I’ve grew up in a home where my parents could not afford to take us to the dentist. They did their best under difficult circumstances. Then, in college I was barely surviving. Now that I have a real job, I’ve been going to the dentist to get my oral health under control. I’ve needed a LOT of work and it often feels like I’m facing a losing battle. My dentist has suggested that I just get dentures. I really don’t want to do that. I’m in my 20s! Do you have advice for someone who is trying to catch up with a lifetime of neglected dental work?
Sabrina
Dear Sabrina,
I am glad you wrote. The first thing I am going to say is that you are not the with best dentist for your particular situation. Dentists vary in their willingness to work to save teeth which are in bad shape. Some prefer just to extract them. There also may be some part of him that is judging you based on the state of your teeth thinking that you don’t care about them. While that is not fair or true, it is a possibility and does happen.
Your first order of business would be to switch to a dentist who puts saving as much natural tooth structure as possible. However, I also want you to make sure that they are also a sedation dentist. The reason for that is the amount of work you need done. Using dental sedation makes it possible for you to get more work done at each appointment. This will allow you to catch up faster on your needed work.
Whatever you do, do NOT listen to your current dentist and remove all of your teeth. If you ever do lose all your teeth for some horrible reason, do NOT get removable dentures. That will completely destroy your ability to eat. In the short term, your ability to chew will be reduced by a minimum of 50%, even with the best fitting dentures. In the long term, you’ll end up dealing with facial collapse and after about ten years will not even be able to keep your dentures in your mouth.
If complete tooth loss does happen, the solution to this would be to have implant supported dentures placed. This has between four to eight dental implants placed in your jaw and then a set of dentures will be anchored to them. These will be completely secure and you will not have to fear bone loss.
That being said. I think you can save your teeth. Find a dentist who is willing to try.
This blog is brought to you by Portage, MI Dentist Dr. Susan Dennis.