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Old 01-05-2010, 12:36 PM   #1
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Dentures

If you have had dentures created for you in recent history (past 5 years or more recent), then I'd like to have an email discussion with you.

My dentist is prescribing some serious work to my mouth, and I'm weighing options. I have many questions, and don't trust the answers from the dentist...I'd rather talk to someone who actually lives with dentures.

Please let me know if you're willing to talk about it, I'd really appreciate the guidance.

Thanks,

Dave
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Old 01-05-2010, 04:06 PM   #2
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Dave the gal had implant posts placed and removable dentures done just over a year ago. There are some posts made in responce to Vincente talking about having his teeth removed - not finding them now. Ask and I'll pass on the answers.
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Old 01-05-2010, 09:19 PM   #3
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Originally Posted by calmloki View Post
Dave the gal had implant posts placed and removable dentures done just over a year ago. There are some posts made in responce to Vincente talking about having his teeth removed - not finding them now. Ask and I'll pass on the answers.
Thanks, I have many questions...

The type you describe is what my dentist does (he'd actually like me to keep my current teeth, but the cost is prohibitive due to all the work that needs done, so I'm considering dentures).

How many posts in the upper?


Does the upper denture fit well and feel "tight" when you eat and talk?


Can you taste your food as good? (My dentist said depending on how many posts are in the upper, you may need the acrylic portion to cover part of your pallat, which might reduce the ability to taste food).


How many posts in the lower?


Does the upper denture fit well and feel "tight" when you eat and talk?


Are you willing to share approximate cost?


Did you have trouble learning to talk with the new dentures?


Do you need to use any adhesives or powders to keep them tight?


How many times did you have to have adjustments made to the dentures or the bite?


Did you have insurance and did it pay for any portion? My policy has a $1,200 annual limit, which means I'll be left paying for most of it.


Describe any difficulties eating. For example, can you bite into an apple? what about a hard carrot? What about chewing steak on the back teeth? Any cold or hot sensitivity?


How long did the entire process take from first visit until you had the final set of dentures in?


Did they make you a temporary denture until your jaws healed from all the pulled teeth, or did you get the "immediate dentures" I've been reading about?


Would you do it again?


Any other comments appreciated.


I know most people advise to keep your original teeth as long as you can, but at $34,000, it's not financially attractive and I want to look at alternatives.

Thank you for the time to answer all my questions.

Dave
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Old 01-05-2010, 09:25 PM   #4
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Here's Vicente's thread....

http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...light=dentures
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Old 01-05-2010, 10:16 PM   #5
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thank you bbb...just read all that! Some of it is highly applicable. Just need to be cautious, as people are mixing discussions about implants with discussions about DENTURES using implants...which are quite different subjects....I'm talking about full upper and lower dentures using the implants...such that the dentures can be "snapped" in and out as is described by one poster.

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Old 01-05-2010, 10:28 PM   #6
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Sometimes threads can wander from one area to another, that's for sure. I'm glad you found parts of it useful. Hopefully you'll get your answers soon.
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Old 01-06-2010, 05:58 AM   #7
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Finance Dave: Ask away and i´ll try to answer as best as I can, bearing in mind that in this matter -as in many- every man is a world.
In my case, as most posters know by now, I´m the wimpy, whhiny, fearful...kind of guy
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Old 01-06-2010, 11:53 AM   #8
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Really good questions. Maybe some of the board dentists could chime in to fill in bad or missing information I give. Will try and answer for your benefit and that of others who might chance on the thread. She sure didn't feel that she got all the info she needed before taking that first step. ** My answers interspersalized below. ** Please note that my opinion may differ from my gals - she's more Pollyanna:


Quote:
Originally Posted by Finance Dave View Post
Thanks, I have many questions...

The type you describe is what my dentist does (he'd actually like me to keep my current teeth, but the cost is prohibitive due to all the work that needs done, so I'm considering dentures).

How many posts in the upper?

