I know someone who does periodontal surgery and tells me about their day.
It's very possible. I have heard of a doctor accidentally puncturing INTO the sinus cavity and discovering a sinus infection.
Saved a patients airways, nothing life threatening but cleaned out their sinuses and said they were able to breathe better now than in the last decade.
Every time I get x rays done on my teeth everyone has to come in the room to see how long my roots are. Once a girl has to semi stay in the room because she had to hold the machine a little farther than usual from my face. I feel like a celebrity at the dentist
It's all fun and games until you need to have a long rooted tooth extracted! Both of my bottom wisdom teeth roots were long af and pretty much sent me straight to dry socket because of that.
Many years ago I was getting a cleaning, and the scaler broke. The broken part of the scaler fell to the back of my throat. I somehow froze and didn't swallow, and the hygienist got it out of there. It's been over 20 years and it still gives me the willies to think about it.
The whole tooth extraction procedure seems barbaric/terrifying enough, now I have to worry about them dropping something in me? I know they’re humans but like, can we not have butterfingers in my throat.
I had the bottom tip of my upper molar fall into my sinus cavity during an extraction. It never caused any issues and is likely still there.
Edit: I had to get a sinus lift later for a bone graft and it’s the same procedure to remove a big piece like this. They cut into your gum beside your teeth, drill a hole into your skull and reach inside. The worst part is the cost.
To clarify, in my case the tooth piece didn’t cause any issues but I needed the bone graft to hold the implant. The bone in that area is often too thin otherwise.
I had a minor sinus lift, where they went in through the tooth hole instead of the side. Can still confirm, cost was worse. I'm still not done yet. The implant finally is set and they have to put the tooth crown on. Begining to end ill probably be over 5 grand deep. With insurance.
I had crap dental insurance at the time with two extractions. Total cost for everything (extraction, grafts, implants, abutments and crowns) was about $15-16K. Brush and floss your teeth every day my friends - so much cheaper than dental work!
My grandpa was a chiro and had a crazy tube machine that was like a forced neti pot situation with suction. He would have that sucker out in no time and then “diagnose” you with something so he could crack your back weekly for the rest of your life.
Most likely he was using a device called a *Zoellner* suction tube and is most commonly used in ear wax removals. You can load up liquids (most typically, olive oil) to disperse as well as just suck air.
One of my wisdom teeth is in my sinus cavity; I’m 34 and it hasn’t caused me issues yet, but if it ever does they’ll have to go in surgically and remove it.
They broke the tip off the extractor tool inside mine. Took 5 hours to dig out after it punctured my membrane.
Fun times.
Edit: I’m editing this purely because the weird amount of upvotes. I feel like this is a common and it worries me.
I had my sinus ripped while extracting my 18, wisdom teeth top left. It was sealed right aftee the extraction but some bacterias had time to get in. They needed to suck out all the pus that generated in my sinus in a 3 day hospital stay. Watch out for those fuckers. Some people lucky enough that their molar roots are just not touching their sinus chambers.
Wife had a molar extracted last week. We were really worried that the tooth was involved with her sinus cavity, which would have added $4K to the bill, not to mention the other complications.
Luckily it wasn't, and she was in and out of there in 45 minutes. Phew.
Great to hear! However the pricing wherever you are located is outrageous. I’m located in Hungary, Europe, an extraction with sealing your sinus is around 150 bucks.
This feels like too much, I had an extraction yesterday(also in Europe, with health insurance) and the whole thing cost €5. It’s mind boggling how big the difference is. I’m sure a sinus sealing wouldn’t cost over €10 here.
The price I mentioned is from a flagship Hungarian Dental complex. The circumstances makes the price not that unacceptable. You can have it done for free in non-private.
Assuming from their username they're also in Texas.
I've had the displeasure of having 4 molars extracted at 4 different Texas dentists/denture clinics over the last 6 years.
