Well, it happened again. I was eating popcorn-POPCORN, of all things!-and all of a sudden, it felt like there was a huge kernel stuck in my upper right molars.
But it wasn’t a kernel. It was a huge chunk of TOOTH. Just broke off, no provocation (I wasn’t chewing hard kernels, but soft popcorn!). Of course, this tooth has already been crumbling, but dammit!
I’m 24 years old. I don’t WANT to be toothless by the time I’m thirty. I don’t want to be like those old photos of women back in the 1800s, with a sunken mouth and cheeks. I don’t WANT to have to wear dentures and have smelly, blackened stumps in my mouth. (I don’t…well, not YET!) I brush my teeth every fucking day! I take care of my teeth. But they keep falling apart! I already need a root canal-but I don’t have six thousand dollars to plunk down, and I don’t have and can’t afford insurance at this time. (Though I’m actively job hunting and I do have a good lead). I need a bridge on the other side of my mouth, and now I’m probably going to need one on this side. I have enough silver in my mouth to open up a jewelry store!
I don’t want my breath to go really foul and sour-I brush everyday! I chew sugarless gum when I can-except it hurts my teeth. (Mints-my dentist told me to avoid them because they can cause tooth decay-I’ve made up my mind to try and cut out sodas and sweets and things).
No offense to those who are toothless, who wear dentures, etc. But I feel so gross! I already chew like an old lady! But I’m NOT an old lady!
A woman where I work – her teeth just break off at the gum line. There’s a name for the condition, and apparently it’s genetic. There’s nothing she can do about it, according to several dentists she’s been to. She’s in her late 40’s. Everyone in her family has had “good” teeth, no cavities, but they just break.
There are worse things than being toothless.
[Amuse yourself while I try to think of one.]
Seriously, I just lost the last of my teeth this year. (I’m 58.)
I stewed and fretted and considered implants and then I just said screw it. I’m getting along fine, and it’s nice to be able to chew ice cubes again, and not worry about eating something too sweet or too sour because it hurts. There are probably a lot of people you know who have full or partial dentures and you don’t even realize it.
A lot of what you’re feeling is guilt. You think you haven’t taken care of your teeth, when what might be happening is something you really have no control over. Or not much, anyway.
Have you seen the Butterfinger commercial where the old couple shares the teeth? It’s a hoot.
Oh, I know I’m being vain and shallow and silly, but it just-I dunno.
My mother’s had dentures since she was eighteen. Funny, when I was little, I wanted dentures-I thought it would be the coolest thing in the world to be able to take out your teeth. But it just…I dunno. I guess I saw too many people at Kmart who had really bad teeth and big obvious fake dentures.
You’re not being vain and shallow and silly at all. Teeth are those things we’re supposed to have for a good, long while. They aren’t supposed to fall out, especially not before we get our membership in the AARP.
I feel for you. I have bad teeth, no matter how much I take care of them - it runs in the family. My dentist has said that if they continue to deteriorate at this rate, I’ll probably have dentures by forty. No fun. I jwill have dental insurance in three months through work- have never had it before except as a kid through my parents - so I plan on getting my teeth taken care of - I do NOT want to lose all of them. Of course, I’m phobic when it comes to the dentist, so someone will have to drive me and I’ll cry the entire time (and that’s after a sedative), but at least my teeth will become healthy.
I hope it works out. Definitely try to find a job that offers dental insurance - it will be extremely helpful.
You’re not being vain and shallow and silly at all. Teeth are those things we’re supposed to have for a good, long while. They aren’t supposed to fall out, especially not before we get our membership in the AARP.
I feel for you. I have bad teeth, no matter how much I take care of them - it runs in the family. My dentist has said that if they continue to deteriorate at this rate, I’ll probably have dentures by forty. No fun. I jwill have dental insurance in three months through work- have never had it before except as a kid through my parents - so I plan on getting my teeth taken care of - I do NOT want to lose all of them. Of course, I’m phobic when it comes to the dentist, so someone will have to drive me and I’ll cry the entire time (and that’s after a sedative), but at least my teeth will become healthy.
I hope it works out. Definitely try to find a job that offers dental insurance - it will be extremely helpful.
