Dental?

[TrooperTaff]

Alright soooo how does dental work? If I have a cavity am I boned or what? Like I have some cavities I've been getting filled but my dentist likes to give me time between each filling so I may not get them all finished. And I have a root canal that was finished but was never capped. Looks weird but the tooth is healthy.

[prop827]

Teeth are all fine. They get taken care of in boot camp or at your A School if you require too much work to get it all done in boot. They take good care of your teeth, most people have dental work done in boot camp. I had multiple cavities filled, wisdom teeth pulled, and a cleaning while I was at RTC.

[Debo15]

So even if you if you had an abscess tooth while in DEP and its healed but wasn't pulled or root canal done, its no problem? And they will fix everything in boot or A school?

[Haasino]

Does the Navy do metal fillings, or resin fillings for those who need them? I need to have 2 done but don't have current dental insurance, so I'm weighing the options of paying myself prior to shipping, or letting the Navy do them at RTC.

[Soon to be ABE]

Im in the same situation i had an absese tooth with a bad infection. Got the infection taken care of and got the root canal but i didnt get the post and core the last part of the root canal i didnt have the money and im just waiting till rtc for them to finish everything

[Debo15]

Yeah, I got an abscess tooth, took the medication and that's it. I also have a few cavities (Genetics for good teeth don't run in my family). And I'm just wondering what they will do. I don't wanna get DQ'd or rolled or delayed for something I couldn't prevent.

[starfish]

prop827, if you don't mind can you describe your experience with wisdom teeth removal in boot camp? That is the thing I am MOST nervous about. haha Nothing else about boot camp worries me. I know they only giving you numbing shots and you are awake when they break and rip out the teeth and that freaks me out! Did you hear/feel it happening? Did you get enough pain meds in the 2 days SIQ they give? Did you feel you still needed the meds after the 2 days were up because you were still in pain? Also, what week does that happen because I don't want my face swelled up like a squirrel for my pictures! ughh I'm nervous :)

[USNavsailor]

Yeah elaborate on the wisdom teeth! I have all four and their still trying to grow in.. :X

[FutureND]

From the research I have done they only remove wisdom teeth if they become a problem. Maybe someone with more experience can correct me if I am wrong. I have never had any wisdom teeth taken out and have never had any problems with them at all. I find it hard to believe that the Navy would go to pulling teeth that do not NEED to be pulled.

[vabchsue]

My son has been in a couple of years now and he still has his wisdom teeth and they haven't bothered him at all. Mine were taken out a long time ago and glad I had them do all 4 at once. :surprised:

[prop827]

OK, wisdom teeth. You go to dental and wait a few hours, and when you get seen you will take some pills (I don't remember what it was, It was like an aspirin or some other over the counter kind of thing) and they'll explain in detail what will happen then. You'll get numbed up real good with some strong stuff (no laughing gas like civilians use, but they get the job done). Once your numb (and they will make sure you are), they'll extract the teeth. You won't really feel a thing. You will hear the teeth cracking and you'll know they're drilling in and stuff, but it really is painless. The only bad part is if the tooth is still burried they gotta kinda dig it out of the gums to pull it (like if its not grown out enough, but in that case they may let you get it done in A School instead; they gave me the choice, i said screw it I'm already numb). The cracking of the tooth when they pull is a little nerve wracking but you don't feel it, it just feels like a little pressure and thats it its over. The numbness wears off after like 4 hours. Afterwards, you will get your meds for swelling and pain. The pain isn't bad at all after either, its more of a sore jaw. The annoying part is that your gums will bleed for the rest of the day and that it feels weird eating food for about a week after (i bit my tongue a lot afterwards). You will need to watch what you eat (the first day or 2 you will be on restricted galley food so they won't even let you eat anything you can't chew. I missed out on burger day and got mac and cheese instead cause of that!). I didn't even come close to using all my meds up, I didn't get the refill and still only used 1/2 the pain meds. The important one is the one that helps it heal faster, use them as they tell you and it will help, pain take as needed and I really didn't need much after the first day SIQ (Day of extraction). Those pills will put you right to sleep though so you know, drowsy is pretty much an understatement

The dentists and nurses who do the extraction are the best ones in the office, they are really really good at what they do, and very nice. I swear, the nicest people you meet in boot camp are the wisdom teeth folks at dental. They will take great care of you and you'll be fine. Going in, wisdom teeth is also one of the things I was most afraid of and in retrospect, it was cake. You also get to listen to music the whole time, pretty nice when its been a month since you heard music. You don't even care what kind of music its just amazing to hear it for a change!

