Mama still has most of her teeth. I brush them daily and to do so discovered early on I had to use a little warm water and mouthwash instead of toothpaste as she was notorious for swallowing toothpaste. That seemed to work. Day before yesterday, one of her front teeth just broke off. I can tell that part of the tooth is still embedded in her gum. I immediately called her hospice nurse who had just been to the house and asked her what could be done. Mama was not complaining of pain but then she never complains about pain...never....I am sensing it is bothering her though and I know it is troubling me. While Hospice has not suggested they will not do anything about it, they have told me that usually this is not a problem and not to worry and just watch it, make sure it doesn't become infected, etc. etc. I can't imagine just leaving a rotten tooth root in Mama's gum. Has anyone out there dealt with this and if so what did you do? Mama is totally bedfast so in order to have a dental professional address this she will have to be transported by ambulance....also, I was initially told I could give her some of her morphine if she became painful...but IMO, I would rather not over administer morphine, especially for something where if it becomes painful it will not go away without pulling out the remaining root, or more than likely having to cut it out. Mama is tough and so probably could deal with just novocaine to do the procedure, just trying to figure out all the angles beforehand....any opinions or advice??
He also specifically mentions dementia and says he has rarely had patients with dementia complain of tooth pain. He thinks it might be from either medication or a lack of pain awareness. So just keep an eye on whether your mom's tooth has sharp edges. If it does and it causes a problem, a dentist could come and smooth those edges out.
Also, I don't know what your local dental services are like, but is there not one practitioner who would be prepared to come and examine your mother in her own home? Even if they don't advertise this as a service, you could try asking/bribing/demanding with menaces?
That was my concern, the bacterial issues in the bloodstream etc. ...I will let our nurse know about this morning, but she is talking with dentists to find someone who can come out and look at it and also has consulted with our doctor and hospice team....it's great to see her looking rested...glad I went on and had that little kit on hand...and thinking on it, that is something we ALL need to have on hand in case of a sudden toothache emergency, right? I also saw they had things where you could temporarily fix a lost filling, etc...who knew??? I am going to go back and restock my medicine cabinet because things like that seem essential for all of us to have on hand....
DOES SHE UNDERSTAND WHATS GOING ON? DOES IT HURT?