The first was a denture clinic and designated "simple", cost 80 bucks and was a breeze. Elevated the gums, yanked the thing out whole, out in less than 30 minutes.
2 years later, the second was also a denture clinic and deemed "complicated". Cost $150, broke into 3 pieces, but still 45 mins in/out.
A year after that, the denture clinic changed policy and would not extract more without an immediate plan with payment to replace it with something. Complicated extraction at a general dentist was now $225. He purposely twisted and broke the tooth down to the roots and pulled it out in powdery chunks. Took an hour.
Most recent one was in February this year(2 years after that last experience) at another general dentist(whoever offered free exam/x-rays) and now cost almost $350. Same experience of intentionally twisting/breaking then also had to drill out the bottom of the root. Same hour plus some.
My full time job with benefits doesn't include dental insurance. Ofc they recommended root canals on all these molars that have failing fillings from my childhood, because that's good for their business. (Gen. dentist quoted me ~$30K for the multiple root canals)
I'd rather just pull it and have the cost and pain be over. My incisors are in great shape and it'd be nice to get my last 8 molars pulled and a partial made, but would easily be $5K up front. Pulling one by one then saving for prosthesis might be the best my middle class ass will ever be able to do.
The cost of a lot of medical supplies inflated like crazy during the pandemic in the US, which is what I assume was a lot of the reason for the drastic price change in extractions from 2018-2024.
Never even had sinuses brought up as a concern...something I guess I took for granted now looking at this post 😔
Nope, no *Tejas* here. I have been to DFW to change planes, though.
What grinds my corn is that I have dental insurance, but it doesn't pay for shit except for checkups and whatnot. My wife's molar still cost over a grand out of pocket.
I guess sometimes oral surgery is considered "medical" and not "dental", but I haven't done the research to see what the parameters are.
I did have a molar yanked out some years ago, but I don't remember it costing much. Took about 5 minutes. What chapped my ass is that the dentist recommended either putting an implant in or a bridge to replace it, but my insurance would only pay for a bridge, even though the cost was the same. I didn't want a pain in the ass bridge, so I'm rolling with a gap. It's not visible to bystanders, so I'm fine with it. Except when a tortilla chip stabs it with a sharp corner. Owie.
[Nah, I don't think those are bedbug bites.](https://www.reddit.com/r/Wellthatsucks/comments/1duwakj/comment/lbk90yu/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
I had a tooth extracted once. The dentist was working hard, and accidentally popped the cap off...which subsequently disappeared. He paid for an emergency x-ray to see if it went down my throat or my airway. Fortunately it was in my stomach instead of in my lung.
I never miss an opportunity to suggest he take up golf, since he's already got his first hole-in-one.
In the skull, just above the palate (the roof of the mouth) is where the nose is. And around the nose, there is a large empty space called the nasal sinus, and this goes between the palate and the eye sockets. Sometimes the roots of an upper tooth can sit very close to the floor of the sinus, and you can often get a toothache in these if you have a sinus infection. Because of this, when removing a tooth that is close to the sinus there is the risk of breaking part of the sinus floor, and then there is now a hole between the mouth and the nose (when the patient drinks, it'll come out of their nose, for example). This can be repaired but sometimes if it's small enough they just stitch up the gum and let the body heal itself.
In this case, I would assume they perforated the sinus (made a hole) and the tooth broke, and then the crown fell through the sinus perforation.
I had this a few years ago with a broken tooth root. Dentist was like: "Hold your nose, an blow out as strong as you can through your nose." The root came back be the hole it got into the sinus. Fun time.
