J
janchan
Junior member
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2017
- Messages
- 4
I may be wrong, but I'm getting the feeling that dentists don't want to fool with helping me retain the teeth that I have left.
At this time, I have 8 upper teeth across the front and 11 lower teeth across the front. The student dentist said the lower teeth are in good shape, but there’s been a lot of bone loss above the upper teeth. The jaw bone on one side in the back is very thin. On the other side, there are two teeth in the lower jaw that need to be extracted.
I’ve always had a bad bite, but my problems really began a year and a half ago when it was discovered that I had severe stenosis of the aortic valve. As I was going through all of the tests and such to prepare for open-heart surgery, the fillings started dropping out of my back teeth and many of those teeth shattered. I couldn’t do anything about it because when I asked my heart surgeon, he said that my heart condition was so precarious, he wouldn’t even approve me to have my teeth cleaned.
I made it through the surgery and six months later, I had five back teeth extracted. Nobody told me how quickly the bone would be reabsorbed or that I should do anything to replace those teeth quickly.
During the time that I had the teeth extracted, I was looking for a house to buy, which I found and was able to purchase a couple of months after having the teeth extracted. My new house was in a different state than where I had lived before, and so I started trying to find a dentist I would work with close to my new home. It was harder than I thought it would be because most dentists didn't seem to have a clue as to what I needed to do now that I had a prosthetic heart valve. I also needed to find a new cardiologist. After I had done that, I was able to learn what I needed to do prior to having dental work done and eventually found a dentist.
I think the one may have wanted to try to save what I have and "fill in the gaps" with implants, but they aren't very friendly and frankly, I got nervous when they said they do everything, including extractions, implants, periodontal therapy, etc. Also, I wanted to learn more about mini implants, but the first dentist refused to even talk to me about them. They didn't tell me I had periodontal disease, but sent me home with Colgate Periogard and instructions to brush twice a day and floss once a day (which I was already doing). The hygienist billed my insurance company for deep cleaning, which took about 10 minutes (I even remarked to her how quickly she had cleaned my teeth), and told me to come back in 6 weeks to see if my gums were in better shape for a regular cleaning.
Because this dentist didn't want to talk to me about mini-implants, I made an appointment with a second dentist who claims to be the Implant Specialist of Kansas City and said in his advertising that he specializes in mini implants. As a part of his consultation, which felt very used-car salesman, they took one of those x rays that look like an alien. Even the person who took the x-ray said the quality wasn't that great, but she didn't want to take it again because they only charge $40 for it as a part of the consultation. When the dentist came in, the first thing he said was, "So why don’t we just get rid of your teeth and have implants put in to hold beautiful, new dentures?" I was stunned. Nobody had mentioned anything like this to me and this dentist hadn't even looked at my mouth and never did so during the entire session. I asked him why he asked. He said that's what "most people" my age (I'm 68) want. I told him that wasn't what I wanted -- that if at all possible, both physically and financially, I wanted implants, preferably mini implants. He backed off the dentures a bit, but kept pushing them as being the greatest thing since peanut butter. When he left the room, his assistant said she'd never heard him say anything like that to a patient (she could tell I was upset -- the dentist was clueless) and blamed it on his allergies. I wasn’t about to go back to him – especially after I discovered that he had had several clinics around town with different names over the past 10 years.
So my next try was the University of Missouri's School of Dentistry. I sent them my x-rays from the prior 2 dentists and was assigned to a very nice young man named Jordan. He gave me a very thorough exam, including measuring the "pockets" around my teeth. He had to speak the measurements out loud so he could remember them. Most were 2, a few were 3, and one was 4.
After he had completed his exam, he called the supervising dentist to check his work and consult with the diagnosis. The supervising dentist concurred with Jordan's work and diagnosis, then told him that he should extract what teeth I have remaining and give me dentures. When Jordan told him I didn’t want dentures, the supervisor said well, those are the choices -- dentures or do the restorative work needed on the remaining teeth and that's all. Jordan persisted and said I'd like to have implants to which the supervisor said that wouldn't do any good because I wouldn't take care of them.
It appeared from this that the supervisor was basing his decision upon my treatment upon his judgment of my character rather than what was possible to do. After he left, I expressed my distress to Jordan. He tried to justify what the supervisor had said by pointing out that my jawbone is very thin in the back on one side and has receded above my front upper teeth. I asked if bone grafts were a possibility. At that, he said he’d talk to someone. When he came back, he had made an appointment for me with a periodontist for next week.
I’m totally confused at this point. I don’t know if these dentists just don’t want to fool with me or if I should just resign myself to getting dentures. Does it sound like these dentists are just looking for the quickest, easiest thing to do (for themselves) and not interested, due to their personal judgment, greed, etc. in trying to find a solution that would enable me to retain the teeth I have and have a few teeth in the back to chew with?
