http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/Janigirl/14283 I've had the same wonderful dentist Terrence Lukens for 30 years.&nbsp; During the time I was in his care, I never had a toothache.&nbsp; He took excellent care and was the kindest, most caring compassionate&nbsp;dentist I've ever met.&nbsp; Suddenly I found myself with no insurance.&nbsp; I called to find out the cost of fillings, etc, worse case scenarios...and decided my best bet was to travel to Porterville.&nbsp; I had couple teeth filled.&nbsp;&nbsp;One evening I ate some Almonds from Costco.&nbsp; They were like biting rocks.&nbsp;&nbsp;A few days later I started having pain.&nbsp; The pain continued for several days then woke me in the middle of the night with excruciating pain radiating into my jaw.&nbsp; This was&nbsp;my first toothache in my life.&nbsp; The following morning I went back to the dentist in Porterville thinking it must be the fillings.&nbsp; Well, she couldn't find anything wrong other than the filling may be a &quot;little&quot; high.&nbsp; Otherwise,&nbsp;there was no problem on the xrays or on the oral exam. The dentist filed the filling that she thought may be a tad high abut told me she really didn't think it should cause me pain.&nbsp;&nbsp;She said I was hurting because I had&nbsp;pulled&nbsp;ligaments due to the high filling.&nbsp; She said it may take 5-7 days and it will be better.&nbsp; She told me if this didn't work,&nbsp;she could pull my wisdom tooth,&nbsp;it&nbsp;may be&nbsp;putting pressure on this tooth.&nbsp; It didn't get better.&nbsp; About a week later I called the dentist, and&nbsp;she sent out some antibiotics.&nbsp; The pain seemed to decrease somewhat.&nbsp;&nbsp;It started to slowly bother me again, I couldn't eat on the right side of my mouth and no matter what I tried to eat&nbsp;I had&nbsp;pain.&nbsp; About a month after I stopped the antibiotics, the pain was starting to feel unbearable again.&nbsp; I began to wonder if perhaps I was becoming a toothache hypochondriac since they could find nothing&nbsp; wrong.&nbsp; One night as I ran my tongue over the tooth, I thought I felt a ridge down the middle of my tooth.&nbsp; I wondered if it was cracked.&nbsp; I made another call&nbsp;to the dentist again&nbsp;and she called out another round of antibiotics.&nbsp; The pain remained the same during the&nbsp;8 day round of antibiotics.&nbsp;It didn't ease at all.&nbsp; &nbsp;I didn't want to go back to Porterville.&nbsp; I didn't like the idea of pulling a perfectly good tooth.&nbsp; I hated to go back to Dr. Lukens because I had the strangest feeling of guilt.&nbsp; It was like I had cheated on my dentist.&nbsp; I would liken the feeling to that of a married person cheating on their spouse of 30 years then getting caught.&nbsp; Cause you know I am going to have to fess up.&nbsp; So I called Dr. Lukens office.&nbsp; It took a couple of days.&nbsp; I explained my predicament to him.&nbsp; Once again the xrays looked perfect.&nbsp;&nbsp; He said. &quot;there is something, but there is no fracture that I can see, let me take a look.&quot;&nbsp; I told him the other dentist thought perhaps I should pull the wisdom tooth.&nbsp; I told him it hurt really bad each time I brushed with my sonicare.&nbsp;&nbsp;I also told him I thought maybe it was cracked.&nbsp; When he first looked he said everything looks fine.&nbsp; He started with his metal instruments and right away I was saying yes yes thats the one.&nbsp; Then he turned the small end around and twisted it on the tooth.&nbsp; The tooth moved.&nbsp; He said it's a complete fracture from front to back.&nbsp; He told me it couldn't be saved.&nbsp; Then he showed me the xray.&nbsp; He said, &quot;it looks perfect, but look here between the roots of the tooth up inside the gums, do you see these fragments?&nbsp; They are part of your filling that have traveled up inside the fractured tooth into the root area.&nbsp;&nbsp;The tooth would have never abscessed because the&nbsp;fracture released pressure constantly.&quot;&nbsp; He told me&nbsp;he had only seen this twice.&nbsp; The first time, the man couldn't remember eating anything hard, or having pain while eating.&nbsp; He told me he was sorry it couldn't be saved,&nbsp;I could go to an oral surgeon if I wanted too. &nbsp;I asked him if he could pull it.&nbsp; He said yes, I said I would rather you pull it than anyone. &nbsp;Thank you doctor Lukens for&nbsp;taking&nbsp;such good care of me and my family for so many years.&nbsp; My straying days are over! I've had the same wonderful dentist Terrence Lukens for 30 years.&nbsp; During the time I was in his care, I never had a toothache.&nbsp; He took excellent care and was the kindest, most caring compassionate&nbsp;dentist I've ever met.&nbsp; Suddenly I found myself with no insurance.&nbsp; I called to find out the cost of fillings, etc, worse case scenarios...and decided my best bet was to travel to Porterville.&nbsp; I had couple teeth filled.&nbsp;&nbsp;One evening I ate some Almonds from Costco.&nbsp; They were like biting rocks.&nbsp;&nbsp;A few days later I started having pain.&nbsp; The pain continued for several days then woke me in the middle of the night with excruciating pain radiating into my jaw.&nbsp; This was&nbsp;my first toothache in my life.&nbsp; The following morning I went back to the dentist in Porterville thinking it must be the fillings.