* She got 12 total so if she decided to go with the non-removable dentures the necessary posts would be in place. Added some perhaps unnecessary expense, but if she decided the removables weren't cutting it it would have saved time to getting the fixed dentures installed. With the removables she is using 4 upper, 4 lower.


Does the upper denture fit well and feel "tight" when you eat and talk?

* No. sorta. the O-rings that fit over the post balls have 3 tightnesses, she has the front 2 rings tight, the back 2 medium. Her opinion is that these were fitted to her gums while they had not shrunk to there current size. Result is that the front rings fit tightly, the back 2 don't snap on - there is a bit of "rock" when chewing something hard, like a carrot. She shims between the gum and denture with a bit of paper. Food does get between, resulting in her removing the upper to clean it fairly often. She is loath to return to have them worked on. As part of the install process the rings are placed on the posts and a "hard reline" material is put in the dentures. Teeth and mouth are closed and when the material is hard the rings are held in the dentures. When the uppers are fully clipped on the denture digs into the front roof of her mouth - very painful. She had 2 sets of miserable upper palate covering full dentures during the time her gums were healing and 2 soft relines during that time - they were always very painful.


Can you taste your food as good? (My dentist said depending on how many posts are in the upper, you may need the acrylic portion to cover part of your palate, which might reduce the ability to taste food).

* No problem with food tasting. The earlier full denture temporary set was a softer acrylic and had a constant petro-chemical taste. She hated that and didn't feel it was good for her body.


How many posts in the lower?

* 6, 4 used.


Does the upper denture fit well and feel "tight" when you eat and talk?

* addressed above


Are you willing to share approximate cost?

* She had 21 teeth pulled at $150/tooth. Post placement was $1700 each. "O" rings were $450 each. Worked out to about $30k all told, a small amount paid by insurance and after a 5% discount for paying cash at time of service.

Did you have trouble learning to talk with the new dentures?

* Yes, especially with the palate covering temp sets. Still has some issues - there's more in her mouth than there used to be and she has to deal with her tongue wanting to be were it was. If she talks for a while her mouth gets tired, much better than it was though. Her take is it took all of a year for the whole process.


Do you need to use any adhesives or powders to keep them tight?

* No

How many times did you have to have adjustments made to the dentures or the bite?

* Sore subject (Hah!). She had all 21 teeth pulled and the post bases installed and they slapped a set of palate covering soft acrylic dentures on her poor abused gums. No good option there - She wasn't about to go walking out toothless. The first set of temps was horribly misshapen - she couldn't close the teeth together, about a 3/8" gap at the front. They ground massive amounts off the back mating surfaces trying to get them to mate. They were also offset to one side. She got 2 soft relines on them as the #@!!!**s tried to make them make do. Lots of pain. She then got a hard acrylic palate covering set, which later had the roof trimmed off and "O" rings installed to become her current removable implant dentures. When the dentist did the hard reline to set the O rings on these the gal had an abscess on her lower gum - that resulted in an area that catches food since the abscess healed. My opinion is that is bad practice on the dentist's part, but my gal really really wanted those petro-teeth out of her head, so she may need to share some responsibility. (her take is it's all her fault, but her nature is to accept responsibility for everything, so...)

Did you have insurance and did it pay for any portion? My policy has a $1,200 annual limit, which means I'll be left paying for most of it.

* Think they paid about $3k total.


Describe any difficulties eating. For example, can you bite into an apple? what about a hard carrot? What about chewing steak on the back teeth? Any cold or hot sensitivity?

* No cold or hot sensitivity at all, no problem chewing steak or ice or nuts, having a bowl of ice cream and an immediate cup of scalding hot coffee. She can't remember actually biting an apple, which would be a good upper test, but generally no problem. Can't chew (most?) gum - it sticks to the acrylic.

How long did the entire process take from first visit until you had the final set of dentures in?

* Maybe 5-6 months from first visit till the palate covering was trimmed off and "O" rings placed. It's taken a full year for her to get somewhat comfortable with them. Comfortable is wrong - accepting?


