Broken molar

[Remali]

Man.....life is crazy. My far back lower molar lost a filling, and when the filling broke off it took out about half to three-fourths of the molar with it, it broke off down to the gum line...I was up most of the night in pain, it just all of a sudden started to hurt and it got visciously painful..... Vicodin and ibuprofen barely touch the pain, my lower jaw is starting to hurt and it is looking puffy now. I have to go in tomorrow morning and see what the dentist thinks (couldn't get in today)....and I am scared to death! I've had work done before, but I still get so nervous. I'm thinking he may have to pull it, but I'm not sure.

So, has anyone else broken off a gigantic piece of molar? And what did your dentist do?
I won't have a root canal done....why bother on that tooth, it is the last one way in the back, I'd opt to have it pulled.....if they cannot fix it with a filling that is. :doh:

[WashingtonBay]

Gak... I'm sorry, for the pain, and for the work soon to come on your mouth. ~shudder~

[Remali]

Thanks WB. I'm about half out of my mind.....it's really sore and painful.....just praying it doesn't get any worse than it already is. Of course it has wonderful timing, I just started that job last week that I'd been waiting so long for..... Murphy's Law. That side of my face and head is starting to hurt too, and my ear on that side is too, so something's up with it.....I just hope it is a painless process to fix it..... I'm going to ask for a ton of meds! I wonder if Michael Jackson's doctor is still available??!! ;)

[Horseaholic]

I'd actually opt to have it fixed if you can. He's going to recommend an extraction or a root canal- which means a post and a crown as well. It's going to cost you much more to save it but those are your chewing teeth and you wont realize how valuable they are until they are gone. I'm sorry your dealing with this and that he couldn't see you sooner :(

[Horseaholic]

if you can run down to the drug store there are dental emergency kits...use some of the filling material (it's like a pudy) and put it in there...your nerve is exposed so it's freaking out. If you can cover it you'll feel a little bit better.

[Petra]

i'm sorry to hear that. if it's so painful you may need a root canal.
it is possible to fix it with filling. dentists in us don't want to do it though. the same thing happened to me. i went to two dentists and they both said i need root canal and a crown - they said that to make money though. i went to a dentist in slovakia, she drilled it out, and fixed it with a filling. it looks great - you would newer guess that more than half of the tooth is filling.
it just depends on your dentist, they can do it, not every dentist is nice enough to do it for you though.

[miatapony]

go ahead and let them remove it . i have on removed on my lower right side because the wisdom tooth was under it and drilling into it. so it needed to go .. so i saw let them hav it ...

[Remali]

Yeah, I did try putting some Orajel on it but it hurt too bad to even have anything touch it.

Hopefully the dentist can put a temp filling on it.... I won't have a root canal though....

[natisha]

I had about the same thing happen. Kept losing fillings, this & that. Finally had it pulled for $150. I can't even tell it is gone. Very little after pain too.
Get some orajel & put that on. You'll be pleasantly surprised. You could also call your dentist & have him call you in a prescription for percocet, you may need ABX too-depending. Vicodin is not very effective for that kind of pain.
I feel for you.

[natisha]

Yeah, I did try putting some Orajel on it but it hurt too bad to even have anything touch it.

Hopefully the dentist can put a temp filling on it.... I won't have a root canal though.... Just drip the gel on the tooth, in about a minute it will start to work, then keep putting it on.

[Horseaholic]

Petra- fillings aren't stable enough to fix a fracture like she's describing. My dentist (my boss) is the nicest guy in the world and he does anything he can to give the best care. There is no way a filling will "fix" this tooth to last. If the tooth has some sort of trauma and needs a root canal then a filling can easily repair this tooth once the filling is done. But once the gum is broken down to the gum and 3/4 of the tooth is missing she's going to need a crown if she choses to have a RCT and post and core. When a root canal is performed on a tooth you are basically hallowing out the tooth which makes it very weak.


Remali- a temp filling isn't going to get you out of pain :( You'll need an extraction since you aren't willing to do the rct. :( You should be fine though. You'll feel relief immediately. Extraction pain is nothing like root canal pain.

