Apparently nationalized healthcare in the UK has led to a lot of DIY dentistry there.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/health/399...afford-NHS-fees

OK campers, lets keep this thread to the merits of DYI dentistry, or lack thereof, and leave the politics of health care policy out of it.

Your friendly neighborhood moderator,

.....CLIFF

This is a misleading, politicized summary of the article. Let me quote the relevant part:



In other words, according to the article, the pricing structure under the new contract and the greed of certain unscrupulous dentists have led to the rise of DIY dentistry. This implies that there was already nationalized healthcare before 2006, and under the previous contracts it did not cause a rise in DIY dentistry.

My post here is not political, because it is factual: I am attempting to report accurately what the quoted article actually says. With that said, I am unable to vouch for the accuracy of the article, nor do I find its content relevant to the US population. We're not subject to the 2006 contract. This bit of data doesn't change my risk assessment, and I continue to think that DIY dentistry is something I'd have to contemplate only if I'm lost in the wild for a long time.

Actually most dental practitioners throughout the UK are private dental practices, who take on NHS contracts to provide dental health care to NHS patients. There are NHS dental hospitals but these are few and far between being departments of University teaching hospitals. Many dental practices opt out from NHS work (doesn't pay enough compared to what they can charge privately) and will only accept private 'customers er patients'.

This has led to a two tier system and in many places where dentists accepting NHS patients has become a scarce resource. This situation will get progressively worse as Dentists setting up their own private practice in England will also now have the additional costs of repaying their University tuition fees. The situation in Scotland is somewhat different as University tuition fees are paid for by the Scottish Government so there is more acceptance to take on an NHS contract providing dental services for their local communities.

Austerity is really beginning to bite in the UK though as the availability of money becomes scarce with a visit to the private dentist becoming a luxury for those who aren't on a NHS patient list.


I do still have a small emergency dental kit in the BOB though.

http://www.lifesystems.co.uk/products/first-aid-kits/dental-first-aid-kit.html

with some Dental Instruments

Even more worrying though is that even UK NHS emergency departments are reported to be verging on point of collapse. i.e. more people throwing themselves under trucks due to Austerity bedroom taxes etc as the suicide rates continue their upward swing.

I agree, it's a biased description the article. I'm sure that a journalist could write a similar article about Americans and DIY dentistry right now, and we could blame that on what? Capitalism? There are millions fewer Americans with jobs now than pre-2008 financial crisis, and millions fewer still working without benefits, like dental insurance, or for less pay. I shudder to think what kind of discomfort and pain Americans who can't afford to see the dentist are enduring right now.

I keep hearing how dentists are asking patients to come in for check-ups and cleanings every 4 months, instead of the traditional 6-month intervals. My own dentist did that in 2009, but I immediately figured that it was just to boost his revenue because my teeth and gums are fine. He must have been losing other patients or patients were opting for fewer dental procedures, especially low effort, high profit things like teeth whitening.

Anyway, that said, for a complicated thing like dental care, seems that prevention is the most practical thing for people to focus on, if they ever find themselves in a position where visits to the dentist are not really possible. You can find home remedies for alleviating the pain of a cavity, but what else can the average person do about it? You won't be able to remove the cavity and put in a filling. Or fashion dentures or a partial or do a root canal and stick a nicely shaped crown on it. So prevention seems to be key.

I think nutrition plays are far bigger role in dental health than most people realize, although I don't have any definite ideas of what the ideal diet/lifestyle for dental health is, besides what is healthy in general. I think the sorry state of our diet is a prime contributor to the poor teeth of our youth. The number of children with horrible teeth has been increasing for some time, along with lots of other child health issues like obesity, hypertension, high cholesterol, and diabetes.

Watching this thread closely and not really liking it.

A better way of approaching this subject would have been, "Hey, any tips on DIY dentistry gear, books, or videos? Things are already heading that way in some countries suffering economic ills and I want to be prepared."
-Blast

Keeping the Pearly whites in tip top condition is certainly the best bet prior to a long term preparedness emergency situation, the alternatives could get ugly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2mgMVPvsMc

Didn't see a Dremmel tool though! Could be useful for finer work

Tips for avoiding dental problems and the horrific prospect of DIY dentistry:

1. Use a Sonic Care electric toothbrush twice a day.

2. Floss. If you can't manage the loose string, use the kind attached to a disposable plastic handle.

3. Use a rinse like Listerine after each brushing.

4. Use inter-dental brushes after every meal to keep the crud out from between your teeth between brushing. Keep several handy in your pocket, car, etc.

5. Get your teeth cleaned every six months or less if you are spending more than 1/2 hour in the hygienist's chair during the cleaning. I go every 3 months because I don't want any surprises.

Dental problems are WAY better to avoid than manage after you screw up through neglect.

to add to GarlyDog's comments... after a bout of the deep periodontal scraping, and subsequent good periodontal health.. I'll gladly pay what is needed for my quarterly cleaning... I've got a dentist and hygienist that I really like... I'll shop in the Alpo aisle rather than give up my teeth...

two things.
1. upon reading the subject header, my immediate thought was "yeah, right behind do it yourself brain surgery."

2. if you're lazy - just remember to only floss the teeth you want to keep.

Funny you should mention it. I'm just coming out of four weeks of dental hell, which was finally resolved with surgery a week ago. I can honestly say that I read "Where There is No Dentist" and took out the dental emergency kit we keep in the big family FAK. I am terrified of the dentist office and everything related to it, so considered trying the temp fillings and stuff rather than spend the hours and $1500 it ended up costing us. (Hoping to recoop from the insurance company. Fingers crossed.) I did try the clove oil remedy I read about while I was waiting though.

