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Retelling My Story, and The Future.

C

Carth

Junior member
Joined
Dec 29, 2016
Messages
6
Hi, it's me again. Some of you might remember a post from a while ago where I talked about what happened. I'll quickly run down what's happened.

-On November 19th, 2016, I got a bad pain in the back of my mouth, inside one of the molars. I couldn't get a dentist visit until 10 days later, the pain subsided halfway through the wait time.

-Inevitably, the day came, November 29th. I went to this non-profit place nearby that took Medicaid. The news was bad. After going through the possibility of several root canals and crowns, they brought someone else in, who claimed I needed a Full Mouth Extraction, likely with Dentures.

-Needless to say, I was very torn up about this. In December of that year, I discovered this site and made my first post, which I requested be hidden sometime later. Which I will probably do to this one once my journey is over.


-As I've gone on to do some research and further thinking about it, some of the following things have me wondering.
1. Someone related to me also went a lot of time without taking care of his teeth, but his look better than mine by a significant amount.
2. What I thought originally was hardened plaque coming off in tiny crumbling chunks (Prior to November 29th, 2016), was actually my enamel breaking off. There's also a rather deep cavity in the molar that started this whole thing, various gaps, and more recently, half of one what I had left of one of my incisors broke off, with a soft, dark inside.
3. All of this has led me to believe that the issues weren't just a fault of lacking self-care or poor habits, but of an issue with my mental state, as well as something genetic causing problems too.


-I've since come to terms with the idea of a full mouth replacement. It was a mistake I made, in general, to not take the best care of myself.
My teeth weren't in the greatest shape anyway because I never wore braces when I was young. I just have some questions about the full mouth replacement thing.


1. Is it true that bone loss occurs when nothing is attached to the bottom jaw? and 1a. If so, if any of my lower ones can be saved, should I have them be saved, to stop that?


2. Are dentures noticeable as being fake? I'm 19, which is typically too young for this sort of thing, which has me worried that it's going to have a negative impact on my life.


3. Are dentures hard to get used to? Like, will I be able to eat normally? Talk normally? Can I learn to smile again?


I REALLY don't have the money for a full set of implants, so the dentures would be the easiest option for the time being.


It's not all bad though, I guess. It's not like it can't be fixed. And this happening is what got me off the ground to really make an effort to start changing my life for the better. Something bad happened to make something good happen, I guess.


Thank you for your time, please don't judge me for anything I've said. Especially if someone I know happens to find and read this.
 
I don’t have any answers to your questions, but at 19 I would seek a second opinion on whether this is really the best option. Good luck with whatever you decide.
 
I agree with Judythecat.. could you get a second opionion? Dentures are a huge move and even if you can't do all the work now but little by little you might be able to not have to do dentures? Maybe another dentist may take a chance more on restorative work at your pace? definately worth a shot.. Its great you are doing this for yourself now. You deserve it and alot of us started much later in life than you , so good for you for doing it now!!
 
Maybe another dentist may take a chance more on restorative work at your pace? definitely worth a shot.

I hope so, I haven't actually gone to another one since the day this started, but who knows, maybe the place I went to just ignored the possibility of fixing them. They did start listing off root canals and crowns for them one by one, until later just deeming me needing a Full Mouth Extraction.

I don't know how they'd fix the ones I'm missing most of, like one of the incisors, but such is such. Maybe I should go for a second opinion when I can.
 
I just saw this Carth.. not sure how I missed your response. sorry. I would totally get a another exam, just to give you a peace of mind and options from another professional perspective.. you never know.. Different dentists have different ways they feel comfortable with things. Also I work for a medical office and we always encourage anyone if they have any hestiations or are not comfortable with suggestions to get a second opinion to get that peace of mind and see what they feel most comfortable with.
 
Something I feel like I neglected to mention, what really started all this was a year or two prior to my visit to the [For Profit Place], if memory serves, my mouth still looked fine at the time, except for that enamel was breaking off of one of my incisors -- the same one that broke half off more recently.

That's gotta be the sign of some kind of underlying issue, right? I don't think enamel just...breaks off in chunks like that.
 
I think I figured it out. What's wrong with me. It's a bad case of Tooth Erosion. Due to how quickly it happened (2014-2016), and the enamel coming off, that's gotta be it.
 
Dear Carth,

welcome back and thank you for sharing your story with us, I believe it wasn't easy. Nobody here would ever judge you, on the contrary, you deserve support and kindness on your journey and that is what this forum is for. I know you didn't chose to harm your teeth, nobody does. Keeping healthy habits can be very difficult if you also had some other issues going on and it sounds like this was your case.
It's good to read that you are seeing a sense of positivity in this and keep on reminding yourself of this being a new beginning and at the same time I understand that this all is not easy for you.

To your questions (which you might consider posting in the "Ask a dentist - for nervous patients only") in order to possibly get a reply from one of the forum dentists..

1. Bone loss occurs in both jaws if there are no teeth, I can't tell you how much and how to prevent it. If any of your teeth can be saved, you should keep them, they can help you to hold the denture in place, which is, especially in lower jaw a good thing. A good dentist should help you to make a decision regarding this.

2. No, they are not. There are many people wearing dentures and nobody can tell.

3. Dentures can be hard to get used to at first and you will need some time to speak and eat comfortably, but this will be just a phase. After that you can smile, eat and live your life.

I would like to encourage you, as Judythecat and krlovesherkids777 suggest, to get a second opinion. I would even go a bit further and encourage you to find a dentist you feel well with and trust. Do not make any decisions before you had found someone who gives you a feeling of acting in your best interest.

Reading your post it sounds like you are facing this decisions and all the questions alone. It sounds like you hadn't get any answers about what happened to your teeth and like you haven't been really given options or explanations. This is not a good base to even think of getting your teeth out. No matter if you will have teeth or not in the future, you deserve a dentist who supports you and help you. This person should understand what your worries, questions and your situation is and be able to accommodate your needs.

As any dental procedure, getting dentures is a process and you will see your dentist a lot of times for that to clarify questions, to get the treatment, to get the dentures adjusted etc. You will also need to see your dentist afterwards regularly too (a lot of people think once I have dentures I don't need to see the dentist anymore, which is not true). This are only further reasons to find someone you like and get a proper consultation.

All the best wishes, let us know your thoughts and hang on there. May you find a safe place to get help and the needed treatment in an affordable way.
 
Would one of the mods be so kind as to hide this thread too? I have a fear of someone I know finding it, especially my parents. Thank you.
 
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Update: A New Plan

I'm going look into some discounted dental plans. Combined with some insurance, I might be able to go straight to a set of implants if the cost is affordable.

Also, ignore that last post. For now.
 
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