**I'm a registered dental assistant btw***

[WashingtonBay]

I'm going to ask for a ton of meds! I wonder if Michael Jackson's doctor is still available??!! ;)

Not for long, I don't think, you'd better call him quick ;)

[zoel_222]

Ouch! :( I hope you feel better.

[Petra]

Petra- fillings aren't stable enough to fix a fracture like she's describing. My dentist (my boss) is the nicest guy in the world and he does anything he can to give the best care. There is no way a filling will "fix" this tooth to last. If the tooth has some sort of trauma and needs a root canal then a filling can easily repair this tooth once the filling is done. But once the gum is broken down to the gum and 3/4 of the tooth is missing she's going to need a crown if she choses to have a RCT and post and core. When a root canal is performed on a tooth you are basically hallowing out the tooth which makes it very weak.


Remali- a temp filling isn't going to get you out of pain :( You'll need an extraction since you aren't willing to do the rct. :( You should be fine though. You'll feel relief immediately. Extraction pain is nothing like root canal pain.

**I'm a registered dental assistant btw***

from what she described she has more of the tooth left than i did. i literally had a shell that looked like an outline of what used to be half of my tooth. those two dentists i went to told me the exact same thing you said.
i'm not a dentist, know nothing about dentistry, but i have been chewing on my filling fixed tooth for a year now and so far it works great.

on edit: reading what i wrote...it looks as if i was trying to argue with you - that was not my intention...i was just trying to exdplain myself. i really know nothing about dentistry.

[Remali]

Thanks everyone. I think it will have to be pulled, and I'd actually prefer that....there isn't much left of the tooth above the gum line, a little bit on the inside is all.

Horseaholic....how do you like dental assisting? I actually went to school for that in 1999. I tried it for a little while but found that the dentists around here didn't offer any benefits, not even health insurance....and around here the pay was barely above minimum wage for dental assistants.....so I got discouraged and that was when I when back to school for something else. I have heard that in other areas that dental assistants can make some very good money, too bad my area wasn't one of them. I think out of all the people in my class only about one or two went on to become dental assistants.....this area isn't very good for those jobs unfortunately. But, that was quite a long time ago tho, so maybe things have improved around here..... and I pretty much have forgotten everything I learned in school.....LOL.

ETA: I Know what you mean Petra, there are some dentists who will try to do unnecessary work, or do more expensive work than is needed..... my family ran into a dentist like that many years ago. It happens, unfortunately.... so I am always thinking a second opinion is a good thing too.

[Horseaholic]

lol I didn't take it as arguing petra :) Unfortunately, many dentist are just trying to make money off people but I can reassure that they were only being honest if they stated it the way I did :). You're situation is far from ideal and if it last for 10 years I will be seriously surprised (Don't get me wrong I truly hope that it last you forever!! :p ) But it's not the strongest thing and can set you up for further issues later on. Now, most dentist don't guarantee their work and some dentist's crowns don't even last a year and that is just wrong and obviously in that case you are already better off. :)

Remali- I absolutely LOVE the dental field. I've considered becoming a dentist but it just isn't the life I want. I want family, holidays, and weekends :P. I'm a workaholic as well so I know that if I were a dentist I'd never go home! Unfortunately, I left the most AMAZING office (and doctor) on the earth to move back home to Florida. I had full benefits (paid) , vacation and decent pay as a registered dental assistant. (18.00 an hour and I was actually underpaid) but I just loved everyone there, the work, the people, the patients, the atmosphere. We were family and I miss them terribly. As a registered dental assistant I do a lot of what the doctor does in an office that doesn't have a registered dental assistant. I make temporaries, I do sealants, I can finish a filling once the doctor has drilled, I take impression and pack cord for crowns and post, I remove sutures etc.
Dentist here in Florida (or at least the ones I've interviewed with - most of the time you do working interviews in the dental field) are BUTCHERS and mean hearted people. It's very hard for me to sit next to the patient while the dentist tells them they absolutely HAVE to do A,B,and C to their mouthes when I know they don't even need A- The reason why I've been unemployed for 5 months now. Pay here is less than NJ but still decent- about 14-16 base pay an hour. I am currently going to college to apply for Dental Hygiene because that's what I think I'd really enjoy as I get to make my own hours and still be int he dental field. :) I could talk teeth for hours. :p I'm not normal.

