Pulling Your Own Teeth
Even though it may sound very odd and downright compelling, a lot of people actually try to extract their own teeth. Toothache pain can be very painful and very frustrating, making you try anything to get relief. Depending on how bad the pain is, you’ll be more than willing to do just about anything you can to get the pain to stop. Abscesses or really bad cavities are among the worst, as the pain never seems to let up - no matter what you do.
In the old days, teeth were extracted by pliers, as there were no dentists around. During these times, people would get drunk on alcohol and then the teeth would be extracted. There was no such thing as anaesthesia back then, so it was impossible to locally numb the pain. These days though, local anaesthesia is the best way to numb a toothache before pulling the tooth. If you attempt to pull a tooth yourself, you’ll feel the pain no matter what you do.
There are situations however, in which you can pull your own teeth. Baby teeth for example, are acceptable to pull. Before you yank it out though, you should check on the age of when the tooth in question should be removed. If you wiggle the tooth around and it appears to be loose, then chances are it will come out without a problem. On the other hand, if you pull the tooth and it turns out to be an abscess, you’ll end up with a real problem and your hands and you’ll need to visit a dentist as soon as you can.
Another situation in which it is acceptable to pull your own teeth is when you have a severe case of gum disease. Gum disease can cause the socket and the bone to become extremely decayed, which will result in the destruction of the tooth. If the gum disease is severe enough, the tooth will be extremely loose and will come out without a problem. In some cases, the tooth can be almost unbearable to the touch. If you have gum disease and notice a loose tooth, you should be careful when pulling it. If you don’t do it properly or if you do it too soon, you could end up breaking the top of the tooth. If this happens, you’ll need to go to the dentist to have the remaining portion of the tooth cut out.
Even though a tooth may feel loose when you touch it, doesn’t always mean that you can grab a pair of pliers and rip it out. Teeth are very delicate. If you try to rip a tooth out with pair of pliers and make a mistake, you should end up doing more harm than good. Putting pliers in your mouth can also lead to an infection, which would send you to the dentist. Abscesses on the other hand, should never be dealt with on your own - you’ll need to go to a dentist to have him properly extract the tooth and give you some antibiotics to stop the infection.
To be on the safe side and avoid any potential problems that could easily arise, you should always go to the dentist if you have a toothache. No matter how bad the pain may be, you should never attempt to pull the tooth yourself. Your dentist can numb the area before he pulls the tooth, so you’ll feel no pain at all. He will also prescribe you some pain medicine and antibiotics as well, to help treat any infection you may have. If you attempt to pull the tooth yourself, you’ll only cause more problems in the end - and end up going to a dentist anyway.
james said,
March 8, 2009 @ 2:13 pm
Thanks for the article… I’m sitting here in my room with serious serious pain from an abscess. I went to an emergency dentist today and all he did was prescribe antibiotics. The pain is now so bad all I want to do is rip the tooth out myself but am going to rethink this before I do thanks to the article. UK dental help is terrible and should be greatly improved, no one should have to suffer like this.
Heather said,
April 4, 2009 @ 8:52 pm
I have been dealing with tooth problems every since I’ve been pregnant. It seems to never stop with the lack of calcium.. So I came to the conclusion of pulling my own tooth!! How silly that may sound, I am dealing with an upset child kicking me all the time, a husband thats always working and I’m sitting here dying to get this tooth out of my head!! Although I was serious about pulling it, I guess I will just have to suffer until my dentist makes room!
Thanks for the advice… I guess it saved me from a lot of pain that I would have caused myself!
Joe Baker said,
May 9, 2009 @ 2:33 am
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I want to pull my teeth out to get rid of the mercury they emit into my body every hour of every day. I have eight back teeth with “silver” amalgum fillings that have NO silver in them whatsoever. Instead they are a composite of metals which contain MERCURY! That’s right these rascalls are putting toxic materials in our mouths.
Dentists need to be sued, hog tied and put in stocks in the middle of town so people can spit in their faces for the stupid things they have done to us all.
Don’t use flouride toothpaste either. It’s bad for your brain and your teeth.
Flouride is even in some of your vegitables. The military is dumping white clouds of sulfer hexa-flouride into the atmosphere.
