Posted on 11/13/2006 11:10:29 AM PST by qam1
A man fixed his front tooth with superglue after failing to find an NHS dentist.
Gordon Cook, 55, has used the bizarre "DIY dentistry" technique on a loose crown for the last three years - with each fresh application of glue lasting around two months.
The father of seven, who was erased from his original dentist's register after moving to a new home in Tranmere, Merseyside, said he turned to glue after losing hope of finding a dentist. He said: "I tried to find a new dentist but they had all gone private.
"A lot of them said they would take me on as an NHS patient, but only if I agreed to have the loose crown fixed as a private patient, which would cost around £100.
"In the end, I just decided to take matters into my own hands. I had read somewhere that super glue was invented for medical use, to bond skin, so I gave it a go.
"I tried a few different brands but the one I use now, which is just called Industrial Super Glue, is the best.
"You can't really taste it but you do have to be careful not to use too much, in case you glue your mouth shut."
Mr Cook, a security manager, has now found an NHS dentist and hopes to have the crown fixed professionally.
Councillor Chris Blakeley, chairman of Wirral Council's social care and health overview and scrutiny committee, said: "Mr Cook's solution was rather extreme but he is not alone when it comes to dentistry horror stories.
"People are finding it extremely difficult to find an NHS dentist, and we are currently gathering evidence to assess the scale of the problem, which is not unique to this area."
I thought superglue wasn't very good in a moist environment.
Or perhaps he is being taxed so heavily to pay for "free health care" that he can't afford to pay for it himself. This is our future if Hillary gets her way.
carolyn
Back home my Dentist thought I was nuts.
Clean and dry the joint surfaces well, use a proper amount, then coat the joint with olive oil to exclude air and to guarantee a full anaerobic cure, and the bond can last a year.
My dentist admired the job.
Couldn't recover it at the other end? ;-)
One of my tree workers had a tooth that was bothering him a couple weeks ago. He pulled it out himself with a pair of pliers. That's one Maine lumberjack I wouldn't like to have to mess with.
You get what YOU pay for. It is his own fault the did not want to spend about 100 dollars which I think is cheap. I have no sympathy for him. Good grief.
....maybe if I didn't have dental insurance....
I did retrieve the quarter that I swallowed when I was 8 years old - that was a lot of money to me at the time.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.