Medical and Dental Visits

[Iggy aka IG]

I have what may seem like a strange question-something I've been pondering for awhile.  Regarding dental and medical check-ups, do you think they are beneficial for health maintenance, or do you think they might make things worse?  Does that make sense?  Meaning, if it ain't broke don't fix it in some sort of way...?

[Chocolate Lover]

I'm trying to wrap my brain around this thought. Most medical visits aren't going to "break" anything in the first place? Are you a big fan of denial?

I think skipping the dentist is generally a bad idea, a small problem that will get caught at regular visits becomes a huge one before you feel it and act on it. 

[mollyanna58]

Nov 5, 2013 16:10:05 GMT -5 Chocolate Lover said:

I'm trying to wrap my brain around this thought. Most medical visits aren't going to "break" anything in the first place? Are you a big fan of denial?

I think skipping the dentist is generally a bad idea, a small problem that will get caught at regular visits becomes a huge one before you feel it and act on it. 

Same thing with medical doctors.  Getting checked out once a year can catch some problems before they get to be major; blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, gyno checks, etc.

[Iggy aka IG]

Right, but, say I went into the doc or dentist for a minor reason, then I contract something Sheldon-related because I wasn't wearing my bus pants?  You know-some ppl refuse to go to the doc b/c they might contract an incurable disease?



And, after today, I decided it's better to go in and get it over with.  Big Fan here, apparently. 

[Chocolate Lover]

Be all Monk - like and take your wipes with you so you can clean your hands every time you touch something that other people have touched or they touch you


And, wear your bus pants

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

On the one hand the sooner they catch something the better, on the flip side there is debate that over screening leans to over-treatment.  I know they changed the pap smear requirements because so many women had unnesscary LEEPS and other procedures done due to abnormal paps that they now know most of the time clear up on their own.

So I'd say it depends on your risk tolerance and what you fear/hate the most.  If you fear more being in the small category of unnesscary work then take your chances and don't get regular check-ups.  If you fear more finding out something's wrong when it's too late then get regular check-ups.

Even though I've found out that my LEEP may have been unnesscary I still go every year because by the time I "know" somethings wrong down there it's often too late.

Same with my teeth.  Ignorance was bliss till I started bleeding, I freaked out and decided to go to the dentist.  Turns out I have severe peridontal issues that are herditary (it's not due to poor at home care).  My issues really gained steam in my early 20's.  Dentist said she was amazed I hadn't started losing teeth/bone yet.

I'm glad I went in because any longer and I could have started to see damage that could not be repaired, at least not as "cheap". Going to the dentist 4x a year ensures my teeth will stay in my head for the long term ::knocks on wood:: 

Now that I know this is a hereditary issue Gwen will go for regular check-ups so we can hopefully if she takes after me, my mother and grandmother we can stop her perio issues in their tracks before it gets to the point mine have.

[Iggy aka IG]

Re: pants:  Made of circa 1994 parachute material. 

[jeep108]

My dad thought that way, never went to the doctor for anything.  He is now dying from Esophageal cancer. 

[Iggy aka IG]

Drama, sounds like things worked out well for you. 






Yeah, part of what initiated my question is the concern of unnecessary testing.  That and:  Can we make ourselves sick?  At what point is it real vs Hypochondriasis?

[Iggy aka IG]

Nov 5, 2013 16:22:13 GMT -5 jeep108 said:

My dad thought that way, never went to the doctor for anything.  He is now dying from Esophageal cancer. 

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I'm of the view that my body/teeth matience should be like car maintence.  Sure if the car turns on and runs all is good BUT if I operate that way at some point something might break and it's going to cost me a shitload to fix and/or cause other issues that all could have been avoided if I'd just sucked it up and done regular routine matience on it.

I can ignore my teeth/body and figure since I don't see anything/hurt it's fine but if something serious pops up living in denial could potentially cost me thousands/millions more and result in other issues that all could have been avoided if I'd just gotten a check-ip.

Yeah, part of what initiated my question is the concern of unnecessary testing

That's why you need to educate yourself and be your own advocate.  I had my LEEP at 19, I was just a kid and it was my first real medical issue.  20/20 hindsight I let myself get bullied by the gyno into doing what she told me to do.  

Today?  Wouldn't happen that way.  Good example is I needed a dental deep clean but at the same time I was pregnant.  I told the dentist I'd get back to her and when I got home I hopped on PubMed and read all the literature about deep cleaning and pregnancy.  I decided the risks were smaller for getting it vs not doing it so I agreed. 

