What can I expect from my lousy teeth in the future?

So far at 42 I have had all my molars filled at least twice, two crowns (both bottom second from last molars), and one root canal and crown (upper right, second from last molar). My teeth break quite easily - I have one right now that is looking like a candidate for root canal and crown that I broke eating a granola bar. I look after them quite well with regular dental visits and brushing and flossing and drinking milk and all that, but things are not going well. The oldest crown aches frequently, and my root canal and crown hurts like a sonofabitch.

I’m starting to feel quite hopeless about the whole thing - everything I try to fix them is making them worse. Has anyone else experienced this dental frustration, that your teeth are falling apart and nothing seems to help? Should I just get the bad ones yanked and forget about trying to fix them? Should I be going to a specialist (endodontist or whatever) instead of a regular dentist to get better results?

You can do anything you want but money might be an issue. Modern dentists have tons of tools at their disposal but a full, mouth rebuild might cost tens of thousands of dollars spread over months of work, It sounds like a lot but many people pay as much for a new car and the new car depreciates rapidly and it isn’t a critical part of your body. Many cutting edge restoration dentists have payment plans as well. I personally would not have any teeth yanked unless it was absolutely necessary. The cost spread out over a lifetime simply isn’t that much.

featherlou, Sounds like you are just aout where I was about 10 years ago. I am 55 now.

In the past year, I have had 7 extractions and 4 root canal procedures. This week I’m getting 2 post/core/crowns fitted and then some partial dentures.

I never got the habit of good oral hygiene and I am really regretting it now.
Fortunately, we have a dental school here and I am getting the work done at bargain prices.

Good luck with your chompers.

I’m 43 and mine are about like yours, maybe a wee bit worse. I have two empty holes—one upper right, one lower left—where molars used to be and couldn’t be saved. I take better than average care of my teeth and it still doesn’t seem to do much good; every dental visit requires at least one or two small fillings. I’m sick of the expense, the pain, and the seemingly endless bullshit.

I’m seriously considering the idea of having them all pulled and getting those dentures that snap into a series of implant-like sockets in the jawbone. Beautiful white teeth forever, none of the problems of ‘conventional’ dentures, easy to remove and clean…it’s sounding pretty good.

Yup, that’s about exactly how I feel. It’s like looking after your car, but every tune-up there’s a $3500 fix needed that makes it run just a little bit worse. The pain of getting the work done is gone now (after 30 years of painful dentistry I’ve finally gone to sedation dentistry), but the aches in my teeth remain. To make it even worse, my husband has never had a cavity in his life (and doesn’t floss, ever). He has no idea what it’s like to live with teeth that hurt all the time, and break when you eat just about anything. I guess I should be glad for him, but I’m feeling a little sorry for myself after my last round of unsuccessful, expensive treatment.

I hear your pain. I’ve lost a molar from a crack that just got worse, even after crowning, and the cost of an implant is staggering. There’s a hole in my mouth that I can’t get over, and even though it’s not visible, I know it’s there and it really bothers me. I never imagined I’d be one of those people with a missing tooth. I brush! I floss (mostly)! I see my dentist whenever I’m supposed to! It’s not fair.

And the crack that resulted in the lost tooth went through an abscess in the process.

If I wanted to feel pain like that, I would have given birth. Agony.

Do a lot of research and find the best dentist in your area. Then be prepared to spend over $1,000 a tooth that needs work and you will have great teeth. Maybe costs more now. But a great smile is wonderful. I have two friends who did this with the same great dentist, and they smile a lot now. It makes their whole lives better. They have payment plans. You will not regret it.

Oh yeah, Savannah, I remember hearing about your tooth. I would have thought you would have been relieved when it was finally pulled - not so much? Have you looked into a bridge? I’ve been researching those, and it sounds like they are a good idea.

How do you research dentists?

My husband has a form of hereditary rickets (can’t process calcium) that results in horrible teeth. Finally, this year, at 36, he had what was left of the uppers pulled–they were all a mess of reoccuring abcesses, even the specialists were saying there was nothing left to be saved. It’s the best thing he ever did. The dentures are nearly as bad as we had fears, and a million times better than the constant pain he was living with before. For him, at least, the dentures are comfortable and don’t limit what he eats.

I am not recommending you go get your teeth all pulled. I am just saying that even the last resort didn’t turn out to be the end of the world.

I had pretty bad teeth over the years and it didn’t help much that I moved a lot and jumped to different dentists, only went when something hurt, no regular cleanings, etc.
When I finally settled down at age 32 (married, house) I found a dentist I liked who was my age so I knew he wouldn’t be retiring soon and he developed a plan of attack that worked along with my insurance and my pocketbook. He prioritized the work that needed to be done and has been slowly completing it over the past 6 years. That combined with cleanings done every 4 months rather than 6 and it’s worked out rather well.
At this point any work that needs to be done is caught early and he can act in a more preventative (cheaper) fashion rather than reactive (expensive).

That’s always been a dream of mine, even though mine aren’t that bad (yet) and I’m relatively young. Surely there are major drawbacks to this, right? I also looked into veneers and found that I could still get cavities below the gumline.

I looked into having the implants done and was given an estimate of $60,000–for the extractions, implants, and prosthetics. That was waay out of line. I said fuck it and bought a new car instead. But now I’m going to go get another opinion–my teeth have gotten so bad I have a lot of difficulty even eating. So I understand your problem. The only advantage I have is that my teeth are all just dead now, so there’s no longer any pain. I wish you lots of luck–you’re not alone!

I guess bone loss is a problem when you have teeth pulled, but apparently there are methods for replacing the bone when the tooth is pulled to help prevent that.

Hey, I just learned that there is a machine that a dentist might have called a CEREX machine that does crowns instantly - one visit and done! My next crown is going to be done at a dentist with a machine like that - no shaky, painful temporary that I can’t use for over two weeks!