I still have most of mine, but two root canals in one year makes me ask if giving up the fight is smart. Have you gotten dentures? What are the pros and cons? My grandmother said that she loved them because she could eat ice cream without pain. But I wonder, do they reduce your enjoyment of eating?
I'm thinking that dentures would be cheaper over the long term, because once they are made and then successfully fitted, there should be no more expense except keeping them clean.
My mom had a full upper denture most of her life and never had any problems eating. We have had more problems since she had to get a lower partial, they don't fit as snugly without adhesives. Since she now is on a modified diet I can't say if she would be able to eat real food or not.
I do know that her first set of porcelain teeth lasted over 20 years, her second set also lasted almost as long, but the teeth they make now seem designed to be replaced and repaired much more frequently.
I also wonder about mouth care once we are in a nursing home, it seems that when staff are overburdened oral care is one of the first things to go. I recall visiting an aunt who had food pocketed in her cheeks hours after any meal, it is no wonder that the teeth she spent so much money on and had been so proud of rotted away and had to be removed.
My Mom who passed away about 3 weeks ago at age 96 had most of her own teeth but did wear a partial upper and a partial lower for many many years. Over the last 3 or 4 years, her natural teeth broke off and crumbled away in spite of good dental care, and she became sensitive about how she looked -- she worried about smiling with her mouth open, and some things became too difficult for her to want to eat. Minutes before she passed, she kept trying to close her mouth and could not keep it closed, so I placed a soft folded towel under her chin just enough to keep her mouth closed. She visibly relaxed and was breathing fine through her nose, and then in just a little while she passed over. I kept the towel in place for a while to prevent her jaw from relaxing and her mouth coming open, because it just seemed obvious to me that she didn't want to "go" that way and have everyone see her mouth looking ugly. She had been a really beautiful woman, but never vain about it, but I knew that her self-esteem was damaged by the breakage and discolorations of her natural teeth in these last years, and my heart went out to her over it.
So I think about that for myself ... I do need a partial for my uppers to replace molars. Maybe down the road in another 10 or so years, I'll opt to go for full dentures.
Had lunch with a group of friends from HS. We all turn 60 this year. One gal, I have noticed, began letting her teeth "go" in her late 40's. She'd just let the rot, literally right out of her mouth. I'd see her twice, maybe 3 times a year and they got worse and worse. Along with the grossness of looking at broken, brown, rotting teeth, her breath could stop a train.
She evidently got dentures sometime in the past 6 months. They do not fit well, they look VERY fake and are too big for her mouth. She can barely talk and she looks older than she did with few teeth. She can't eat with them in, so she surreptitiously slipped them out to eat. Then snuck them back in at the end of the meal.
I don't say this to be mean--I felt horrible for her. She has money, healthcare, etc., her lack of dental care was by choice. Even in HS she rarely brushed her teeth--and now she's paying the price. She looks 80..and not a happy, healthy 80. I know her teeth decaying has caused her a lot of health problems.
Take care of your natural teeth as long as you possibly can!!!! She still could have saved a lot of hers and gotten implants--but opted to go the full upper and lower route. Maybe her dentist is lousy, but my intuition tells me she has lost a lot of bone structure and these things are never going to look good.
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