[Remali]

Oh wow, I knew the pay was better in most states (like MN for example), back when my friends and I were looking for dental assistant work the going pay was a measly $8 an hour! And we were expected to do all the work you just described. So most of us said to heck with it. I agree tho, dental hygienist would be a great job, I hope you go for it, sounds like you would be very good at it.

I worked for a pediatric dentist for a very short time, and he was so mean and so nasty to the kids, I just couldn't take it any more.....and I quit....he was a horrible man. I tried a regular dentist then, a couple different offices, but again was turned off by the low pay and lack of any benefits. This area of WI has always been low-paying, but I thought that was ridiculous for a dental assistant to be paid such low wages.

[Horseaholic]

Wow 8 an hour is crazy. I started with NO experience at 10 lol. Unfortunately, I'm finding that most dentist are scary people. :( It's unfortunate.

[Remali]

It's true....the other reason most of us decided to pass on doing that for a living, so many dentists are really nasty (altho there are a few decent ones out there)..... during our clinicals one of the girls in my class had to be relocated to another dental clinic to finish her clinicals, because the dentist she got stuck with had a bad temper and he would throw things.... like he'd throw the entire tray at times.... I don't know why they allow doctors to get away with bad behavior like they do. Too bad it wasn't me who had gotten that nasty dentist for clinicals, because I would have thrown that tray right back at him! LOL. I was lucky tho, the dentist I had for clinicals was very nice. I heard that dentists have a high suicide rate, one of the instructors at school told us that....have you ever heard that?

[Horseaholic]

yea they usually do have bad tempers too. My boss could get a bad temper at times..I'd tell him he was acting like a baby. ;) :P

I actually have heard that dentist have a high suicide rate. I wonder why...
I think it takes a certain personality to be a dentist...maybe it's just something in that personality trait.
I'd say a few other things but this is a public forum ;) -Hi doc if you ever read this! ;)

A dentist I did a working interview with here in FL apparently did not see children. Well..a kid ended up in her room and when she walked in and I was following she flew around and charged me back out of the room and shouted I DON'T SEE KIDS! GET HIM OUT OF MY ROOM!...I felt horrible for that kid...:( she then proceeded to tell me it wasn't my fault...(ummm I know it's not my fault..I didn't schedule him and I don't know her preferences lol)

I really miss my boss - temper tantrums and all lol. He is truly the best dentist out there. He cares about his patients and wants to do the best for them, he puts AMAZING work in people's mouths, and he guarantees everything for 5 years. I'm pretty confident that there is NO ONE else out there like him..I just wish he would move to FL so I could have the best of both worlds.

[Petra]

ahh you would love the dentists in slovakia. they are nothing like the dentists here. they are very nice.
the dentists i went to in us were all the same. i'd ask for a simple filling but they would refuse to do anything unless i get x-rays and teeth cleaning done first. not having insurance i couldn't afford all that at the time.
one dentist in wichita estimated the work i needed done to be $4k
i lived in pain for 4 years because i simply couldn't afford it. i went to slovakia last year - the dentist is my dad's friend - she fixed everything in one afternoon. all the crowns i was told i need weren't necessary. she had to replace some old fillings and fix couple of my teeth and i was done. didn't even charge me anything.

[Horseaholic]

that's silly that the doctors wouldn't do anything for you with out xrays and cleaning. It's great that you got your work done for free! :)

[Remali]

I wish I could go to Slovakia! I don't have insurance right now so there is only one dental clinic I can go to that will accept me. It's crazy.

[Horseaholic]

lololol..I've had patients that have gotten things done over seas (Iraq) (Russia) (France) (Spain) and some of that stuff can be SCARRY! Stuff you wouldn't believe anyone would do on a human being.

[vicklynn]

Oh my, I sure hope you get the tooth filled, pulled or what ever you need done. Tooth pain is NO fun.
Let us know how it goes.

Oh, the Michael Jackson lawyer comment:hysterical:

[Horseaholic]

I wish I could access some of my patients files to show you the scary stuff lolol

[Gypsy Rose]

Yikes! Hopefully after tomorrow morning, you'll feel lots better!

