It’s cumulative. The longer you ignore/ indulge in acidic food and sodas, the weaker your enamel gets. Until you reach a tipping point where cavities start up most everywhere since the enamel is so weak.
I’m no fan of the dentist myself, so I feel your pain, sorry you’re going through this!
Everybody on my Father’s side loses all their teeth by the time they reach 50. I made it to 51. The problem isn’t the teeth, it’s the erosion of the bone support. I had only a couple of filling, but one by one I lost my teeth. I got a full set of upper and lower implants . . . then the upper implants started to fail. Now I’ve got an upper denture.
My teeth also went the he@@ in a short period of time. I know the reasons: I had a gastric bypass that made me throw up everything I ate for a little over a year, then I got pregnant. I have missing caps, holes where previous fillings fell out, etc. The one that bothers me the most right now has a lump in the gum above it. I have no health or dental insurance. My doctor did me a favor and called in a script for antibiotics for me and it helped for a while but its back again. I know this is an abcess and I’ve heard of all the bad things that can happen. I don’t know what I can do??? I got laid off so just paying isn’t going to happen right now.
2nd issue: If its really as bad as I think, should I just scrap it and go for dentures?
That’s what I was saying about going with what lasts. As panache45 said, his upper implants failed and he finally had to get dentures. I first got partials (?) for my lowers and the braces-like wires “ate” through the enamel of my real teeth in no time. (I guess just from the friction of chewing.) Dental work is expensive with few guarantees. I think a good question to ask would be How well will this be working ten years from now? And, Do I want to go through this again?
To add, being poor and toothless goes together like PB&J to the people (insurance companies, government) who just look the other way. Like the comedian Killer Beez says [you just have to] “Save up!” I have yet to find a program that gives assistance other than extraction.
I’d have to disagree with you on that. I’ve been practicing dentistry for 23 years and about 40% of my patients are medicade.(free dental care, everything not just extractions) I’d say the number of them with bad teeth is similar to the general population. Being poor isn’t what causes people to consume too much sugar or to not brush and floss their teeth. Sure can’t blame it on the govt. when these folks get all their care at govternment(taxpayer) expense. It really comes down to some people care and some people don’t, it isn’t generally from lack of knowledge.
If you are considering dentures, read along for a few weeks or months on this website. There are people who adapt to dentures quite readily and people that have great difficulty adjusting. You will see both sides here.
I have the same issues as you and it’s very distressing. I’ve done research and come across xylitol, which is a sugar but which does not promote decay but actually inhibits the bacteria that causes decay. I only learned about this because I was desperate with a similar situation where my teeth just kept getting cavities, needing root canals, etc.
You need to consume about five to ten grams a day for best effects, and to do it throughout the day (so that you don’t just take one dose in the morning). So you might put four grams in your morning coffee and then take a couple of mints at noon, etc.
Also, of course, keep up your hygiene by flossing and brushing with fluoride. And it’s likely that you are going through this because of dry mouth. Stay hydrated by drinking a lot of water all day (I drink about two liters a day).
There is a prescription strength fluoride toothpaste that you can get through your dentist. That might be very useful too.
No, it’s 2013, thank god. I can eat comfortably and painlessly. No wooden teeth, no rotten shards either. Some people are just unlucky with teeth - or life - haha.
I’d forgotten about Medicaid since I don’t think we qualify right now. I commend you for the work you do; not many dentists or doctors seem to want the hassle.
thank you
Have your blood work done, see if you have any vitamin deficiencies, I’ve been told that low iron, low Vitamin D, etc. can contribute to tooth problems.
You can try this, this is supposed to have the vitamins in it that help you rebuild dentin. It won’t rebuild enamel though, I don’t think anything can do that.
Also try a remineralization toothpaste. Some have something called novamin in them. Those can help.
who ever designs homo sapien.02 really should consider a second set of adult teeth around 40ish. that would be a lovely evolutionary trait.
That would be super. I’d have my order in for my second set by now.
Canine tooth cavity at gumline now.
I had pneumonia in May this year and threw up a lot, I can’t figure out what else this could be related to.
As a general rule excessive throwing up errodes the side of the teeth towards the throat. In my experience (no cite) cavities at the gumline on anterior teeth are usually caused by poor oral care, high sugar intake, dry mouth(often mouth breathing) and meth use.