[starfish]

That makes me feel a lot better! I am a little scared of hearing my teeth breaking and cracking as they extract the pieces, but hopefully it will be okay. Thanks for the rundown!

[USNavsailor]

I actually just talked to a friend of mine who was In DEP with me but is already going to "A" school.. He says they pulled all 4 of his wisdom teeth and an extra 3 they thought needed to come out.. You get 2 days rest then back to the grind!

[Soon to be ABE]

I actually just talked to a friend of mine who was In DEP with me but is already going to "A" school.. He says they pulled all 4 of his wisdom teeth and an extra 3 they thought needed to come out.. You get 2 days rest then back to the grind!

They pulled 7 teeth in rtc? Why didn't they just do a root canal on the other 3.

[Debo15]

That actually makes me feel a little better lol.

[USNavsailor]

I assume saves time and work to just pull them.. Next time I get ahold of him I'll ask!

[Haasino]

Does anyone know what type of fillings the Navy gives you at RTC? Are they metal or white composite material?

[kforbs126]

Does anyone know what type of fillings the Navy gives you at RTC? Are they metal or white composite material?

metal.

[prop827]

They filled mine with composite

[Debo15]

Might depend on which tooth and where at on that certain tooth, to determine what they use to fill it.

[Haasino]

Interesting... so one sailor got metal and another got composite. Wonder if they've switched over to composite or if, like Debo15 suggested, they just base it on where the cavity is located? Either way, thanks for the insight.

[jjwalker69]

haha I was 15 when I had my two bottom wisdom teeth out and I had the shots only. No laughing gas and was not knocked out. I was awake for EVERYTHING. I remember the dentist putting a small hand tool in my tooth and putting his foot on the chair to twist it out. All the popping and cracking. Most painful thing in my life. I went through about 20 shots and still could feel what they were doing. I'm not trying to scare you, it's just really what happened to me. I am going to boot soon and probably have to get my 2 wisdom teeth on the top out so I'm going to be going through it again... Yesssss.

[Jnewman16]

i can put all of this to bed.. i didnt have good teeth when i joined.. and i got out of bootcamp 2 weeks ago so this information is current.. i had 4 root canals and 3 wisdom teeth pulled.. if i didnt get delayed.. i doubt you are.. i was at dental atleast 3 times a week.. they are really good dentist..and its one of the only places where your treated like a normal person.. plus it gives you some time to catch up on sleep :rofl: .. if you have wisdom teeth..they will come out unless they are absolutely perfect..and for the composite/metal fillings..they will do metal if its in the back of your mouth or somewhere that a picture would show it.. i got my front tooth down with composite..and the rest done with metal..dont worry about it.. the wisdom teeth took me 45 seconds for him to yank 3 and two days later i was fine.. enjoy the 2 days of SIQ tho

[TrooperTaff]

You sir are a champ. I'll probably be in the same shoes as you in boot. My teeth are screwed up. As for wisdoms. idk lol.

[asailorswife]

My husband has HORRIBLE teeth as well. He's the kind of guy who forgets to brush once, and ends up with major cavities. So he was in and out of dental the entire time. (He was not held back at all, actually, he graduated a week earlier than expected when he left). He did NOT, however, have his wisdom teeth pulled until he'd been in the Navy for about 2 years. He'd gone through boot camp, a-school, multiple c-schools, and a deployment before they pulled them. It was really nice to get the SIQ days though! (and yes, he was put out for it, but he wouldn't have been if he didn't have someone there to stay the entire surgery and then drive him home).