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Tem42 comments on Stupid Questions November 2015 - Less Wrong Discussion
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If I value my health a fair bit more than most and am a transhumanist, when should I bother to get second opinions before having dental work done?
I had 16 fillings done a month ago and my teeth mostly all still hurt, so I'm going to go back to the dentist and see what he says as soon as I can, but I'm not sure what he'll want to do to me, if anything. (I think fillings are supposed to stop hurting after a week or two). I like him, and I want to trust him, and finding a new dentist would be annoying, but it's so weird and scary that I just had that many fillings done, because... I've always gone to the dentist every 6 months for a cleaning, and I never had to get a filling before, even though I always got routine x-rays to check for cavities every year. I'm only 22. I think that the reason I had to have that many fillings done was because I'd been downing tons of cough drops which contained sucrose for several months, for the reason that my acid reflux had been upsetting my throat.
I guess that I'm really just reminded of my frailty by this experience, and of how easy it is for someone to get old or sick, or even die. Sorry I'm such a bucking mess right now (mentally and physically), and thanks for any suggestions.
Check with your doctor about the acid reflux and its effect on your teeth. I would guess that the reflux had a greater effect on your tooth decay than the cough drops. He might know enough to tell you whether or not your dentist is reacting to the problem effectively, and at the very least has a better grasp of the problem than any of us :-)
(Also, you should be seeing him anyway if reflux is a problem.)
I'm so scared. Yikes. I feel like I've tried everything short of surgery for my reflux. Although I've been on a PPI (a doc just switched me to an H2-class reflux med a few days ago, for whatever reason, so I'll try that for a bit) since I started taking the cough drops, so I'm guessing that that's been sucessfully raising the pH of my stomach, even if it hasn't done much else.
A possible partial solution, as far as your teeth go, would be to start chewing gum. Xylitol gum may be particularly effective, but failing that, sugar free gum is good. Chewing helps rinse your mouth with saliva (clearing reflux off of your teeth), keeps your mouth hydrated (dry mouth often accompanies reflux and is not good for oral hygiene), and helps control pH.
Plaque and pH
Xylitol gum
Googling will easily find more information, including less technical information if desired.
Good idea. I switched to xylitol mints about a month ago-- I find that I go through the gum much more quickly than I go through the mints, but I could switch to the gum if that was a superior choice.
I would guess that gum probably gets you salivating more and has a more even effect across your mouth, but that's just speculation on my part -- I've never used mints.