Dentists Are Sharing The Most Horrifying Things They've Witnessed In Someone's Mouth, And It Might Be The Worst Thing I've Ever Read

Yahoo

3 days ago

Earlier this month, I decided to ask dentists and dental hygienists in our very own BuzzFeed Community what turned out to be a pretty graphic question: "What's the most horrifying thing you've seen in someone's mouth or witnessed on the job?"
Their answers were gross in an absolutely fascinating way, so, I decided I had to share. You might pull a face at a few of these, but you'll definitely be entertained! So, here are some of people's best answers:
Related:
1."Dead bedbugs in a patient's gums."
NBC
—Anonymous
2."Hairy tongue."
—Anonymous, 44, Connecticut, US
3."A teenager whose wisdom teeth were developing so that it was best for her to have them removed by an oral surgeon with IV sedation. She freaked out. She didn't want it done because she was scared of the needle...we could easily see over 20 piercings."
—Anonymous
4."I'm a dental hygienist and the strangest thing I have found (repeatedly) in people's mouths is pubic hair. You see a little hair sticking out of a person's gums, so you grab a pair of tweezers to pull it out, and it ends up being a long curly pubic hair. 🤢 I have also found a SPROUTED SEED stuffed underneath someone's gums before. 🤣"
Warner Bros.
—Anonymous, 31, Illinois
5."Periodontist here. I once had a patient who had a massive infection of his wisdom teeth that was starting to come out of his cheek. So what looked like a pimple on his lower right was really the infection starting to drain."
HBO / Via giphy.com
"I immediately sent him to a hospital that had an oral surgeon on staff. The tooth was extracted, and he had a drain placed in his face to clear the infection.
When your dentist tells you that you have an infection, it doesn't get any better; it only gets worse."
—Anonymous, 37, New Jersey
Related:
6."I was a dental assistant and took a full-mouth panoramic X-ray of a patient with no teeth. Looked in his mouth and he was right, he had no teeth. Took the X-ray and found he had roots for all his teeth, but they had rotted, and gum tissue had grown up over to cover them. A fascinating extraction surgery followed."
—Anonymous
7."Dental hygienist/hygiene educator here with an interesting story and a serious one. The interesting story: A patient lost a front tooth, kept it, cut the root off, attached it to something metal, and then superglued it in — a super creative idea! Unfortunately, superglue is acidic, so it damaged the teeth where he attached his makeshift bridge. But you can't help but admire his outside-the-box thinking."
"The serious story: Years ago, I was completing the oral facial (oral cancer) examination on my patient and saw a red patch on the floor of his mouth. I referred him to an ENT, and sure enough, it was cancer, and it needed surgical removal and radiation.
It was life-changing for him (though he passed away a few years later) and for me. From then on, I was more confident and took more time completing that exam, and less worried about staying on schedule.
Every time thereafter I saw this patient for his cleaning, he hugged me and kissed me on the cheek and thanked me for the extra time he had with his family.
Each year, I tell my students this story and tell them how important this exam is to complete, to not worry about the clock, and not to cut it out from their tasks. Worry more about the patient as a whole, and not about if you leave stain behind or a tenacious piece of calculus (tartar).
I cried when my patient died, and I tear up every time I teach oral facial exams and think about what he taught me and how grateful he was for me."
—Anonymous, 45, New York
8."It wasn't something I saw, exactly, but something I smelled. The patient had cancer, and we could smell it coming from his mouth. No judgment for the bad smell, not his fault, everyone deserves dignity."
—Anonymous
Related:
9."I'm a dentist. I had a new patient come in with a loose crown. I told him I might be able to just remove the crown after I cleaned it, then recement it back over the tooth. I removed the crown to discover a worm flopping around inside."
Dotana / Getty Images
"I cleaned out the crown and tooth, recementing it. Then I referred him to his MD for treatment of the worm infestation. I was very careful with my gloves on and face mask, not touching any instruments until they were cleaned and sterilized before they were put away.
I nearly lost it."
—Anonymous
10."Unfortunately, I am not the only dentist who has had this experience, but fortunately, it has only happened to me once. I had a patient, mid-50s, in whose dentures I found several maggots. Yes, I did leave and go throw up."
—Anonymous, 47, Ohio, US
11."Teen patient with a moldy retainer. They never took it out, and there was food and gunk in a layer of slime all over the top of it. And my God, the smell."
—Anonymous
12."Many drug users get to a point (and it happens more quickly than you would think) where they unfortunately do not care about oral hygiene. Dental health gets even worse when a person's drug of choice is something like meth. It's always very sad to see and difficult to deal with. Take care of your teeth, kids."
—Anonymous, 38
13."Do not smoke after getting your wisdom teeth removed. You do not want a dry socket."
—Anonymous
Related:
14."I did a lot of free work for underprivileged people and people experiencing homelessness in my city when I was a younger dentist. (Not so much anymore, I miss being able to help, but I'm older now and would get the occasional violent patient.) This wasn't the saddest thing I ever saw, but it was pretty messed up and stuck with me: a child, around 5 or 6, with almost totally decayed teeth. They basically survived off soda, milk, candy, and other junk food."
"The only silver lining was that these were baby teeth.
I spoke to the mother and did report that the child was being neglected and needed help. This was about 20 years ago; I live in a smallish town, and I know the child ended up living with their grandmother."
—Anonymous
15."I don't have any real horror stories, but you'd be surprised how many people don't think about their teeth when it comes to smoking cigarettes! Plenty of smokers worry about their skin prematurely aging, but pay far less mind to oral health. Smokers' breath can get pretty horrific."
—Anonymous
16."Maggots."
CBS
—Anonymous, 48, Seattle, Washington
17.And finally: "A guy who had sharpened his incisors and tried to bite the hygienist."
—Anonymous, 54
Okay, I know that got pretty gross, but at times, it was touching. Feel free to let me know all your thoughts in the comments! Even better if you have a dental nightmare of your own to share.
Or, if you want to write in but prefer to stay anonymous, you can check out this anonymous form! Who knows — your story could be featured in a future BuzzFeed article.
Also in Goodful:
Also in Goodful:
Also in Goodful: Solve the daily Crossword