My SO has had various major dental procedures done at a dental school. The cost is considerably lower. He’s been worked on by a professor with the whole thing shown on video to the class, and by students (very close to graduating).
$6000 is definitely too much for one root canal. If that’s what you were quoted, you need to switch dentists fast. I just had a root canal and it was about $1200 for the root canal and crown after insurance (and I’m sure my shitty insurance didn’t cover more than a few hundred dollars).
Maybe it was six hundred. Yeah, that was the co-pay-they’d reimburse me, but I had to have it up front. That was the insurance company, btw. My dentist doesn’t do root canals-when I had the one done, I went to a specialist.
Dumbass me.
:smack:
I haven’t seen my dentist for a while-and I’d hate to have to switch dentists, because I really LIKE my dentist. He’s really nice and I am so not dentalphobic at all.
The only advice I’d have is definitely cut out soda pop. I never even realized how bad that stuff was for my teeth until I stopped drinking mountain Dew all day long. After a week my whole mouth and teeth felt like ten times cleaner. It makes a difference.
I feel your pain as well. I just had a back tooth crack on me today. Until the edge wears down, I’m going to be cutting my tongue for a while.
At this point, if I had the money or the insurance, I’d just get them all pulled and get a set of full plates (I’m only 32). It’s easier and, I can’t help feeling, cheaper than having a mouth full of orthodonty performed. I suspect it’s genetic in my case as well, as both of my parents had full dentures by the time they were 35. I’m already more than a little insecure about my smile.
One thing I don’t want to do is end up losing them all and still not being able to afford replacements. I know someone who’s had his teeth out for several years and still hasn’t gotten plates. Every time I see him, I can’t help but think, “Boy’s got to buy himself some teeth!”
Yet another unlucky one chiming in. Thirteen crowns, two root-canals, and two extractions so far. Next time I see the dentist, I’m due for two more crowns, and she’s probably gong to extract another one while she’s at it. And I really need to go-- my upper left insisor keeps falling off.
My teeth started to crumble when I hit 25 years old. I’m 32 now, and I expect to have a full set of hardware in my mouth by the time I’m 40.
Guin, once you land a job, look into a medical pre-tax spending account – It’s a huge help if you need a lot of work I didn’t have any insurance ffrom my late teens to early 20s, so consequently I did not go to the dentist for 6 years.
The first time after that hiatus that I went was four years ago. I got Xrays, and They handed me a sheet of paper with everything that had to be done. $9400. I had so much to get done it seemed like I would never have the time or the money to get it all completed.
I’ve been going steadily for the past four years now, and all I have left to be done is one crown on my lower side and a couple fillings. It’s a very good feeling to know that I am almost done.
I’ve been very lucky in that I have pretty happy teeth, however I have a cousin and an aunt that aren’t so lucky.
FWIW, the both have the “New” natural style of dentures, and they look very nice and natural. I realize that you don’t want this, and I don’t blame you - but at least if you have to get it these days you have some options.
Here’s hoping the tooth-fairie can sweep in and give you a helping hand.
I walked around for two years with horrible toothaches. Then one day I was eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich and I bit something hard. It ended up that it was a good chunk of a molar. I went and got some emergency work done on it, and got a temporary filling. That fell out, and I walked around with a giant gaping hole in my tooth (that would get full of food every time I ate and have to be cleaned out) for another two years. Finally I realized I was on my last year of any sort of dental insurance, and got it all taken care of. Luckly my mom paid the two thousand dollars it ended up costing. I had to have two root canals (which wern’t too bad because all the nerves died), half a million fillings, and got a nice new gold tooth.
So hang in there. They can fix up just about anything. You’ll have money one day…
One of my incisors broke in the middle of a P-chem exam this past semester. Hurt like hell and my tongue wouldn’t leave the jagged shard of tooth alone. ("What’s this? Ow! “What’s this? Ow! What’s this? Ow!”)
I’m looking at $7000 in surgery this summer and then I’ll have to have braces. The good news is that I’ll be able to chew with my own teeth when I’m fifty. The bad news is that I’ll be too broke to afford anything but peanut butter.