Idk but I had 2 teeth embedded in my sinus cavity, so every time I got an infection, it made my whole head hurt and I wanted to die to stop the pain. I had them extracted with just Novocaine bcuz I didn't want to wait 2 more months for the anesthesiologist. It hurt so bad. It was hard for the dental surgeon to remove it and being awake while having a grown man pushing and pulling on my face is something I never want to experience again. If I ever have another tooth extracted, I'm going to be knocked out. He gave me breaks and was very attentive to my comfort, but it was too much. I had all of my back teeth removed at once. It was a lot physically. Healing didn't hurt much, but I bled like crazy and swallowed so much blood after getting home bcuz he didn't stitch me up and I still have a hole in my sinus on the one side that liquid gets through when I drink anything. So I have to drink through a straw. It's been 4 years but the one side still hasn't closed up.
Just blow your nose, it'll come out!
I mean, I'm not sure, but I had a tooth removed and they told me the root was so deep they exposed my sinus membrane, and to be careful if I blow my nose cause If I do it to hard I'd break it. Inevitably I sneezed later on, and blood flew out of my nose, so I'm just guessing on the blowing your nose to dislodge it
Fuuuuuuuuuuuck that.
I got dry socket after an extraction and had water fall in there, sloshing around. WORST PAIN AND EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE!
Could not imagine a chunk of a tooth in there rattling around 💀💀
did you get instructions not to blow your nose for a few weeks? happened to me when they had to make a small cut into the sinus cavity to extract a tooth with stupid roots. i had good pain meds so it was just the stitching that was driving me nuts
I have all my wisdom teeth. Dentist said i should get them pulled but nothing hurts.
I have sinus problems too.
This is terrifying. Is this my future? What are the chances of this happening?
Can i just get a new head?
Excuse me, WHAT?
I DON'T GET HOW IT WOULD FALL IN
you're laying back almost upside down in the dentist chair
Last time I did that shit they had a tarp and tent pegs and a whole archeology team in there.
This.... I don't think I've ever had dental work done where removal was happening where they didn't tarp up my guzzler.
Fucking thanks for that. I've been getting some work done and now all I'll be able to think about is "tarping my guzzler".
Don't worry you can pay someone to tarp your guzzler. It's all good.
I tarp guzzlers for free.
I don't think they're talking about it falling up their nose
I know someone who does periodontal surgery and tells me about their day. It's very possible. I have heard of a doctor accidentally puncturing INTO the sinus cavity and discovering a sinus infection. Saved a patients airways, nothing life threatening but cleaned out their sinuses and said they were able to breathe better now than in the last decade.
Can confirm. Overzealous dentist popped through into my sinuses during an extraction and I had spontaneous nosebleeds *for years* due to it.
Y’all don’t have tooth problems ehhh
Tooth was poking into sinuses already, busted chunk goes up? Like losing a toy without a flared base up your ass, I’d imagine. SLURRRRP!
New fear unlocked
Same for me. I have to get a back tooth extracted and my roots go into my sinuses and now I am a bit concerned....
Every time I get x rays done on my teeth everyone has to come in the room to see how long my roots are. Once a girl has to semi stay in the room because she had to hold the machine a little farther than usual from my face. I feel like a celebrity at the dentist
It's all fun and games until you need to have a long rooted tooth extracted! Both of my bottom wisdom teeth roots were long af and pretty much sent me straight to dry socket because of that.
Yeah healing from getting a tooth removed was ROUGH but at least they said I’d have great tooth retention in old age
Those suckers are deep in there!! Haha
It really helped when I nearly knocked my front tooth out haha. Just had to do a cap and not a whole implant that would have been a gazillion dollars
I have had chronic sinus issues so this is now my nightmare
I currently have chronic frontal sinus issues. It is literally the most uncomfortable I have ever been for a full year now.
Me too. Just last week a cold caused me pain in my teeth. Could not comprehend it. Now I understand that pain.
Many years ago I was getting a cleaning, and the scaler broke. The broken part of the scaler fell to the back of my throat. I somehow froze and didn't swallow, and the hygienist got it out of there. It's been over 20 years and it still gives me the willies to think about it.
You are now your own maraca! 🪇
this is funny
Quick put another one in an Close it up
When I was little and would shake my head in response to a question, my mom would tell me she couldn’t hear my head rattle.