Did they make you a temporary denture until your jaws healed from all the pulled teeth, or did you get the "immediate dentures" I've been reading about?

* Temps.

Would you do it again?

* Choices? Under the same circumstances yes - she was having major abscesses several times per year even with 4 times/year cleanings - at age 28 she was told she was going to lose all her teeth due to deep gum pockets - she kept most of them another 30 years. Constant low grade infection is not good. While the dentist that did her teeth instructs and has a number of offices he works from she would go to a dentist who is in more than once/week. She loathed the palate covering dentures - all her posts are set and fine, she would get them again. Thus far removable are the way to go over fixed-on-post for her - the cleaning ritual, threading floss, thought of food getting trapped, wearing a mouth guard to protect against grinding at night, and massive extra cost all argue for what she has.


Any other comments appreciated.

* Her lowers broke in half and got repaired - while she has done a lot of artistic shaping of them to get them to feel right (she's an artist, it's her mouth, and she doesn't mind spending tenss of hours getting them right - the dentist is dremel, hows that, bye.) they didn't break where she did most of her work. They fit on the posts without rocking, but she does remove them often to clean food from the plastic pocket formed around the healed abscess, so maybe that's the issue - I would have hoped they lasted a bit better - scary, even if they did get glued back together.

* My teeth are going away - my take is to keep them as long as I can in hopes that procedures and practices will continue to improve - kind of like shoulder or heart surgery. Like my heart doc said - maybe you could get to 80 without need for surgery - maybe you get hit by a bus at 79. There's a bit of luck!

I know most people advise to keep your original teeth as long as you can, but at $34,000, it's not financially attractive and I want to look at alternatives.

Thank you for the time to answer all my questions.

Dave
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Old 01-06-2010, 01:15 PM   #9
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I'm a dentist- I'd be more than happy to answer any questions you might have. So ask away.
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Old 01-06-2010, 07:54 PM   #10
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The first thing I noticed is that you say you don't trust your dentist. As you say, this is a big decision involving a big investment. You need to have a dentist that you can feel comfortable with, that you can discuss your treatment options with to know what is best for you. Get a second opinion from a dentist who does this type of work on a regular basis. Discuss all of your treatment options. Without doing an exam and lookiing at your x-rays it is impossible to tell you what to do. Keep us informed on what you decide. If you have any specific questions I would be happy to try and answer them.
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Old 01-07-2010, 07:46 AM   #11
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I'm a dentist- I'd be more than happy to answer any questions you might have. So ask away.
Questions above.
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Old 01-07-2010, 07:47 AM   #12
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The first thing I noticed is that you say you don't trust your dentist. As you say, this is a big decision involving a big investment. You need to have a dentist that you can feel comfortable with, that you can discuss your treatment options with to know what is best for you. Get a second opinion from a dentist who does this type of work on a regular basis. Discuss all of your treatment options. Without doing an exam and lookiing at your x-rays it is impossible to tell you what to do. Keep us informed on what you decide. If you have any specific questions I would be happy to try and answer them.
Questions above.
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Old 01-07-2010, 07:49 AM   #13
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Originally Posted by vicente solano View Post
Finance Dave: Ask away and i´ll try to answer as best as I can, bearing in mind that in this matter -as in many- every man is a world.
In my case, as most posters know by now, I´m the wimpy, whhiny, fearful...kind of guy
Questions above.
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Old 01-07-2010, 07:49 AM   #14
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Really good questions. Maybe some of the board dentists could chime in to fill in bad or missing information I give. Will try and answer for your benefit and that of others who might chance on the thread. She sure didn't feel that she got all the info she needed before taking that first step. ** My answers interspersalized below. ** Please note that my opinion may differ from my gals - she's more Pollyanna:
calm, that is the most helpful info I've seen, thank you VERY much. I owe you a drink if I ever meet you.

I will keep the board posted, although this will move slowly...I'm in no hurry...probably won't make a decision until end of the year.
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