depressed about my teeth

[brooke cole]

Hi. So I'm depressed about my teeth. I gotta be honest the way I'm feeling I almost felt like hurting myself. I went to my dentist a couple weeks ago and he said I need upper dentures. But not all my teeth are bad and I don't have gum disease. Please be very supportive as I am a mess crying my eyes out.

 

[sooooooscared]

Hi. So I'm depressed about my teeth. I gotta be honest the way I'm feeling I almost felt like hurting myself. I went to my dentist a couple weeks ago and he said I need upper dentures. But not all my teeth are bad and I don't have gum disease. Please be very supportive as I am a mess crying my eyes out.

Please don't be sad.
Can you get a second opinion?
If you have some good teeth, could you not have a permanent bridge instead of dentures?
That's what I'm having with my top 4.
Find a dentist you can trust and I'm sure you will have more options and feel happier.

 

[brooke cole]

Yes I could get a second opinion and I'd rather have a bridge then dentures. How do they do bridge work exactly?

 

[Suzie]

Your not alone.

I get really down about my teeth too. I have a few missing teeth at the back, 4 to be exact and those that remain cause me pain. I get very anxious about any suggestion of invasive treatment and although I've been seen by specialist dentists at my local dental hospital, they were very patronizing and trivialized my concerns,

I now have an abscess which a dentist want to refer me back to the hospital, but with the last experience, NO WAY am I going to place myself in a situation that allows them to humiliate me again. Academic snob would describe the specialist well. I'm not as clever as they are but I have my self respect. I may have no option but to sort this tooth out myself.

Dentures have been mentioned to even my bite but nothing definite has been suggested. I feel a complete lost cause, feel very isolated by the attitude of the dental hopital and very depressed at the moment.

 

[ScaredyCat22]

Yes I could get a second opinion and I'd rather have a bridge then dentures. How do they do bridge work exactly?

Sorry you are feeling depressed. I have been there and am still there. I had to lose a tooth that was not even decayed. I have not had so much as a cavity in 33 years and never expected to end up with an extraction.

in order to do a bridge you would need healthy teeth on either side of the teeth that need extracting. a bridge is a good option if you only have a 1 missing tooth or a couple of teeth right next to each other that will be missing, but too many missing teeth would cause the bridge to fail. it is done by crowning a tooth on each side of the missing teeth and fake teeth are permanently attached to those crowns which will "bridge" the gap left by the extractions.

 

[Spike 1969]

Hi Brooke

Scaredy is spot on, if you have a few gaps here and there with teeth to support bridge(s), if this isn't possible it might be possible to still have a bridge that's supported by Implants, it's worth getting a second opinion and asking the dentist what the options are.

you should have more than 1 option I would have thought.

kind Regards

 

[ScaredyCat22]

I had not even thought of that but Spike is correct, even if all your top teeth come out and you need a denture you could do a couple of mini implants and they can attach the bridge to that. It is amazing the things they can do these days and losing your teeth no longer has to feel like the end of the world

 

[minx]

brook. don't get too stressed out about dentures. im in process of getting one. I remove all top teeth just over 2weeks ago. I too dreaded to have dentures. I blame myself that I let my teeth go that bad that I have no choice but to get dentures.. more I read about dentures and stuff its not so bad at all. Well after I get dentures at least I can eat. people above is right. and many said keep your own teeth as many as possible. there is lots of options,even only you have option to get dentures its not the end of the world. I seen people in 20's get dentures and they are happy as ever. cheer up.

 

[brooke cole]

Thanks Minx!

 

[ladywear]

brook. don't get too stressed out about dentures. im in process of getting one. I remove all top teeth just over 2weeks ago. I too dreaded to have dentures. I blame myself that I let my teeth go that bad that I have no choice but to get dentures.. more I read about dentures and stuff its not so bad at all. Well after I get dentures at least I can eat. people above is right. and many said keep your own teeth as many as possible. there is lots of options,even only you have option to get dentures its not the end of the world. I seen people in 20's get dentures and they are happy as ever. cheer up.

Could i please ask why you had to have dentures ? was it gum disease ? thank you

 

[minx]

Could i please ask why you had to have dentures ? was it gum disease ? thank you

no it wasn't gum disease. it just got all rotten and broken. just couldn't chew anymore. I was too scare to goto dentist all those times, due to bad childhood experience. I rather have toothache then go see a dentist. how stupid of me. now that I got a courage to see one..it was too late to save it. so denture was my only option.

 

[brooke cole]

No I don't have gum disease or infections. But my front teeth are decayed enough to not have a root canal done. Just the three front ones the rest of my teeth are good

 

[Dr. Daniel]

Hi,

sorry to read about your tough situation. Allow me to share with you my opinion as a dentist who needs to present this dilemma to patients.
In general it is advised to preserve as many teeth as possible (according to the dental and financial situation). That will help when coming to add more teeth in any kind of rehabilitation (partial denture, bridge or implant).
The denture is not an attractive option when the patient hears about for the first time. Especially young patients don't like the idea of putting dentures in and out their mouth. Dentures however have two major advantages: first of all they are a lot cheaper. Secondly, the denture can be a wonderful temporary solution because the dentist hardly needs to touch the rest of the teeth. Sometimes patients wear the denture for years and later have implants or a bridge.