At this time, I have 8 upper teeth across the front and 11 lower teeth across the front. The student dentist said the lower teeth are in good shape, but there’s been a lot of bone loss above the upper teeth. The jaw bone on one side in the back is very thin. On the other side, there are two teeth in the lower jaw that need to be extracted.
I’ve always had a bad bite, but my problems really began a year and a half ago when it was discovered that I had severe stenosis of the aortic valve. As I was going through all of the tests and such to prepare for open-heart surgery, the fillings started dropping out of my back teeth and many of those teeth shattered. I couldn’t do anything about it because when I asked my heart surgeon, he said that my heart condition was so precarious, he wouldn’t even approve me to have my teeth cleaned.
I made it through the surgery and six months later, I had five back teeth extracted. Nobody told me how quickly the bone would be reabsorbed or that I should do anything to replace those teeth quickly.
During the time that I had the teeth extracted, I was looking for a house to buy, which I found and was able to purchase a couple of months after having the teeth extracted. My new house was in a different state than where I had lived before, and so I started trying to find a dentist I would work with close to my new home. It was harder than I thought it would be because most dentists didn't seem to have a clue as to what I needed to do now that I had a prosthetic heart valve. I also needed to find a new cardiologist. After I had done that, I was able to learn what I needed to do prior to having dental work done and eventually found a dentist.
I think the one may have wanted to try to save what I have and "fill in the gaps" with implants, but they aren't very friendly and frankly, I got nervous when they said they do everything, including extractions, implants, periodontal therapy, etc. Also, I wanted to learn more about mini implants, but the first dentist refused to even talk to me about them. They didn't tell me I had periodontal disease, but sent me home with Colgate Periogard and instructions to brush twice a day and floss once a day (which I was already doing). The hygienist billed my insurance company for deep cleaning, which took about 10 minutes (I even remarked to her how quickly she had cleaned my teeth), and told me to come back in 6 weeks to see if my gums were in better shape for a regular cleaning.
Because this dentist didn't want to talk to me about mini-implants, I made an appointment with a second dentist who claims to be the Implant Specialist of Kansas City and said in his advertising that he specializes in mini implants. As a part of his consultation, which felt very used-car salesman, they took one of those x rays that look like an alien. Even the person who took the x-ray said the quality wasn't that great, but she didn't want to take it again because they only charge $40 for it as a part of the consultation. When the dentist came in, the first thing he said was, "So why don’t we just get rid of your teeth and have implants put in to hold beautiful, new dentures?" I was stunned. Nobody had mentioned anything like this to me and this dentist hadn't even looked at my mouth and never did so during the entire session. I asked him why he asked. He said that's what "most people" my age (I'm 68) want. I told him that wasn't what I wanted -- that if at all possible, both physically and financially, I wanted implants, preferably mini implants. He backed off the dentures a bit, but kept pushing them as being the greatest thing since peanut butter. When he left the room, his assistant said she'd never heard him say anything like that to a patient (she could tell I was upset -- the dentist was clueless) and blamed it on his allergies. I wasn’t about to go back to him – especially after I discovered that he had had several clinics around town with different names over the past 10 years.
So my next try was the University of Missouri's School of Dentistry. I sent them my x-rays from the prior 2 dentists and was assigned to a very nice young man named Jordan. He gave me a very thorough exam, including measuring the "pockets" around my teeth. He had to speak the measurements out loud so he could remember them. Most were 2, a few were 3, and one was 4.
After he had completed his exam, he called the supervising dentist to check his work and consult with the diagnosis. The supervising dentist concurred with Jordan's work and diagnosis, then told him that he should extract what teeth I have remaining and give me dentures. When Jordan told him I didn’t want dentures, the supervisor said well, those are the choices -- dentures or do the restorative work needed on the remaining teeth and that's all. Jordan persisted and said I'd like to have implants to which the supervisor said that wouldn't do any good because I wouldn't take care of them.
It appeared from this that the supervisor was basing his decision upon my treatment upon his judgment of my character rather than what was possible to do. After he left, I expressed my distress to Jordan. He tried to justify what the supervisor had said by pointing out that my jawbone is very thin in the back on one side and has receded above my front upper teeth. I asked if bone grafts were a possibility. At that, he said he’d talk to someone. When he came back, he had made an appointment for me with a periodontist for next week.
I’m totally confused at this point. I don’t know if these dentists just don’t want to fool with me or if I should just resign myself to getting dentures. Does it sound like these dentists are just looking for the quickest, easiest thing to do (for themselves) and not interested, due to their personal judgment, greed, etc. in trying to find a solution that would enable me to retain the teeth I have and have a few teeth in the back to chew with?
