's not cheap but you can afford it. I cannot imagine extracting my own teeth. So I think the best solutions are getting a dental/health insurance or saving money for emergency situations. Now if you are experiencing toothache because of a cavity, then that only means you did not have good oral hygiene. As they say, prevention is better than cure. Brush your teeth after every meal.
@littlewitch66 Isn't this a basic service that the government should provide to its citizens? I mean, where are the taxes going? Tooth extraction is free in my country's health centers and government hospitals. Another way to get free services for tooth extraction is to approach dental students at universities/colleges offering a dentistry course. Tooth extraction, implants, cleaning, dental filling, and dentures are just some of the services that dentistry students provide as part of their practicum. One can also search for dental missions to avail of basic services like tooth extraction and cleaning.
No, I definitely won't do it because it might cause an infection, so it will only make things worse. I would rather have my tooth extracted by a professional. After all, tooth extraction only costs $10 from my cheap dentist.
I wouldn't do it. That would be very painful. I had all my wisdom teeth surgically removed this year on April. I was given too much medicine. So I think extracting on your own would cause deadly infections that only these medicines could have prevented.
Whoa! That is just taking things to an extreme, I guess. I can understand that the dentist's fees are too expensive but what if the guy messed up and left a piece of the tooth in his gums and the pain became more unbearable. What if it wounded his gums and got infected? That would only mean an even more expensive treatment. I think that no matter what, such things should be left to the experts to be dealt with and not do them yourself by using such raw methods.
@Jamille Dental treatment is not free in the UK unless you receive benefits. NHS treatment is cheaper than private but it still costs. Most people set up a monthly payment plan to be able to afford it but for many people it is not about the cost but the fear of the dentist. They would rather inflict pain on themselves than have someone else do it.
@littlewitch66 It is about the same case here in India too. Government hospitals charge very very nominal fees for treatments but then these hospitals are already overflowing with really poor patients and these hospitals are already struggling with lack of proper funds, medicines, commitment from doctors etc. So people like us stay away from these hospitals, at least we can spend some money as opposed to people who survive on literal hand-to-mouth existence. So we end up paying money to private doctors and dentists!
Well that takes some guts, and the image of Ron Swanson jumps into mind for anyone who has seen Parks and Rec. I suppose if you know how to do it why not, but I imagine most everyone would do something wrong and or dangerous.
Be careful of imitating anything you see on TV. There is usually a disclaimer put there on most if not all TV shows that viewers should not try this at home. Most of the stunts are not real and are done within a safe and controlled make believe environment. Don't encourage this trend.
I used to watch a programme called Jackass where people would inflict the most terrible things on each other or on themselves. It was a very popular programme but I could never understand why they did it. They must have been earning lots of money to carry out such ridiculously painful acts on each other.
I have never heard of anyone doing this. But it is sad to think that some resort to this just because they donot have money to extract infected or affected teeth. I am sure there will be government hospitals that can provide this service free of cost.
@iamawriter In the UK it is only free if you receive benefits. We have private dentists which are very expensive and don't take people on benefits and NHS dentists which are cheaper but people are still charged. I think for the people who extract their own teeth it's more about pain. They would rather do it themselves than have someone else hurt them. My friend who extracted his own tooth works and has money but he still wouldn't go to a dentist.
These are rare instances when someone extracts their own teeth. This is the first time I am learning about this. Atleast if they learn to inject painkillers may be that could be a procedure that would be acceptable.
This is quite unusual and also something that wasn't mentioned in your original post. Surely these people know that dentists administer anesthetics to numb the pain? I prefer to believe that many resort to self-extraction due to lack of funds or insurance to cover the cost. When I was a child, I once extracted my own tooth without my parents' knowledge. It wasn't that difficult because the tooth was almost ready to fall off and just needed a little push and pull. Now that I'm all grown up and aware of the possible complication of dental extractions, I will prefer to conquer my fear of the dentist rather than risk my health and even my life by doing it at home.