BellaBoo

I didn't get any dental care growing up so as an adult my teeth needed lots of dental work. I have had extensive dental procedures over the years. Everyone of my teeth are crowned and give me a nice smile. I thought finally I was through with dental problems. Now the dentist says I have bone loss! And one tooth is loose and will have to come out. That means either a bone graft and implant and hope no more bone loss. If the loss spreads then grafting and implants for all my teeth. Or go with a bridge for now and see it that will be the end of it. She said it would be almost invisible, no one will see the bridge. It will be a major ordeal to have bone grafts and all implants. I don't think I want to go through all that right now.
:? DH thinks I should get all implants and be done with it.

Please get your children regular dental care and take care of any small dental problem you have. It's so important to your general well being and self esteem to have healthy pretty teeth.

texas granny

I to have had a lot of dental problem. Medication I'm on help my teeth not to hold up. Each year one new problem after another. I went on monay I need to crowns one from a tooth that have been filled 30 years ago and another that has to many different filling. I looked in to implants but it was 40,000 and for my age I said no. If i had been way younger we might have gone for it. for one tooth it might not be so bad.

Prism99

I am in a similar situation, although maybe not quite as bad. Can't remember how many root canals I have, at least a dozen crowns, and 2 implants (bottom molars, one on each side).

Concerning the bone loss, implants do not do well with bone loss. You really need to see what you can do to strengthen your bones. I spent 7 years abroad with no access to milk, and the lack of calcium affected my teeth to the extent that bits started breaking off. Coming back to this country and drinking milk again stopped that. For the last decade or so I have also take calcium citrate twice daily and Vitamin D daily to ensure my bones stay in good condition, and they have.

My biggest problem now is the gums. All those crowns and implants wreak havoc on the gums if you let up on care at all. Currently I brush in the morning, brush and floss after meals, and brush, floss and use a water pik every evening before going to bed. Just wish I had started doing this much earlier.

I went with implants because they should last longer and not damage the nearby teeth. However, I did not need a bone graft to do them.

Prism99

$40,000 for a single tooth implant? My first one was covered 50% by dental insurance and cost about $2,000 total. My second one was not covered by dental insurance and prices had gone up, but I'm pretty sure it was less than $3,000. You may want to get a second opinion on the implant. Or maybe the price is $4,000 rather than $40,000? (Still a lot of money!)

BellaBoo

$40,000 was probably for all the teeth. That is kinda high, the price I got was less the 1/2 that for full implants and the dental would pay 50%. The bone grafts would be covered by medical insurance at 80%. But money is not my concern, it's what I will have to go through if I do have to have the implants and grafts and it all could have been avoided if my parents had taken me in for proper dental care and treatment when I needed it.

Prism99

My individual implants were not too bad. I can't imagine going through more than one at a time, although I know other people do it. Have no idea what the bone graft would add in terms of number of visits, time in the chair, and healing time.

I made sure my dd got regular checkups and took good care of her teeth. My parents couldn't afford regular dental care when I was young, and I happened to inherit the weak teeth in the family. Both of my parents had full sets of dentures by the time they were my age, so I feel fortunate to at least have teeth in my mouth even if many of them have artificial components.

stitchinwitch

My dentist just told me on Monday that it was $3,000 a tooth! I told him if I was younger and working, I MIGHT go for it - but at my age and being retired, there is NO WAY!

Joanie2

I, too, grew up with no dental care. Every member of my family has dentures. 32 years ago I finally had a whole year's worth of work done, 3 bridges, 3 extractions, several root canals and crowns. The dentist said the bridges would last 10 years but they've lasted 32! It must have been quite expensive but luckily my husband's union dental insurance paid all but $100. Anyway, those bridges are all leaching and have outlived their usefulness and my teeth are incredibly soft on the inside. New dentist wanted to re-do all the work from square 1 - total cost about $10,000. I just don't have that kind of money and with soft teeth I told her I wanted to consider dentures. Although dentists want to save teeth at all cost she understands. So I am hopefully planning to start at the end of the year and carry it over into 2011 to get the most from my modest $1500 insurance coverage. Wish I could afford implants but just don't see it happening for me. I agree, encourage your children and grands to take care of their teeth. They have to realize ignoring them does not make the problem go away.

stitchinwitch

Looks like I should invest in Gerber stock!

fabric-holic

I also have terrible teeth and will need dentures in a few years. I have 2 broken teeth, several crowns, everything else has fillings.
If sharks are programmed to constantly get new teeth, I wish a scientest would figure out how to graft that particular gene onto our DNA so we'd get maybe a 3rd set when we're 45-ish and smart enough to take care of them this time?? Wouldn't that be great? (not the teething part but next to childbirth, teething wouldn't be so bad).