Most things can wait a day or two for you to do research and make an informed decision. 

If you feel you can't handle that you can sign a piece of paper stating hubby, daughter/son, mom/dad, whoever can discuss your care with your doctor and you can let them be your bulldog. You don't have to let yourself be bullied into anything.

[Iggy aka IG]

Thanks, Drama.  I agree with you re: treating it like car maintenance.  And, no worries about me handling it , but good advice for others who might be reading this thread. 

[Peace77]

It's much better to take care of small things while you can.  

I knew a woman that didn't know to check the oil in her car.  Her husband always took care of everything car related until he divorced her.  One day her car ran completely out of oil and the engine seized up.  You can compare a check-up to car maintenance but the difference is that you can buy another car (or another engine).  You only get one body.

A male relative of mine had frequent headaches but refused to go for a check-up.  It turned out that his headaches were the result of sky high blood pressure.  By the time his wife was able to drag him to a doctor, he was in kidney failure.  If he had gone untreated another day, he would have died.  He was treated but the damage was not reversible.  He suffered for years on dialysis and through multiple transplants before he died.

Another man I knew didn't like doctors either.  He developed diabetes and wasn't treated until he was so sick that his wife had to call an ambulance.  His blood sugar was way over 800.  He wasn't able to fight an infection and ended up in the ICU.  

Both men could have been easily treated with medication and a change of diet.

Do take care of yourself and make an appointment for a check-up.

[kadee79]

From personal experience....
I went without my obgyn exam for 3 yrs. cause I was "too busy" to take the time for an appointment.  I got cervical cancer but I was lucky in the fact that I detected it early enough for treatment....which was both surgery and 6 wks. of radiation.  It was NOT fun (excluding the expense) and I have some permanent side effects from having had lower abdominal radiation.  But I'm still here!
Soooo, don't put them off & don't skip them!

As for dental, even though I spent thousands on my mouth/teeth over the years, heredity took over.  I've had at least partial dentures since I was in my mid 30's and full since my 50's.  I tried, but sometimes that just isn't enough when heredity has more to do with it than any care you do yourself...even with regular checkups and procedures.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Yeah, part of what initiated my question is the concern of unnecessary testing. That and: Can we make ourselves sick? At what point is it real vs Hypochondriasis?

Depends upon what you consider unnecessary testing. Right now, there is a question as to the use of mammograms, but I know 2 people who had breast cancer caught in very early stages during a mammogram. My mom had early colon cancer caught during a colonoscopy, as did her uncle.

Both my parents lost all of their teeth before they are my current age due to periodontal disease. However, since I was a child, I have never NOT had my teeth cleaned and I still have all of mine, with no signs of disease. I worked in dental research and know that there are people who do manage to avoid a dentist their entire life and maintain their teeth, but they are not the norm. I've also seen what happens when you ignore your teeth and your mouth starts exacerbating cardiac issues. I've seen people needing to have all their teeth pulled because no cardiologist would touch them until they got the infection in their mouth under control, and it was necessary that it be under control NOW.

<shrug> I have hypertension. My dad and aunt on my mom's side have it too (so I get a double dose of the gene). I watched my BP remain at high normal for a very long time and exercises like a fanatic until regardless of how much I exercises or how little fat I ate, it continued to climb. My dad is a relatively healthy 79 year old with controlled hypertension. My aunt stroked out on the sofa when she was 55, because she didn't believe that she needed to control it. 2 extremes, so I prefer to follow my dad's example so I get followed for my hypertension.

[TheOtherMe]

I'm with you on the teeth cleaning.  Brush twice a day whether I need to or not and do the twice a year check-ups and cleaning.  My dad has lost several teeth.  

I have a strong family history of colon cancer.  I had not yet had a baseline colonoscopy at age 50 when I was diagnosed at age 47.  I'm still here, but it wasn't a fun 4 years or so.  

My DS's friend had a mammogram that was clean.  A couple of weeks later, she found a large mass in one breast.  She went in and it was Stage IV breast cancer.  Supposedly a kind that hides itself from mammograms.  She took the most aggressive treatment available.  She was featured in the local paper in October.  Her oncologist said in the article that he did not think she would survive this long, but now gives her an 80% chance of surviving 5 years since the onset of her cancer.  