I couldn't have bugged out if I wanted to. I couldn't even do the groceries on the end. Heck just helping with math homework or calming a crying baby got to be too much.

I have to admit, the pain before the surgery rivaled labour. I do not recommend it.

What can you do with the kit? I know about clove oil, but it seems you might as well get a prescription painkiller. What does the cement do? Don't you need to clean the cavity before filling it, in order to stop the pain?

Bing, my little kit has some cleaning/drying stuff, emergency fillings and also a little vial with something in it for a knocked out/broken tooth. It also came with some asa or something. I used to be an Athletic Therapist, working with hockey and football teams so it seemed prudent to carry it at the tkme,. For personal use, just call the dentist, except when, like us in a couple of weeks, you don't have insurance. The price tag of that will make anyone pause. Trust me though, if you can afford, get it taken care of properly.

I know this is drifting off topic; isn't the best way to prepare for financial ills is to be financially prepared?

Jeanette Isabelle

This may be the only thing we can do if we want to prepare for a really bad situation where medical care is really, really expensive. After all, how much can we do for ourselves anyway? Can we give ourselves root canals? If we have to do DIY dentistry, how about DIY open heart surgery?

In a prolonged TEOTWAWKI situation, I guess we'll just endure the pain, lose our teeth, die of heart attack, etc., like our ancestors did. Modern medicine requires a huge supporting industry in order to work. It's not just some guy with a box of herbs.

If Franklin isn't worth the paper he's printed on, barter. The dentist then barters to have more dental supplies to use.

This may not be easy but is it doable?

Jeanette Isabelle

I have been doing my own periodontal scaling since 2006. Because of severe periodontal disease and lack of funds. Successfully keeping almost all my teeth in my mouth against all odds. Except one gone, plus a few highly likely goners that are still surviving and which I may be lucky enough to heal someday. Or which will lose but just not today. Or real real soon.

Including - periodontal abscess curettage - which is a real tooth killer and people killer too. I have a webpage and YouTube videos. I am easy to find because I am the only person posting such information. Just search for relevant terms or find - diy perio.

The strategy is - progressive periodontal debridement - Not for the faint of heart. Lots of blood and scary stuff. Lots of twists and turns and confusion. Plus dumb dangerous moves. But ultimately doable. And not as dangerous as it may sound. Maybe not really very dangerous at all. If you don't do anything real stupid.

If things are very severe then takes lots of time. Like maybe even 10-40 or more hours per tooth. Plus months and months of activity, recovery, healing and more activity.

If things are not so bad then it isn't that difficult. 20-40 hours of quality time could just do the trick to reverse the progress of the infection. If not so severe. Plus gain a lifetime survival skill.

Realistically need quite a lot of good curettes. But can do a lot with just the Langer 1-2 Extended Access Mini. Plus the PDT Mini-me (Langer 5-6 straight curette plus straight sickle). Plus possibly the PDT Montana Jack. Which is an offset sickle.

Just figure that dental hygienists are high school graduates and only have a few months training doing the actual scaling. Regular people can do the same and get the general hang of it within 10-20 hours of trial and error. Can also practice on domestic animals, like dogs and cats. The principles are the same.

Also includes some difficult to understand esoteric stuff. But only if the disease is very very severe and you are dealing with goners anyway. Otherwise it is fairly straightforward. Clean and heal.

I have also been nursing a cavity without filling it in because tooth already has too many fillings and is too delicate to drill. Along with being periodontally compromised.

Trick to cavities is to first clean out the crud with an explorer and keep your fingers crossed you don't hit the nerve! Then get the narrowest available Sugarman File to open up the top. But stay away from any cusps. Then use toothpick to polish. Peroxide to debride. Iodine to disinfect. A&H Whitening Booster to remineralize. Or equivilent. Like Novamon or liquid calcium.

Eventually the fibroblasts inside of the tooth will form a hardened layer that is semi-permanent. Except for any gaps. Not the ideal, but doable. Filling it in in another matter. Which I don't see any good materials except for gold. Which is expensive and hard to work with.

On the short term can use tooth varnish, like Copalite. After the months and months of fibroblast hygiene and healing.

But otherwise most filling materials are problematic. Namely they shrink and then leave a gap for bacteria to creep in. Plus moisture hurts the curing. Plus thickness hurts the curing. Etc. No easy answers. Maybe keeping it open with Copalite is best. Or to build up the Copalite slowly, with like 50 layers? Who knows? I sure don't.

I guess Tommie can open up shop when SHTF. Seriously, they should have dental emergencies on the Walking Dead to make it more realistic. It's not just all sawing limbs and delivering babies, you know.

Sorry you've had to do your own dental stuff. It shouldn't happen, this day and age.

It's a labor issue. Nobody has figured out any reasonable cost-effective ways to clean the crud out from down below if the teeth go south. Plus implants are so great anyway who needs their original teeth anyway?

DIY Perio makes up for this with sweat equity. Turning into rent-a-tooth at some point to keep them from falling out. Plus fingers crossed.

Periodontal abscesses raise the level of honesty significantly. Turning it into a sort of cage-wrestling match where you can cry uncle anytime and just get the tooth pulled.

But otherwise if you can catch it before it gets too bad then can end up with teeth that aren't so bad after all.

The expensive stuff seems to involve desperate rearguard actions to salvage damaged teeth with good cosmetic result. The old approach-simple extraction-remains a less-expensive alternative compared to root canal, extraction/bone graft/implant. That leaves one with a sub-optimal smile, but does simplify flossing, and minimizes unwanted attention from the opposite gender, while having only limited impact on nutrition, based upon empiric observation of chubby, toothless folk in various rural healthcare settings.

The other issue is the impact of dental health on general health, synopsized here, including diabetes and cardiovascular disease.