no we do things all the time base on patient resources. There are always treatment options. You aren’t telling him what to do but rather explaining what treatment you can afford. FWIIW I had a patient with good teeth once ask me for dentures because he was tired of brushing them. They were still in very good shape, I declined to do the dentures. We get people all the time that choose $3000 dentures v. $10,000 restorative.
Is a partial denture an option? Save the teeth that are still good and replace the ones needing work.
Please excuse my ignorance, this is just how I view it.
To answer your question: My main reason for thinking about getting dentures is the extent of how crooked and all around messed up my front teeth and molars are. A partial could be a viable option if I could just get my incisors done. Is that possible? I just cant afford all the work that needs to be done and then on top of that get 4-5K braces.
should be possible, this being said without an exam etc. Not every dentist will due extractions for aesthetics. A lot of orthodontics require extraction of four bicuspids, extraction of four incisors to me would be about the same, but as I said not all dentists will do it.
Anthony, I’m curious to know how you came to this conclusion. Ive read you had an older gentleman as a dentist, but did he have the same concerns? I dont understand how some dentists could easily endorse the idea and then there are others who won’t entertain the idea for a second. I bet if I had the money I’m sure I could talk any dentist into doing it, but money is precisely my problem to begin with.
Initially he advised me not to, but when he saw the rate of the decay for himself he conceded it was best in his opinion to get dentures. He had concerns about bone loss but I seemed to have very little in the teeth already missing and the implants help stimulate the bone tissue beneath the gumline.
Question: does anyone know if there’s been research into stimulating jaw bone growth with ultrasound? I know it helps mend broken bones, but I have no idea if it would help prevent jaw bone loss. I’m imagining something like a CPAP chin strap you could wear at night that would deliver ultrasound pulses or something…
This is indeed unfortunate news. Yesterday I got my wisdom teeth removed along with a infected bicuspid (lower) and an unsalvageable molar (upper). I still need 2 root canals. My problems will be solved for the time being after that, which probably wont even happen this year. Also if I take my ortho’s advice I’ll need to cap all my remaining molars to try and preserve them. Then it seems I will be going the braces route. Looks like I’ll be 15K in hole when it’s all said and done. Really wish I had taken better of my teeth when I was younger. ._.;;
But thank you all again for your words of wisdom, I wish you all well.
i just same across this blog about you being 25 with full dentures (obviously 2 years ago) Im in the process myself on getting pretty much full dentures. I just got 14 teeth pulled last week, not under, totally awake but on some pretty awesome sedatives lol. My question is how they are holding up for you, and if you were uncomfortable leaving your house after you got your teeth pulled before you got your dentures? and how long were you healing?
You will think I’m crazy, and maybe I am, but I had all my top teeth pulled at 9:00AM with no sedative, just local numbing. They fitted me with a temporary and I went to work at 10:30. At one point the trauma of not having top teeth anymore almost made me burst into tears, but I pulled it together and was fine. I left early that day and it was impossible to eat anything for 3 days that wasn’t a milkshake. After that I very carefully ate soft food like pulled pork for about a week. Then I was eating like normal.
Still no issues with the dentures! I eat like a horse and the teeth keep up. A VERY few things are ticky - like apples. They tend to pull your teeth the wrong way if you bite into them. That is an easy fix though by chopping the apple first.
Glad to hear it! My husband broke his bottom plate last week. You’ll never guess how…there was a house key in his sandwich at a restaurant. :eek: Seriously! The restaurant says they’ll pay for the repair, of course, but we’re still hashing out the details (like, will they pay the dentist directly and NOW, because we really don’t have the money to pay and get reimbursed.) Meanwhile, soup’s back on the menu at Casa del Not.
WhyNot, I don’t know if you are aware that denture repair kits are sold at drugstores. Of course, I don’t know if it will work for your husband’s but it worked fine for my bottom plate until the replacement * was ready so it might be worth a try until your details are hashed out.
The replacement was already in process when the break happened. When I got the replacement I had the broken one fixed “just in case”
Thank you. We have used them in the past, but this broke, like, cracked in half clean through broke. I don’t think the home kit will suffice, and I’m a little hesitant to DIY it if it may provide them with an excuse to not cover the professional repair.
Dang. That’s harsh. I found out a few years ago that my biological father lost all his teeth by the time he was in his 20s. 'Course, he was born in 1924, so…different era. Unfortunately I guess I inherited his crummy teeth 'cause I’ve had LOTS of work done on mine over the years despite all the time I spend taking care of them. In all honesty I’d swap my teeth out for good ones in an instant if I could but that’s obviously not an option so I guess I’m stuck with what I’ve got. But I feel for your issue: sometimes it’s more genetics than anything else that “kills” people’s teeth off. Kind of a crap shoot if you ask me.
I’m another young(ish) denture wearer…I’m 38 (which is not young but young to have dentures) and have had my upper plate for just under a year now. I’d just like to chime in that while it may not be for everyone, I have not regretted getting a denture even once. No more pain, no more money down the tubes, and my self-esteem has gotten such an enormous boost–it’s so freeing not to have to worry about people noticing my ugly teeth!
I go in to get fitted for my permanent dentures in April, and I can’t wait since with gum shrinkage my temps aren’t a perfect fit anymore (they do fine with adhesive, though). Even with my temps, though, there’s almost nothing I can’t eat. Super chewy stuff, like salt-water-taffy, etc., is out, and like someone said upthread you have to cut your apples up first, and make sure you chew up your salad really well. But other than those few minor annoyances, I usually don’t even notice that I’m wearing them.
I’d like to recommend the site Dentures a New Smile. Lots of discussion, encouragement, pics, stories there. Lots of young people to encourage anybody on this journey.
