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.