[Petra]

I wish I could go to Slovakia! I don't have insurance right now so there is only one dental clinic I can go to that will accept me. It's crazy.

lol we are seriously considering to save up and go to slovakia to have my husband's teeth done. he broke off part of his front tooth of and also needs some other work done. his insurance is not very good. we figured we can go for vacation and have his teeth done for about the same $ as it would cost here.

that's silly that the doctors wouldn't do anything for you with out xrays and cleaning. It's great that you got your work done for free! :)

silly? i thought it was the stupidest policy i ever heard of. they didn't even look if i need my teeth cleaned. (i didn't) they refused to shedule me unless i get that done first. and all i needed was a filling.

i was glad to have it done in sk too.
btw slovakian dentists are very good. they are also much cheaper. it seems like over here only people who can afford it have nice teeth. in my country only the careless people have ugly teeth (drunks and homless). the general public can afford any dental work they need. dentures are much less common.

[Horseaholic]

I totally agree that dental care is unaffordable. The only people who have good dental insurance are supers of school and people who work with the mentally ill. Most dentist use cheap materials and charge outrageous amounts. But if you go to an office like mine- we use VERY (shockingly) expensive materials and charge a decent price. What people don't realize is that a crummy crown can cost as little as 45 dollars for a dentist to make (which doesn't fit and will break in a few years) then charges 800-1000 to put it in! My offices lab fees (price to make a crown) is about 400 dollars because he uses the BEST material.(We've put in 600 dollar crowns before- and didn't charge the patient a penny more for it) We see you at least 3 times to prep, get the impression, seat the crown in your mouth, then u come back to perm cem if everything is right, our impression material comes out to about $45 an impression (we take at least 2)...if it isn't perfect we take it again, our topical anisthetic comes in a 3oz jar and cost 150.so the prices of material quickly add up and most dentist aren't willing just to make a few hundred off a procedure that takes 3 visits in the chair. It's unfortunate. Oh and we charge 1150 for a crown.
Dentist like my boss are few and far between!
I'd be interested to see SK work :) I have seen a few nice mouths from other countries...but they are few and far between as well. I've never seen work from sk tho! :)

PS your husband's tooth could be fixed with a composite. (Filling) and at the most it would cost him 300 in my office.

[Horseaholic]

Just to give you an idea of great work ;) :p
(You've got me on a dental kick lolol I miss my life)


This gentleman came in for a second opinion to our office. The dentist that he saw previously wanted to pull the two teeth on both sides of his front teeth. (This guy would NEVER smile because he was so embarrassed of his teeth) They are baby teeth that never fell out because he didn't have the permanent ones. These teeth aren't going anywhere on this man - he's 33 years of age and they are fused to the bone. So we fixed his teeth and the second picture is the result. :)

[oursarge]

Hope all goes well Renee, I know that dental pain and it's not fun. For years I never had a cavity then all of a sudden my teeth have started going nuts. Too much acid in my body is wearing the enamal off is the diagnosis. Hope they'll fix you up without hurting you and without charging too much.

My dentist is very nice. She did 2 root canals on me and never hurt me once. Her prices are not high. I think because she came from a big family that didn't have alot of money she has sympathy for people who aren't rich or don't have insurance.

Right now I'm in the no insurance boat, my man retired, he has it for himself, I don't have it for me anymore. It's not the greatest insurance anyway but any little bit helps. Mine ran out in July and FIGURES in late Aug. I started having horrid pain in my face, so bad I couldn't even sleep. She saw me the day after I called, she did X-rays and found that the 2 very back teeth on the left were infected. They looked fine just looking at them she needed the X-ray to see inside. That has happened before too, she doesn't take them unless she feels she needs to.

The teeth had do to come out because they were only held together by fillings and now causing problems. She couldn't do it because the roots were curled. I was so scared since I have a phobia which she told me to make sure I told them so they'd take extra care. She sent me to her Oral Surgeon friend. I was TERRIFIED, I can't even tell you how scared I was. The people there were so nice, the Dr so nice. We talked about how he should deal with it as far as should I be totally knocked out or just sedated with novicane. He decided since I was so scared and the procedure was going to be complicated that I should be put under. I couldn't believe how fast it went. Last I remember they said they were going to put a thing in my mouth to hold it open. Next I knew they were calling my name, I asked if they started yet, they said it was all over. It was pretty easy, now I just have to hope for no after surgery problems. Thing is it was over $500. and they don't take payments. I don't know what people who don't have money in their accounts do, if they need to stay in pain or if they go to the ER if there are dentists on staff who will take people who can't pay.

