Infected tooth for 25 years!

[Aussiegirl123456]

Not my tooth.

I was speaking to a friend this morning about dentists, just saying I’ve got an appointment next week, and she tells me she hasn’t seen a dentist in 25 years. Ok, so no judgement, her teeth look good etc, but then she goes on… she had a root canal and crown when she was 20 which put her off visiting ever again. Emphasised with her…yet she continued… that root canal obviously didn’t work as she got a boil on her gum which popped regularly, no pain in tooth (assuming this is because of the root canal). The crown fell off years ago apparently- I truly never noticed. She showed me. I wish I didn’t ask. There is a little stump of a tooth instead of a molar, with a hole in the middle and a lot of gum loss just around that tooth, like you can almost see the root.

I know I can’t force her to go to the dentist. She’s 45. But surely living with an infected tooth is so bad for her little body? She said it only gets bad when she’s unwell, which isn’t often. No bad breath ever detected on her. I’m just in shock to be honest so I’m writing not all down. Like, she’s a very well educated person with nice teeth!! I’m not particularly sure what my Aibu question is, but if anyone has any advice of words of encouragement I could share with her, please share.
I know it really is none of my business, but she’s a wonderful person and I’d hate to think of her getting sepsis or anything. Is this even possible to have an infection for so long?

That gum loss is going to eventually get worse and impact the surrounding teeth, maybe resulting in the loss of teeth. That will also impact her “nice” teeth when they start moving about or falling out. But you’ll have a hard time trying to talk with her about that I’m sure. Poor woman. She’ll one day wake up with some real dental problems.

My neighbor ended up in intensive care due to bad teeth. He went into septic shock & also the lining of his heart became infected. Definitely should be attended to

This is what I’m so worried about. Especially the infection spreading. I can’t believe it hasn’t already. I just wish I could do something to help her but I suppose you’re right, nothing I can do or say hey. Such a shame.