Not the post I want to see mere days before my extraction appointment
And here I was only worried about them dropping something down my throat.. I already hate the dentist as is..
The whole tooth extraction procedure seems barbaric/terrifying enough, now I have to worry about them dropping something in me? I know they’re humans but like, can we not have butterfingers in my throat.
My procedure is scheduled for first thing tomorrow. I don't need to be reading this now.
I hope you asked for them to prescribe you Valium for the procedure like I did… lol
Nope. Not my first rodeo ride.
If it helps, I've been assisting for 6 years, with hundreds of different dentists (some much better than others!) and I have never seen this happen.
How do you even fix that?
I had the bottom tip of my upper molar fall into my sinus cavity during an extraction. It never caused any issues and is likely still there. Edit: I had to get a sinus lift later for a bone graft and it’s the same procedure to remove a big piece like this. They cut into your gum beside your teeth, drill a hole into your skull and reach inside. The worst part is the cost.
That is definitely NOT the worst part.
It is when you don't have insurance
Or live in America or any other country with stupid paid healthcare
Does it rattle when you shake your head?
That would be entertaining but only my pea-sized brain rattles around.
Omg! That made me lol!
If the dentist dropped the tooth, why doesn’t the dentist cover the cost? It was his fault, after all.
Ooooo..... According to our records, you have teeth? Yeah, sorry, that's a pre-existing condition
To clarify, in my case the tooth piece didn’t cause any issues but I needed the bone graft to hold the implant. The bone in that area is often too thin otherwise.
Oh great, new fear unlocked
Implants are super expensive and fun to get for sure! Floss and brushing are cheap so take care of your teeth.
I had a minor sinus lift, where they went in through the tooth hole instead of the side. Can still confirm, cost was worse. I'm still not done yet. The implant finally is set and they have to put the tooth crown on. Begining to end ill probably be over 5 grand deep. With insurance.
I had crap dental insurance at the time with two extractions. Total cost for everything (extraction, grafts, implants, abutments and crowns) was about $15-16K. Brush and floss your teeth every day my friends - so much cheaper than dental work!
Vacuum cleaner, shove the spout straight up the nearest nostril and it'll be out in no time
My grandpa was a chiro and had a crazy tube machine that was like a forced neti pot situation with suction. He would have that sucker out in no time and then “diagnose” you with something so he could crack your back weekly for the rest of your life.
Most likely he was using a device called a *Zoellner* suction tube and is most commonly used in ear wax removals. You can load up liquids (most typically, olive oil) to disperse as well as just suck air.
I dunno this had a tube with liquid go up one nostril and the one with suction into the other- does that work for ears?
In some cases
Cool- it may have been that, then! I’ve never bothered to look it up and he only tricked me into it once lmao
Sounds like it would work on you, then
Lmao maybe so
One of my wisdom teeth is in my sinus cavity; I’m 34 and it hasn’t caused me issues yet, but if it ever does they’ll have to go in surgically and remove it.
just got this exact news yesterday. luckily they arent causing me problems but the idea of them cutting into my sinus cavity freaks me out lol
Stick you in one of those human gyroscopes to get the right orientation and try to shake it out? Basically a meatier and more challenging Perplexus...
That reminded me of a study I read about how rollercoasters can help pass kidney stones
Sneeze really hard. 
They broke the tip off the extractor tool inside mine. Took 5 hours to dig out after it punctured my membrane. Fun times. Edit: I’m editing this purely because the weird amount of upvotes. I feel like this is a common and it worries me.
Last month I learned that the roots of 6 of my upper teeth are in my sinus cavities.
I had my sinus ripped while extracting my 18, wisdom teeth top left. It was sealed right aftee the extraction but some bacterias had time to get in. They needed to suck out all the pus that generated in my sinus in a 3 day hospital stay. Watch out for those fuckers. Some people lucky enough that their molar roots are just not touching their sinus chambers.