I've met some really awful dentists but the one I have now is the best, she knows how scared I am and she always makes me feel the best I can feel in her "torture chamber" as I call it. The girls in her office are really nice too, it was funny the one who took my X-rays was at the oral surgeon with her father yesterday. She helped me alot because I thought if I was put under I'd never wake up and she described the procedure to me and she calmed me down alot then the people in the office helped and the Dr was very funny and nice. I wish I didn't have to go through it but I have to say they couldn't have made it any easier for me. I have to rest for a few days, can't do much, hopefully I'll heal with no infection.

Good Luck with yours, hope next we hear you are doing lots better.

[Remali]

Thanks everyone! Horseaholic, your office sounds so wonderful, I wish more dentists were like yours.

Well I was very lucky and I got an extremely nice doctor, she is just a young gal, but very pleasant and very kind, she was so helpful with my meds too (I have to be pre-medicated due to my previous heart troubles), she and her assistant (also a very nice gal) called Walmart to find the least expensive antibiotic from the $4 generic list at Walmart pharmacy, but they needed an antibiotic that was strong enough too, and they found one for me..... I was impressed at how nice they both were and they even had me laughing.....LOL. I was so nervous when I walked in tho, my blood pressure was 135 over 101! Holy crap. I better relax. That is way too high.

Anyway.... My tooth is infected. So, it has to come out....she left it up to me, extraction or root canal, but did tell me as bad as the tooth was and as hard as it was to see the roots, that a root canal might be tough. I told her I'd rather have it pulled anyway. So that is the plan, but first I need to get a couple day's worth of antibiotic in my system, they were booked up solid on Friday, couldn't even squeeze me in (they tried).....so I am going back Monday to have it pulled. Whew. I wasn't real surprised it was infected..... my ear hurts and feels full, and that side of my head just hurts terribly bad, and I just feel ishy and sick.

So, hopefully my new job will be OK with the time I need to take off for this, I would think for an infected tooth that they would be, and the dentist gave me a doctor's slip. The dentist told me that in a couple days I should be feeling better after the antibiotics kick in, so at least the bad ear pain and head pain will get better, my sinuses on that side even are painful.

Oursarge, I thought of you while I was at the dentist this morning, I remembered how scared you get too....
it sure is frightening isn't it? Crazy thing is, I never used to be so freaked out about dentists.....but I had a couple very painful experiences at the dentist, so now I am real nervous about it all. I qualified for their patient assistance this morning at this new clinic, seeing as I have no insurance right now, so I was really relieved about that.....altho it doesn't cover nitrous oxide and I was really hoping to get that when they pull the tooth. But, the dentist knew I was concerned and scared, so she asked me about sedation meds in the past, checking to see how much novocaine and meds I needed in the past, I told her that other doctors and dentists have told me I required more than the usual person, and I do remember the docs telling me after a couple procedures that I just wouldn't go under (or get numbed up) so they had to administer more anesthesia, etc. So I told her to just give me enough novocaine to numb up an elephant....LOL.

[dame_wolf]

I'm glad you found a nice doctor that went out of her way to help you out. Hope the meds kick in fast for you too!

[oursarge]

Glad you're getting it taken care of, sounds similar to what I had. The pain woke me right from a sound sleep a few nights then I couldn't go back to sleep, the Tylenol #3 wouldn't even touch the pain, Oragel didn't help, the pain was from my chin to the top of my head so I sure can relate to you. Hope the medication helps. When my regular dentist does anything even a filling I always tell her when she thinks she has given me enough drugs, give me more!!! They gave me alot yesterday, I was numb 'til early evening. Good luck, I'll be thinking about you, you're doing the right thing. I did the root canal/crown thing on one and eventually the tooth went because of the weird condition I have so all that money went down the drain when the tooth had to get pulled. Did she give you pain meds too? Hope so.

[Remali]

I was going to call her back about pain meds..... I had a few Vicodin left over from before, but they don't help.
I am going to call and ask about something else.... like you say, the pain wakes me up from a sound sleep.