[Deleted]

I've always been diligent about regular dental appointments. When I was a kid they always found a cavity or two at every visit. I can't blame the dentist or my parents- I have 4 siblings and two of them never had cavities till they were adults. So, as an adult I knew I had a lot going on in my mouth and skipping the dentist would be a bad idea.

Doctors were another matter. I finally got sick of going for regular checkups and waiting around in offices where clearly the doctor's time as considered more important than mine. I'm also wary of over-testing. Over 10 years (ages 40-50) I never saw a doctor, although I did visit a nurse-practitioner type at a Doc in the Box a few times for raging poison ivy.

It helped that I'm very active and have no chronic health problems. I finally started going back when my mother had breast cancer. It was treatable and she's fine now, but I realized that after a certain age you can no longer assume everything is working just because you feel fine. After my first colonoscopy turned up one nasty that could have turned into cancer if left alone, I now follow the doc's recommendation about follow-ups. I get regular mammograms and the other stuff. I threw out my statins (prescribed for borderline high cholesterol) because they gave me awful tendonitis.

So, to go back to the garage analogy- I do get the advice of doctors, but I then do research and make my own decisions. It's my body and I have to live with the results of the decisions. The doc is an expert you hire to get advice in an area where you're not expert- same as a garage mechanic. And, like garage mechanics, they're not always right so you have to use your own brain, too.

[donnafreedman]

jeep108: I'm so sorry to hear of your family's impending loss. Sharing that story may help others, i.e., it might send them to the doctor.
A dozen years back I met a woman whose husband was the same way: "Why should I go to the doctor? I'm not sick." He kept this attitude even after he started losing a ton of weight and was having trouble swallowing. His wife begged him to go. He wouldn't, until it was far too late to do anything about the esophageal cancer that he, too, was suffering.
Please, people, go to the doctor once a year.
The dentist, too: My sister is a dental hygienist and she sees all sorts of major issues that could have been prevented. Would you rather go for a cleaning twice (optimally) a year, or skip a bunch of years and then need periodontal surgery?

[TheOtherMe]

Way back in the late 40's, my mother worked as an untrained dental hygienist.  She did see enough that we always got regular check ups as kids and I've carried that over in to my adult life.  

On the other hand, my mother avoids doctors until it is an emergency.  At least my father does check ups and keeps on top of things.  We just learned last week, after a trip to the ER and a hospital stay, that my 89 year old mother has congestive heart failure, severely damaged lungs from 65 years of heavy smoking, COPD and emphysema.  

We will have a lot of crisis to deal with before she leaves this earth.

[Iggy aka IG]

TheO, I am so sorry. 

[NancysSummerSip]

I'm another one who believes in regularly scheduled maintenance. And investing in some tests every so often - I had a nuclear stress test last year, do the colonoscopy/bone density every five years, brain MRI every five (I have epilepsy), dentist twice a year, full annual physical, annual mammogram, OB-GYN visit and bloodwork to check things like cholesterol, glucose level and triglycerides twice a year.

I come from a long line of long-lived people, but there's plenty of heart disease and diabetes in there. Both parents died of the combination of both.

[Iggy aka IG]

Last week, I went to the dentist for the first time in longer than I care to admit.  Though I was praised for taking care of my teeth, and my bones are in excellent condition, there are things such as tartar build-up which occurs as time goes by.  There are places toothbrushes, floss and mouth wash simply can't reach or take care of.  I am looking at many more visits for things I won't go in to.  I'm treating it like a business transaction with my dentist and hygienist.

Bottom line?  If you haven't gone to the dentist recently, GO.  No, it's not pleasant, and it might be uncomfortable, but it will be worth it in the long run. 

I also went to the eye doc last week and ordered new glasses for the first time in 11 years.  I went to my primary doctor last month.  Things look good, tests came back negative, and it is a relief to have one less thing to worry about. 

Next up?  A hair cut, ongoing weight loss and cardio.  Yay taking care of ourselves! 

[MarleyKeezy78]

I go to the lady Dr. once a year now, not so good at going in my 20's. I really only go to the Dr. when I'm sick and I haven't been to the dentist since I was a seinor in high school. I take good care of my teeth but will be going soon because DS will have to start going soon. DH goes to the Dermatologist pretty often but does the same as me with the other Docs. DS goes to the Dr fairly often because he has a allergist and when he gets really sick he goes to his ped.