Wife had a molar extracted last week. We were really worried that the tooth was involved with her sinus cavity, which would have added $4K to the bill, not to mention the other complications. Luckily it wasn't, and she was in and out of there in 45 minutes. Phew.
Great to hear! However the pricing wherever you are located is outrageous. I’m located in Hungary, Europe, an extraction with sealing your sinus is around 150 bucks.
This feels like too much, I had an extraction yesterday(also in Europe, with health insurance) and the whole thing cost €5. It’s mind boggling how big the difference is. I’m sure a sinus sealing wouldn’t cost over €10 here.
The price I mentioned is from a flagship Hungarian Dental complex. The circumstances makes the price not that unacceptable. You can have it done for free in non-private.
Assuming from their username they're also in Texas. I've had the displeasure of having 4 molars extracted at 4 different Texas dentists/denture clinics over the last 6 years. The first was a denture clinic and designated "simple", cost 80 bucks and was a breeze. Elevated the gums, yanked the thing out whole, out in less than 30 minutes. 2 years later, the second was also a denture clinic and deemed "complicated". Cost $150, broke into 3 pieces, but still 45 mins in/out. A year after that, the denture clinic changed policy and would not extract more without an immediate plan with payment to replace it with something. Complicated extraction at a general dentist was now $225. He purposely twisted and broke the tooth down to the roots and pulled it out in powdery chunks. Took an hour. Most recent one was in February this year(2 years after that last experience) at another general dentist(whoever offered free exam/x-rays) and now cost almost $350. Same experience of intentionally twisting/breaking then also had to drill out the bottom of the root. Same hour plus some. My full time job with benefits doesn't include dental insurance. Ofc they recommended root canals on all these molars that have failing fillings from my childhood, because that's good for their business. (Gen. dentist quoted me ~$30K for the multiple root canals) I'd rather just pull it and have the cost and pain be over. My incisors are in great shape and it'd be nice to get my last 8 molars pulled and a partial made, but would easily be $5K up front. Pulling one by one then saving for prosthesis might be the best my middle class ass will ever be able to do. The cost of a lot of medical supplies inflated like crazy during the pandemic in the US, which is what I assume was a lot of the reason for the drastic price change in extractions from 2018-2024. Never even had sinuses brought up as a concern...something I guess I took for granted now looking at this post 😔
Nope, no *Tejas* here. I have been to DFW to change planes, though. What grinds my corn is that I have dental insurance, but it doesn't pay for shit except for checkups and whatnot. My wife's molar still cost over a grand out of pocket. I guess sometimes oral surgery is considered "medical" and not "dental", but I haven't done the research to see what the parameters are. I did have a molar yanked out some years ago, but I don't remember it costing much. Took about 5 minutes. What chapped my ass is that the dentist recommended either putting an implant in or a bridge to replace it, but my insurance would only pay for a bridge, even though the cost was the same. I didn't want a pain in the ass bridge, so I'm rolling with a gap. It's not visible to bystanders, so I'm fine with it. Except when a tortilla chip stabs it with a sharp corner. Owie.
Hey, me too!
Your ears, nose, and throat are all connected. That’s why there’s one doctor specialty for all three
Deeply uncomfortable with the number of people in the comments who are like “oh yeah, totally normal, this happened to me too”
Don't brush and floss and you can join us.
[Nah, I don't think those are bedbug bites.](https://www.reddit.com/r/Wellthatsucks/comments/1duwakj/comment/lbk90yu/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
What, did you get tossed off that Hell in a Cell cage?
Okay then. Can I just get a head replacement while you work on this one?
I had a tooth extracted once. The dentist was working hard, and accidentally popped the cap off...which subsequently disappeared. He paid for an emergency x-ray to see if it went down my throat or my airway. Fortunately it was in my stomach instead of in my lung. I never miss an opportunity to suggest he take up golf, since he's already got his first hole-in-one.