Glad that your appt. went good for you yesterday, it's just so nerve-wracking. Of course now I'm a bit worried about my BP being so high.... it's never been quite that high before.... :(

[Horseaholic]

Glad everything went well...You will start to feel a little bit better once the infection is gone. They sound like really nice people. (Nitrous is expensive too but our office doesn't charge- he should, but he doesn't. Funny thing is that the oxygen cost more and doesn't last near as long as the nitrous) Maybe they'd be willing to give you a discount since you're so afraid??? You will feel better once that tooth is out that is for sure. Your other teeth may start to hurt a bit just because your sinus is sensitive.. believe it or not some of your teeth sit inside your sinus (why some people have tooth aches when they are having sinus problems.) Good luck on Monday! It sounds like you are in good hands.

[vicklynn]

Glad you found a good dentist. Sounds like they try to make things easy for their patients.
Hope to hear the drugs are working and you get that tooth pulled on Monday.

[Remali]

I called and asked for a better pain med, it's starting to get ugly again.... :(

Oh sure, that makes sense, about the sinuses....no wonder my sinuses hurt on that side. And my ear.....arrgghhh......I have an earache on that side too.... I'm just waiting for the pharmacy to re-open after lunch, so I can pick up my pain meds and the antibiotic..... I still would love to have the nitrous, but doubt I can afford it, so I will just have to be brave. **gulp**

I called work to let them know what was going on, and I'm waiting for them to call me back, the person I needed to talk to wasn't in.....I sure hope they'll be nice and not let me go..... (fingers crossed)...

[Petra]

I'm so glad they were nice to you. i hope the antibiotics will make you feel better soon. i'll be thinking of you on monday.

horseaholic: that was a nice job on that guy. i wish we had such good dentist around here.
i will not take pictures of my teeth...i drink way too much cofffee my teeth is not beautifly white and i'm not too proud of that. i'm scared to use the whitening strips because i'm not sure if it wouldn't work different on crowns than the real teeth. but i can let you know when my filling fixed tooth breaks. :D

i have 3 crowns in my mouth, so far they lasted 13 years. and i'm happy with the way they look. i didn't have to pay a penny.
however i can guarantee you, there are crappy dentists in sk too. i just picked to go to the good ones.

thanks for letting me know my husband's teeth is easy to fix...i get irritated even more, because his dentist will not do that - he said he needs a crown. :(

[Petra]

I called and asked for a better pain med, it's starting to get ugly again.... :(

Oh sure, that makes sense, about the sinuses....no wonder my sinuses hurt on that side. And my ear.....arrgghhh......I have an earache on that side too.... I'm just waiting for the pharmacy to re-open after lunch, so I can pick up my pain meds and the antibiotic..... I still would love to have the nitrous, but doubt I can afford it, so I will just have to be brave. **gulp**

I called work to let them know what was going on, and I'm waiting for them to call me back, the person I needed to talk to wasn't in.....I sure hope they'll be nice and not let me go..... (fingers crossed)...

ahhh i wish i had a way to send you some pain pills. i have percocet and lortab, just no way to get to the post office.
i don't know the laws in your state, in ks it is illegal to fire someone for medical reasons.
i doubt they would let you go...hope not. good luck!

[Horseaholic]

Petra- the crowns will NOT bleach. Are they in the back?? If they are I wouldn't worry about it. If they are in the front you will have different colored crowns than your teeth once you bleach. :) Then you'd look funny ;) lololol.

[Petra]

thanks! I'm just going to pm you so i'm not hijacking remalis thread.

[Horseaholic]

lol no problemo..SORRY remali if I hijacked your thread!

[Remali]

I got some Darvocet so hopefully that will do the trick.

Wow, you mean in KS an employer cannot fire someone if they have a medical condition? Geez, I wish WI was like that, here in WI an employer can fire you for any reason, even if you have a doctor excuse and a medical condition. WI is so backwards yet in so many ways....

LOL....no you didn't hijack my thread.....it's good to know that crowns and caps won't bleach the same.... I was wondering that myself. No need to PM.....talk away about anything here.... keeps it interesting and adds variety....LOL.