I don’t want to pay exhorbidant fees for getting mercury removed from my teeth, so I’m thinking of making some rubber coated pliers to wiggle and pull out those teeth.
Pot might be good for the pain.
Most importantly … people should take a daily dose of colloidal silver. This amazing stuff kills viruses, bacteria and fungus. To have the power to fight bacterial infections in your mouth in this way is a great preventative way to reduce the paiin which accompanies infections.
By my honor,
Joseph-William:Baker
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Clyde said,
June 28, 2009 @ 6:34 pm
Ten months ago, I was in pain with a toothache. I extracted the tooth.. yes, with pliers. My teeth were all rotting, to varying extents. Last month I pulled a tooth that was in very rough condition. This month I pulled the remaining fifteen small teeth, leaving one molar, one wisdom tooth and the portion of a molar that is below the gumline..rotting. After having surgery for cancer, pulling teeth was really not so painful. Twist slowly when tearing the membrane, and it can be done. I don’t recommend self-extraction of teeth. If you do it wrong, the pain might put you into shock.. or worse. I saved about $1,700.00 whick I can use toward dentures, if I ever save that much..
Boots said,
July 24, 2009 @ 11:08 am
Joe Baker, the guy above talking about the mercury and flouride, is a nitwit. Mercury from fillings is such a tiny trace amount that it could never cause harm and to suggest otherwise is pure quackery. And the fluoride used to strengthen teeth is once again such a tiny amount it couldn’t harm anyone. Go pull your own teeth and smoke that pot, Joe, at least that’ll cut down on the chance of you reproducing…
santa said,
August 6, 2009 @ 5:44 pm
Boots said Joe Baker is a nitwit, he definately is not a nitwit. There is plenty of evidence to implicate amalgum in dental practice. How you interpret what you find out is where you have to use your own brain. I suspect Boots is tied in with medical money somewhere or has believed everything a doctor, dentist or the government has ever told him. [again not using his own brain] Often people who resort to putting others down as Boots has with Joe are simply trying to manipulate others through bully tactics, because thier arguments won’t hold up, and they hate being wrong.
the good thing said,
August 10, 2009 @ 3:22 am
The problem with abscess pain is that it is so extreme and unrelenting that it totally makes your mind warp. It’s also fairly impervious to pain meds and other toothache remedies. Clove oil or ambesol may work (and work well) for a cavity likewise with ibuprofin or opiates — but the pressure an abscess puts on the root and nerves of your tooth makes it hell (trust me, I’ve had 4, and the last one brought me to my knees with tears).
The good thing is that relief is often very quick. The first step is antibiotics. It may seem that antibiotics won’t offer much in the way of pain relief, but you should feel substantial relief within 24-48 hours after starting them (amoxycilin or clindamycin), sometimes even sooner.
The second thing you need to do is get the pus out from underneath your tooth and let it bulge out through your gum - a little gross, but the sheer pain relief is worth it. Alternate 20-30 minutes of warm salt water gargles with a poultice made of activated charcoal, this will encourage the pus and bacteria to find an exit route through your gum. Within about 24 hours of doing this, you should have a nice beg abscess on the inside of your gum and be in much much much less pain (back to cavity pain and tenderness, not the throbbing excruicating pain that makes you want to pull your own teeth out with pliers)
it is a hellish 24-48 hours no doubt about it, but the key is to get on antibiotics as soon as possible and do the salt water swishes and charcoal poultices. you can try the gamut of other remedies, from clove oil to hardcore pain meds to tea bags to ginger, but in my experience those simply don’t work once you reach the point of mindwarping pain.
Best of luck to any fellow abscess sufferers. I made it through the last 48 hours and am feeling much better - having one root canal and one extraction this week to hopefully fix it for good
shane scott said,
September 22, 2009 @ 7:11 am
thanks for that advice.the dental system in new zealand sucks.its so expensive!
Artie said,
February 8, 2010 @ 7:39 am
i pulled one of my teeth after it got knocked loose playing basketball, and it literally looks like I’ve ripped some of my gums out with it. it can move around and it hurts really bad…do you think it will heal or should i get it removed?