Now you just have to leave it there for 15 years and you’ll be on trend for the day 😂
https://preview.redd.it/cm0ddtk6nhad1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=04b7349a487074be783b6ea9e8fd57d15c58f631
I had this happen. I was able to work water and some foods from my mouth into the nasal cavity where my tooth had punctured, and out my nose.
after a brief excursion into the comments, I plan to brush and floss more, and will no longer be considering the dentist as an option.
What? I still don't get how a tooth falling into ur cavity would go up ur nose. Pretty weird
In the skull, just above the palate (the roof of the mouth) is where the nose is. And around the nose, there is a large empty space called the nasal sinus, and this goes between the palate and the eye sockets. Sometimes the roots of an upper tooth can sit very close to the floor of the sinus, and you can often get a toothache in these if you have a sinus infection. Because of this, when removing a tooth that is close to the sinus there is the risk of breaking part of the sinus floor, and then there is now a hole between the mouth and the nose (when the patient drinks, it'll come out of their nose, for example). This can be repaired but sometimes if it's small enough they just stitch up the gum and let the body heal itself. In this case, I would assume they perforated the sinus (made a hole) and the tooth broke, and then the crown fell through the sinus perforation.
How do you get it out?
New fear unlocked.
Did the lawyers start circling?
This thread is giving me a whole body case of the Icks.
I heard someone once sneezed a tooth, because it made its way up into the nose
Blow your nose.
I had this a few years ago with a broken tooth root. Dentist was like: "Hold your nose, an blow out as strong as you can through your nose." The root came back be the hole it got into the sinus. Fun time.
Idk but I had 2 teeth embedded in my sinus cavity, so every time I got an infection, it made my whole head hurt and I wanted to die to stop the pain. I had them extracted with just Novocaine bcuz I didn't want to wait 2 more months for the anesthesiologist. It hurt so bad. It was hard for the dental surgeon to remove it and being awake while having a grown man pushing and pulling on my face is something I never want to experience again. If I ever have another tooth extracted, I'm going to be knocked out. He gave me breaks and was very attentive to my comfort, but it was too much. I had all of my back teeth removed at once. It was a lot physically. Healing didn't hurt much, but I bled like crazy and swallowed so much blood after getting home bcuz he didn't stitch me up and I still have a hole in my sinus on the one side that liquid gets through when I drink anything. So I have to drink through a straw. It's been 4 years but the one side still hasn't closed up.
Just blow your nose, it'll come out! I mean, I'm not sure, but I had a tooth removed and they told me the root was so deep they exposed my sinus membrane, and to be careful if I blow my nose cause If I do it to hard I'd break it. Inevitably I sneezed later on, and blood flew out of my nose, so I'm just guessing on the blowing your nose to dislodge it
Sounds like a them problem
Fun fact: most of your face is sinus cavity. Look up maxillary sinus, broke mine a while back.
Fuuuuuuuuuuuck that. I got dry socket after an extraction and had water fall in there, sloshing around. WORST PAIN AND EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE! Could not imagine a chunk of a tooth in there rattling around 💀💀
I had a screw go through my jawbone in my sinus cavity when they were putting in the screws for 2 implants
Ah, aah, aaaah…. TOOTH!
So YOU have to pay to fix this?
Now you are a living maracas🎼
Saving this when I get my teeth pulled so they know not to let this happen 🥴
Blow your nose.
be funny if you sneeze real hard one day and a tooth shoots out your nose
did you get instructions not to blow your nose for a few weeks? happened to me when they had to make a small cut into the sinus cavity to extract a tooth with stupid roots. i had good pain meds so it was just the stitching that was driving me nuts
This can happen?!
Wtf
Correction….Pushed.
New fear unlocked
I have all my wisdom teeth. Dentist said i should get them pulled but nothing hurts. I have sinus problems too. This is terrifying. Is this my future? What are the chances of this happening? Can i just get a new head?
That ol HAWK TUAH will clear it right out Edit: spelling I guess?