ETA: I talked to the people at work again, this afternoon, to update them as to what the dentist told me.......I told work I had an abscessed tooth and needed to have it pulled.... would you believe that the idiot woman at work asked me if I couldn't just take some Aleve or ibuprofen and go to work anyway? Unreal. I then repeated what I had said to her, telling her I had a busted tooth, it had broken down to the gum line, some of the nerve was exposed, and it was infected.....and I am on antibiotics and narcotics..... Then I thought to myself how in the world could I stand and work for 10 hours a day using power tools (I put together supercomputer chassis, and the cables), on narcotics, without killing myself or someone.....not to mention the left half of my face is throbbing from pain. Some employers really are horrible, can anyone be so ignorant?! You are not supposed to even be driving when you take narcotics. I remember the case recently of someone who was driving while on prescription narcotics and got into an accident and she was prosecuted and found guilty. Employers in this area are so rotten, a friend of mine was fired many years ago from her job at the time, after she told her employer that she had cancer.

[Horseaholic]

Gosh Remali, I'm sorry they can't understand your situation. I hope they come around.

[Gypsy Rose]

Sounds like the Wisconsin laws are totally ridiculous!

[Remali]

Well, I was thinking... I just talked to a friend of mine who used to work at the same place I work at (he was a permanent employee there, but right now I am only hired on thru a temp agency, that is how this place hires their employees....all are hired first thru the temp agency, and eventually if you are lucky you get hired on permanently). So, it was actually the lady at the temp agency that was being stupid and nasty about my taking time off about my tooth, but my friend thinks I should just call my boss at work directly and talk to him just in case the temp agency is not telling him exactly what is going on with me..... I think that is a very good idea so in the morning I'll call the supervisor at the job, speak with him, tell him how much I like the job and want to keep it and that I have an infected tooth..... It could be that the temp agency is not telling him much of anything. Anyway, it sure can't hurt. ;)

I was a bit loopy from the pain meds, but the nurse wanted me to get my blood pressure checked tonite (it was so high this morning), my neighbor was nice and offered to drive me so I got my BP checked and fortunately it has come down a bit, still a bit on the high side, but at least not as bad as it was. And tonite I bet I'll get some rest and some sleep now with the pain meds I have from the dentist. So maybe all will be well!

[oursarge]

I hope your BP goes down, mine was up some yesterday. They were so nice there and I still can't believe how fast I fell asleep and how fast they got done. I haven't had to take any of the pain pills just my Tylenol #3 but when I had that horrible pain like I know you are talking about the Tylenol #3 wouldn't take it away, it's just a throbbing horrible pain that makes you feel like you are going to go crazy. I don't even know how they'd expect you to work like that. I do hope that the medication helps and your new employer understands.

I worked at Met Life when I graduated High School back in '73 and that place was like a concentration camp. They didn't want you to take time off for anything. If you were one minute late from lunch they'd write you up. If you didn't get 90% production rate after being there 2 or 3 weeks they'd fire you, problem is they never bothered to train the new people. It was the worst place but the money was good. I got really sick before I got married, I knew I was leaving anyway and the boss called me in to say I was missing too many days and I told him I was sick, did he want a Dr's note I'd gladly get it for him or he could call the Dr, he was his neighbor. I told him I was leaving in 2 weeks anyway so if he wanted to fire me fire me and get it over with. I never talked to him that way before and he was shocked and he backed down and said no I should just finish out my time. I was lucky though since I didn't need the job. The people who needed the job were at their mercy and lived in fear of loosing their jobs, their answer was always if you don't like it leave there are plenty of people on the waiting list for a job. They used to say if you had a cold or the flu take medication and come to work. My friend had cancer and knew she'd eventually get a letter that her benefits were cut off because she used up all the money. She got the letter and died a few days later. I wouldn't have Met Life Insurance if someone paid me to have it. I hate those people, they were terrible to work for, they treated the employees horrid. I feel for you since I know how some places can be. I really just hope this will be fixed, they'll keep your job for you and you'll stay healthy for awhile. It's been a really bad year for you, not so peachy for me either. I wish I could take 2009 and forget everything bad that happened in it. Feel better & Good Luck!