This thread has been very informative for me. I was just at the dentist on Monday looking into getting dentures. I’m 36 & have had problems with my teeth after having my 2nd son. It seemed like every year I was losing another back tooth. That was fine & dandy until my last chewing teeth started having problems. My back teeth literally just kept crumbling. While I was pregnant with my daughter, my front tooth started doing the same thing. I was ok with losing back teeth, but was mortified when I started having problems with teeth visible to everyone. I had always taken good care of my teeth & had been proud of my pretty smile. Now I was embarrassed! Teeth are the first thing I notice on a person & I felt everyone could see how horrible mine were. At the time that most of this started, I didn’t have insurance & couldn’t afford to do anything. After 3 years of embarrassment & pain, I finally am able to afford paying for dentures without insurance. I guess sometimes no matter how good of care we take of our teeth, they still end up being problematic. My grandmother had full dentures by her mid 30s & my mom had a full top bridge by her mid 20s, so I’m guessing genetics were at play. My dentist wanted me to at least try & save all my top teeth at $2,000 a tooth. She didn’t seem to understand that is out of the question because I can’t afford it & not to mention I won’t start having the same problems again. Eventually she started seeing what I wanted versus what she wanted. I will be having all of my top pulled & keeping my front 4 on bottom & getting a partial. She said that the bottom denture is typically the hardest to adjust to. They are going to do 2 fillings & a deep cleaning on those 4 teeth to make sure they are completely healthy & can support my partial. I was truly shocked that they wanted to use 4 of my teeth& am thankful they can be used as an anchor. My total treatment plan is $4,800, but I may be able to cut that almost in half by going to an Oral Surgeon my mom has worked at for 30 years & have them do all of my extractions. I am super excited, scared, & nervous! I can’t wait to no longer be in constant pain & to be able to eat things I can’t currently eat (anything crunchy like fried chicken & chips, anything sweet, & cold drinks). This thread has helped ease some of my nervousness & helped me with what to expect. THANKS!
I’m glad to see this thread active again. I’ve already learned something! That you can buy denture repair kits at the store.
I was 22 or 23 when I got dentures. I’d been trying to get pregnant and the dr. said I had so much infection in my body from the abcesses that I shouldn’t. That’s when I went back to the dentist. I’d inherited bad teeth—the tooth enamel was so weak that one time I broke off an eyetooth eating a French fry—and I didn’t take care of what I had. I had most of them pulled (got full uppers and a lower partial) as an outpatient at the hospital. The reason I’m posting is because the oral surgeon said the bone in my gums (jaw?) was pocked with holes from the infections. So wouldn’t that mean that sometimes extraction can actually save bone rather than lose it?
Also, the partial didn’t last long: the wires “ate” through the enamel and I got the remainder pulled and full lowers.
I’m not sure if you’re still reading this thread, but there may be other people reading it from the UK, or others who are just curious about the answer to your question.
You can get dentures for £219 as a paying patient if you have a dentist that accepts NHS patients (most do; some areas have problems but you will eventually find someone wherever you live). That covers the dentures, the fitting, the pulling of teeth, cleaning, etc. It doesn’t cover all future check-ups but as the linked page shows those costs are not huge anyway.
So either you had a higher income than you stated here, or you had lots of savings (pensions don’t count and neither do certain things like some ISAs or funeral plans) or your living costs were lower than £200pm, which is unlikely. Or you wrote something wrong on the form (like £200pw plus tax credits instead of per month) so got the wrong answer or didn’t follow up requests for proof of income - they won’t just accept your word for it that your income is low. I suspect one of the two latter possibilities is what happened but I’d be interested to see what actually happened if you’re still around to respond. If that was the problem you can try again.
Also JIC anyone reading wanted to use “and now I don’t get free NHS” as a tool to use against the NHS, it’s just not true. For a start, all hospital treatment is free at the point of use for every UK citizen. Emergency, in-patient, out-patient, GP, no charge.
Prescriptions issued outside a hospital do have to be paid for by some people (at about £8 per prescription, which can include a hell of a lot of medication) but there’s a “season ticket” which caps at under £100pa and katep should be exempt from even that cost.
Apologies to the OP for this derail but I’ve seen similar posts be cited as evidence against the NHS before. And I hope your dentures are still working out as well as they were before.
Are you kidding? No apology necessary - that’s exactly the kind of information I was looking for in the US when I was having dental issues. You put up a great summary!
I’ve been lurking these boards for a few months now since I have been thinking about getting dentures. I’m 29 years old and just got full dentures (upper and lower) 2 days ago.
I’ve been having a rough time adjusting mentally to having dentures. Also the fact that I do feel I need to get them trimmed a bit (super bad gagging feeling). I literally had a break down yesterday because I couldn’t take it. My teeth were in pretty bad condition that getting all the dental work done to “try” and fix them would have cost me an arm and a leg, that dentures were pretty much my only option. My dad has dentures, so I can kind of ask him things… but being so young and having them… I’ve been struggling.
A lot of what you have all said has comforted me… but I’m still struggling and trying to be positive about it all. If anyone can offer some kind words of advice that would be great… continuing to have the panic attacks for thinking I’m going to choke are not fun
Hang in there whoaitsjackie, I’ve been doing dentistry for 29 years and most folks get dentures worked out. Never had anyone who couldn’t do them but some who wouldn’t.
As for the gagging, yes it usually means the upper is too far back on the roof of the mouth. Call your dentist for an adjustment.
My problems will be solved for the time being after that, which probably wont even happen this year. Also if I take my ortho’s advice I’ll need to cap all my remaining molars to try and preserve them. Then it seems I will be going the braces route. Looks like I’ll be 15K in hole when it’s all said and done. Really wish I had taken better of my teeth when I was younger. ._.;;
