Teeth problems after accident

cyclonebri1

Hello, I wonder if I can ask a little help from any of the dental experts that frequent this part of the forum? It’s quite a long story but I’ll try and keep it short.

About 7 months ago I had an accident on a pushbike. The list of injuries was pretty awful, but mainly resulted in me fracturing my skull in 2 places with the added complication of fracturing both my neck and my back. I was out cold so don’t recall exactly but I lost a front crown during the fall.

To explain, I had the top 4 front teeth crowned at least 15 years ago and they had been fine for that period.

Anyway I must have smacked my jaws together pretty heavily as the resulting shock meant I totally lost both sense of taste and smell for a good 3 months.

It was around 3 months from the accident before I was fit enough to have dental treatment and up to this time my front teeth or top jaw felt very painful, I couldn’t bite and my teeth didn’t fell like my own. I hoped this would disappear when the crown was replaced.

So I had the tooth reworked, it needed root canal treatment as there was a little corrosion down there and a new crown was fitted. That was 4 months ago and my jaw/upper teeth have still not settled down, they don’t exactly hurt, but are very pressure sensitive, do not feel strong, they still don’t feel like my own if that makes sense.

So the questions;
Is this typical/normal after such trauma?
And is it likely to settle eventually?
Should I go private to try and resolve this, I somehow don't expect the NHS to be much help here, but must add that my medical care after the accident was absolutely fine.


Thanks to anyone who can help.:beer:

And sorry for boring those that can’t.:o

cyclonebri1

Ahhhhh, mi gob........

G-G_4

Aww bless you..

I don't really have any advice.. I had a wrist operation a few years ago and the skin above the scar was numb for a good 18 months.. felt really odd! Like you said, not part of my body.. but it's slowly got better over time..

Not sure what to say bout your teeth, sounds pretty horrific, poor you! Give it time I guess, have you spoken to the doctor about it at all? You could always fork out for a private consultation for advice and see what they say?

Sorry I could be more help, just thought you deserved a reply x

cyclonebri1

G-G wrote: »

Aww bless you..

I don't really have any advice.. I had a wrist operation a few years ago and the skin above the scar was numb for a good 18 months.. felt really odd! Like you said, not part of my body.. but it's slowly got better over time..

Not sure what to say bout your teeth, sounds pretty horrific, poor you! Give it time I guess, have you spoken to the doctor about it at all? You could always fork out for a private consultation for advice and see what they say?

Sorry I could be more help, just thought you deserved a reply x

Don't worry, I'm sure the right reply will be forthcoming. Time does seem to be the healer here, just a bloody long time:rotfl:


I posted this in line with what you have said, ie, could a private consultation be economic/healthwise sense, thanks.
Believe me my teeth were the least of my problems after that, but hopefully the longest lasting issue.

donteatthat

Poor you.
For one thing, soft tissue (skin, tendons, scars) injuries take a loooooonnnnnnggg time to heal and become non-painful over hard tissues (ie bone).
It sounds as though your teeth did take an impact and the effects of trauma like this can take some time to show. It could be that the teeth were knocked a bit loose in their sockets, or that an impact could have killed off the nerves and blood supply to the teeth.
I would certainly recommend a visit to a dentist or dental school tohave things checked out and monitored for any longer-term problems.
I have little faith in the NHS dental service for management of anything really other than emergency dental care but I think just getting seem at any good practice is a start. An NHS practice may be able to recommend somewhere for you, or refer you on if they feel they cannot deal with any dental problems you may have.

DET x

Toothsmith

What he said!

Good luck - it can be a long haul.

As a keen cyclist myself you have my sympathies.

Was the accident anyone elses fault? Car or lorry driver?

If there is any claim involved, then private costs of fixing up your mouth again are a perfectly legitamate expense to add into the mix.

donteatthat

I nearly ended my career before it started going over my handlebars soon after graduation
Never been on a bike since!

BTW - I am a girly!

DET x

Toothsmith

donteatthat wrote: »

I nearly ended my career before it started going over my handlebars soon after graduation
Never been on a bike since!

BTW - I am a girly!

DET x

Oops!

donteatthat

he he. No worries!

cyclonebri1

donteatthat wrote: »

I nearly ended my career before it started going over my handlebars soon after graduation
Never been on a bike since!

BTW - I am a girly!

DET x

Hi and thanks donteathat and Toothsmith.This has actually ended my career, but then again I always wanted to retire at 55, I've now got my wish.

I also felt like a girly

When I got out of the straightjacket they'd put me in the 1 st I did was take the angle grinder to the bike. It fitted quite nicely into a cardboard box, and gave me get pleasure doing to it what it almost did to me

I have a good dentist who also happens to be a keen club cyclist so he was fine about everything, did the RC work on the NHS and the crown work privately as we were due our only holiday of the year and didn’t have the time to wait. I haven't been back since as has been said I realise these thing take time, but I think another visit is forthcoming.

The accident itself was no ones fault but my own. I managed to pick the steepest, twistiest downhill section of country road you can imagine and got a rear tyre puncture while cranked well over. That’s the last I remember until a car pulled up beside me, but I must have hit the kerb and gone over the handlebars.

If you can humour me here I complete the whole story as it just shows how when things go wrong for you, boy can they go wrong big style. Please no sorrys or sympathy, I really do feel fine now I just feel that it might help someone in similar circumstances.

2007 didn’t start off too well, I was scheduled for a left knee cartiledge opp, should have been in Jan, but due to coughs and sneezes it was postponed twice and eventually happened in Feb. No real problems, I had had the 1st one done 4 years previously and new what to expect. During the recuperation I was undergoing further tests for long standing back problems, the inactivity was adding to these. After several month of test, spinal facet joint blocks, steroid injections etc It was decided that surgery was needed to arrest the problem. I went in for a 2 level spinal fusion in early June. Basically they welded my back solid at 2 adjacent joints. Immediately I came round after the opp it was clear all was not well. I had little feeling in my right foot and couldn’t move it. It eventually appears that the operation took longer than expected and the nerves were compressed for too long resulting in what is probably permanent loss of function. I got out about 5 days later.

After about 6 weeks the surgeon agreed I could start a programme of exercise, walking etc, this proved very difficult due to the damage mentioned so I had the brainwave, although it probably came more out of frustration than common sense that the pushbike would be easier as I could compensate with the other leg.

I spent 11 days in hospital, 12 weeks in a surgical collar and 16 weeks in a back brace. Had 32 stitches in my face an ear, suffered loss of balance etc etc etc

2 days after I got out I was back in for a day as I had a bone infection to the left hip, I had bruised or grazed just about every corner of me and this particular one wasn’t too happy.

2 weeks after this I was back in again as I had developed a blood clot, (DVT), in my right leg. I will have completed 6 months on rat poison within the next week.
The anti depressants worked though.

It’s only now a good few months later that most of the damage from the accident is slowly recovering.

The strange thing about all this, yes I made all the wrong decisions, from having the opp to getting on the bike, but I am probably as happy now as I’ve ever been in my life. I almost killed myself, but I didn’t, and that really changes your outlook on life. I realised how much better I felt not doing the job I have/had at the company I’d worked for 37 years and it pushed me into something I probably wouldn’t have had the guts to do. Life feels pretty good, now if I can just sort out these teeth.:rotfl:

Hope this is of some use to someone, thanks for indulging me:beer:

donteatthat

gosh -what a nightmare.

It's amazing how a brush with rubbishness can give you a whole new perspective.

Your teeth will get sorted and I'm glad you are on the mend!