[Remali]

That's terrible how Met Life treated you and your friend. Geez to do that to someone who had cancer. I remember what a friend of mine went thru many years ago when her employer fired her when she told them she had cancer. I wish there were laws to protect employees from employers like that. One of the worst places I ever worked at was a hospital, they treated their employees just awful, and the other bad place I worked at was United Health Group, a lot like Met Life, they expected you to come to work sick as a dog.....people would be there throwing up in their waste paper baskets. This place I started at last week used to be a really nice place, I am hoping it still is, however they were recently bought out by another company, so I am not sure if things have changed there or not.....but I'll find out soon. I was hoping I could maybe get back to work, even for a couple days, before I had the tooth pulled, but it has gotten worse again and now hurts more along my jawline.....so I am not sure if I can work with this or not, even if it got a little bit better, it just never stops hurting, I am just going to wait and see. If they do give me grief at work, I may print out and send them an article I found online about an abscessed tooth.....LOL.

[Remali]

What a day today was..... I ended up getting sick, not sure if it's due to the abscess or maybe the antibiotics, but my morning wasn't fun.... I'm doing better now tho, and the pain pills are helping. I think the antibiotics are starting to kick in too, it's not quite as bad as it was earlier today.

But the new job. They were a royal pain and problem. When I talked to them again today they were sort of OK with my needing time off and needing my tooth pulled.... But then they told me I HAD to come in to work immediately after my dentist appointment. I have had teeth pulled before, and I know you cannot go in and work standing up for 10 hours, looking down at something and using power tools (with a bloody mouth full of gauze), especially after being on pain meds and sedated for the extraction..... what in the world are they thinking I thought, are they insane?! A few hours later they called me back, and basically told me not to come in and not to bother, they were not happy I had to take time off for this tooth. Made me so mad..... I pretty much told them what I thought.... I told them it was quite obvious they had no idea what an abscessed tooth was, and I also told them it was also apparent to me that this was an employer that I would not have cared to work for anyway now that I found out how they treated their employees who had a medical emergency/medical problem. Made me feel a lot better to give them my 2 cents!

[vicklynn]

Im sorry your going through this Remali. I hope you heal and can move on to a better job.
((HUGS))

[Remali]

Thanks Vick. I'm not getting my hopes up any more about any job...LOL..... seems so many employers are rotten and less than honest, not sure if it's because of the lousy economy, but it's pretty ridiculous. I did wonder a bit about this job, at first I was so excited about it, I had applied for it way back in July.....but they had so many excuses and so many delays, they kept telling me I would start "end of July", then it was "in a couple weeks", then it was "sometime soon, in August"..... it was laughable. So something's not right with the place.... One friend of mine who used to work there years ago told me it was a great place to work at, but they were recently bought out by another company so maybe it is not so great any more. And, I have another friend who used to work there, but he said the place had a lot of lay-offs..... so....maybe it is just as well.

Like the saying goes..... when one door closes, another one opens. :)

[Gypsy Rose]

That really stinks! I was so hoping this job was going to work out for you!

Hope something comes through for you soon.

[Remali]

I may be a bit down right now..... but, I'm not out yet! Keeping my chin up and hoping other things will come along! :) Sometimes things happen for a reason, maybe my tooth was supposed to get bad right now.....LOL.

[Petra]

i'm so sorry you've lost your job! i am glad you stood up for yourself and told them what you think.

yeah in ks they can fire you for anything but medical reason, so really if the employer wants to be nasty they can wait until you get well and fire you than. i guess it's still better than wi. at least the cancer patients get to keep their jobs.

i'm sorry you don't feel well. i think you got sick from the pain meds. did you read the side effects? i've been told narcotics do that to you. lortab makes me throw up too. percocet only upsets my stomach, but at least i don't puke.
i have no appetite though; it sucks because i'm starting to look like skeleton.
if you can, go and ask for zofran. that's what they gave me to take while i was on lortab. it helps a lot.
hang in there - 3 more days and you'll feel whole lot better.

[Remali]

Thanks! Tonite I'm not feeling quite as bad..... the being sick part is almost gone now, and all I have now is a headache and the tooth has gotten better too, I was even able to sit down and look thru a magazine for a while tonite, LOL.... so I think the antibiotics are helping.

It's sad what employers can get away with..... I bet if it had been someone in management tho, it would have been OK.