Yes, and the motor can run if it's a tooth off; but that's valve timing... I was really referring to ignition timing. Put a timing light on the crank and see where it is. Follow your service manual for putting it in time... but if it's got a rough idle and feels like it's misfiring, you're going to have a hell of a time with it.

Once you get the car set to the right idle rpms, it should smooth out. If it's being caused by a misfire, stuck injector, bad valve adjustment, bad throttle body adjustment, clogged throttle body, clogged AICV or wrong valve timing (a tooth off), dead sensor, loose vacuum line or whatever then that actually needs to be fixed first before you mess with setting base ignition timing.

If you unbolt and rotate your distributor, you'll probably find that the idle speed changes, or you might even be able to make it stall altogether. I don't know what your car sounds like when it's idling. Did you try pulling the plug wires 1 at a time (Use a pair of pliers and don't touch the motor or you could make yourself part of the circuit(bad, ouch))?