Americans have shared their DIY dentistry horror stories to cut costs on medical experts.
Young people who claim they could not afford a dentist appointment, reveal the spine-tingling methods they used to remove a tooth.
From taking imported drugs to ease the pain, to a razor blade and pliers – these have-a-go operations are not for the faint-hearted.
The conversation started with Twitter user Jason Fifi who after making his own admission, made sure to advise others against getting any ideas.
Fifi was responding to a question that captioned an image of a shocked woman. He quote tweeted: "What is some obscure fact or anecdote about your life that reliably makes people react with this image."
Sharing his response on Saturday, he wrote: "When I was 22, I torrented dental textbooks, ordered Mexican novocaine, and removed one of my own wisdom teeth."
In making the skin-crawling admission, Jason opened the floodgates for dozens of similar stories.
A Twitter user commented: "Haha I myself successfully removed mine with a razor blade, alcohol, and some tweezers. it took me using my chin as a third hand though"
Another wrote: "I was homeless at 29 yrs old, living in an abandoned RV in the woods. I had an abscessed tooth that I removed with a pair of needle-nosed pliers. It took 3 hrs to accomplish, and I passed out twice during."
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Not only were some techniques improvised at best, the medication used to help by some included drugs not even registered in the United States.
The disturbing anecdotes give a window into the desperate lengths members of the public will go to, to avoid footing hefty medical bills.
"I’ve been treating an old root canal that had abscessed with antibiotics my cousin smuggled over from Mexico and Dollar General ibuprofen for the past six months. The swelling gets so bad I’m ashamed to leave my home," someone else added.
Jason Fifi who initially started the chat appeared to try his best in putting people off treating their own teeth themselves.
He replied to a comment: "I got lucky. don't do it. especially without x-ray first, it's risky, you can't see where the roots are and they can get wrapped around a nerve and you can cause damage. I did use tools, I had good forceps.
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