&nbsp; Well, she couldn't find anything wrong other than the filling may be a &quot;little&quot; high.&nbsp; Otherwise,&nbsp;there was no problem on the xrays or on the oral exam. The dentist filed the filling that she thought may be a tad high abut told me she really didn't think it should cause me pain.&nbsp;&nbsp;She said I was hurting because I had&nbsp;pulled&nbsp;ligaments due to the high filling.&nbsp; She said it may take 5-7 days and it will be better.&nbsp; She told me if this didn't work,&nbsp;she could pull my wisdom tooth,&nbsp;it&nbsp;may be&nbsp;putting pressure on this tooth.&nbsp; It didn't get better.&nbsp; About a week later I called the dentist, and&nbsp;she sent out some antibiotics.&nbsp; The pain seemed to decrease somewhat.&nbsp;&nbsp;It started to slowly bother me again, I couldn't eat on the right side of my mouth and no matter what I tried to eat&nbsp;I had&nbsp;pain.&nbsp; About a month after I stopped the antibiotics, the pain was starting to feel unbearable again.&nbsp; I began to wonder if perhaps I was becoming a toothache hypochondriac since they could find nothing&nbsp; wrong.&nbsp; One night as I ran my tongue over the tooth, I thought I felt a ridge down the middle of my tooth.&nbsp; I wondered if it was cracked.&nbsp; I made another call&nbsp;to the dentist again&nbsp;and she called out another round of antibiotics.&nbsp; The pain remained the same during the&nbsp;8 day round of antibiotics.&nbsp;It didn't ease at all.&nbsp; &nbsp;I didn't want to go back to Porterville.&nbsp; I didn't like the idea of pulling a perfectly good tooth.&nbsp; I hated to go back to Dr. Lukens because I had the strangest feeling of guilt.&nbsp; It was like I had cheated on my dentist.&nbsp; I would liken the feeling to that of a married person cheating on their spouse of 30 years then getting caught.&nbsp; Cause you know I am going to have to fess up.&nbsp; So I called Dr. Lukens office.&nbsp; It took a couple of days.&nbsp; I explained my predicament to him.&nbsp; Once again the xrays looked perfect.&nbsp;&nbsp; He said. &quot;there is something, but there is no fracture that I can see, let me take a look.&quot;&nbsp; I told him the other dentist thought perhaps I should pull the wisdom tooth.&nbsp; I told him it hurt really bad each time I brushed with my sonicare.&nbsp;&nbsp;I also told him I thought maybe it was cracked.&nbsp; When he first looked he said everything looks fine.&nbsp; He started with his metal instruments and right away I was saying yes yes thats the one.&nbsp; Then he turned the small end around and twisted it on the tooth.&nbsp; The tooth moved.&nbsp; He said it's a complete fracture from front to back.&nbsp; He told me it couldn't be saved.&nbsp; Then he showed me the xray.&nbsp; He said, &quot;it looks perfect, but look here between the roots of the tooth up inside the gums, do you see these fragments?&nbsp; They are part of your filling that have traveled up inside the fractured tooth into the root area.&nbsp;&nbsp;The tooth would have never abscessed because the&nbsp;fracture released pressure constantly.&quot;&nbsp; He told me&nbsp;he had only seen this twice.&nbsp; The first time, the man couldn't remember eating anything hard, or having pain while eating.&nbsp; He told me he was sorry it couldn't be saved,&nbsp;I could go to an oral surgeon if I wanted too. &nbsp;I asked him if he could pull it.&nbsp; He said yes, I said I would rather you pull it than anyone. &nbsp;Thank you doctor Lukens for&nbsp;taking&nbsp;such good care of me and my family for so many years.&nbsp; My straying days are over! en-us Thu, 06 Sep 2007 22:23:47 PDT <p>And keep away from hard food and don't chew on ice!</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/Janigirl/14283/#c_135845 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/Janigirl/14283/#c_135845 <p>And keep away from hard food and don't chew on ice!</p> <p>Hi! I want to thank you so much for posting this! I was looking for a new dentist after moving to Bakersfield, and went on a search for what people had to say online about their dentists. After reading this, and two other reviews I decided to go to Dr Lukens office. Everyone was so wonderful! Not only Dr Lukens, but the whole staff! I was having pain so they got me in right away, and I had a follow up appointment quickly for my full exam and a teeth cleaning. And the cleaning wasn't so bad concidering I haven't had one since I was a kid! And she was so sweet to me! Everyone was!</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Thanks again!</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/Janigirl/14283/#c_197379 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/Janigirl/14283/#c_197379 <p>Hi! I want to thank you so much for posting this! I was looking for a new dentist after moving to Bakersfield, and went on a search for what people had to say online about their dentists. After reading this, and two other reviews I decided to go to Dr Lukens office. Everyone was so wonderful! Not only Dr Lukens, but the whole staff! I was having pain so they got me in right away, and I had a follow up appointment quickly for my full exam and a teeth cleaning. And the cleaning wasn't so bad concidering I haven't had one since I was a kid! And she was so sweet to me! Everyone was!</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Thanks again!</p>