The Dental Apocalypse weekend and falling apart piece by piece.

[rayinpenn]

Sunday I was eating some raisins when I noticed the one of my teeth was gone. Well it really was one of the dentists creations just behind the canine tooth on the upper right and I font of the Halloween implant with the new tooth due from the lab any day now. What remained was a mini grand canon and I immediately thought this can't be good. I further thought looks like I'm funding another Hawaii golfing vacation for doctor Good Practice and Geeze I am so busy at work. Later my wife made tacos for dinner and I carefully wet the shells to make them soft. I gingerly was chewing on the left side when that the upper left side bridge let go. I immediately sat in my easy chair before any of my limbs decided to fall off and thought I thought Oh no I hope this is a reglue!

We called the dentist office and discovered it opened at 1pm. I went to work called and got a 3:30 appointment. Sitting in the dental chair my fears were confirmed another implant $600 plus $400 for the new tooth in a couple of months. The bridge was a re glue for now but may need work to be saved. So Doc what can we do this implant? "I have a cancellation - I could do it now". I leave a after 5pm exhausted with one less tooth and some more titanium in my body.

The good news this morning is the remaining knee that needs replacement and was aching last week has settled down. I think I'll cut my egg salad and tuna gutted bagel into really small but size bites and try not to chew too hard.

This morning I'm thinking It could be worse, way worse. Just another bump in the road. I'm thinking of retiring in July I'll be 63.

 

[Amethyst]

You can get an implant and crown for $1000? Mr. A's most recent implant cost us $3700 and that was with dental insurance.

 

[Bamaman]

Before retiring, everyone needs to analyze their future dental needs and have all the dental work done--while they have insurance.

We have BCBS dental coverage, however it is limited to $1,500 per year. And implants are not included.

I recently broke a cap off flush, and it cost $825 to get the tooth removed and a graft--ready for an implant. I was looking at the dentists' "estimate" to complete the job, and the total cost to finish the implant and crown be something like $3,500.

We have an apartment in Budapest rented for 8 days in April, and I'm considering having the implant done there for less than $1K. Medical tourism is very big treating the British flying over on budget European airlines for treatment.

It doesn't take many implants to seriously empty a retiree's nest egg.

 

[Amethyst]

Another crucial track is to increase one's attention to oral hygiene, get checked for bruxism/get a night guard if indicated, and check the diet for things that may increase plaque and shorten the life of dental restorations. In fact, I've read that regular flossing is linked to reducing inflammation throughout the body, which would certainly be important if you have new parts elsewhere than just in your mouth.

 

[rayinpenn]

You can get an implant and crown for $1000? Mr. A's most recent implant cost us $3700 and that was with dental insurance.

My dentist advertises $2279 per implant. My limited insurance covers up to $1500.

 

[rayinpenn]

Another crucial track is to increase one's attention to oral hygiene, get checked for bruxism/get a night guard if indicated, and check the diet for things that may increase plaque and shorten the life of dental restorations. In fact, I've read that regular flossing is linked to reducing inflammation throughout the body, which would certainly be important if you have new parts elsewhere than just in your mouth.

I get a cleaning every three months and I am careful to brush thoroughly I guess that helps. I'm thinking that shot to the face with the paddle ball racket sent me down this road.

 

[Amethyst]

In my case it was not being taken to see a dentist until I was 15 years old and had a mouthful of cavities. A lifetime legacy that just keeps on "giving." My sympathies....

I get a cleaning every three months and I am careful to brush thoroughly I guess that helps. I'm thinking that shot to the face with the paddle ball racket sent me down this road.

 

[HadEnuff]

My grandfather was a dentist. My uncle was a dentist. My cousin was a dentist. I was a dentist. Today is the last day that my wife will be working (for a dentist).
Now that our access to free care is at an end, I fully expect our mouths to start falling apart.

 

[socca]

I only eat one to one-and-a-half times a day (half = a snack), and always floss & rinse immediately after eating. I brush twice a day - morning and late evening. Zero sugary drinks. I have excellent dental health (only one real cavity in 54 years; I also have 3 suspect cavities that were filled in my early 30's when I switched from an older, cautious dentist to a young, aggressive one; after switching back, my older dentist shook his head in disgust). Professional cleanings every 6 months. I've never had any cosmetic treatment to whiten my teeth - I'm worried about damaging tooth enamel (perhaps my concern is unwarranted).

Quite a few years ago, I read somewhere that the bacteria that generate the acids that erode tooth enamel are most active immediately after eating. I don't know if this is true, but it would be interesting to do an observational study comparing the long-term oral health of folks who think they need to eat 5 or 6 times a day (the 'grazers') to people like me, who minimize the number of daily eating episodes. I do this primarily for weight control, with any positive dental health impact as a bonus. YMMV.

 

[2017ish]

My grandfather was a dentist. My uncle was a dentist. My cousin was a dentist. I was a dentist. Today is the last day that my wife will be working (for a dentist).
Now that our access to free care is at an end, I fully expect our mouths to start falling apart.

It does seem that way, doesn't it....

Congrats on your wife finishing her obligations to the new owner of the practice. You are now cleared for takeoff!

 

[HadEnuff]

It does seem that way, doesn't it....

Congrats on your wife finishing her obligations to the new owner of the practice. You are now cleared for takeoff!

Thanks! and we are taking off tomorrow, bright and early!

 

[JoeWras]

Ray's one-side-then-the-other brings back memories.

Had a temp crown on the right. Was favoring it by chewing left, and then a tooth on the left split and let go. Two temps at once. At least I had balance.

My tip: don't favor the temp. Just chew normally.

 

[Luck_Club]

I only eat one to one-and-a-half times a day (half = a snack), and always floss & rinse immediately after eating.

Curious why you eat so infrequently, and how long have you been doing that?

Many of the diets (especially when coupled with strength training) recommend 6 meals a day...

Recently I've been trying to diet by fasting 2 days of the week, not back to back. It seems to be working mildly, with about 6 fasting days under the belt. I've been advised to eat at least 700 calories on fasting days, but I find it is harder to eat a little then to not eat at all.

 

[Luck_Club]

Dental work is a funny thing. My insurance has changed over the years, and some times I've had crown coverage and other times I haven't. Needless to say, I've noticed my cost with or without the insurance is about the same for a crown

Now my dentist, who is very good in my opinion, will no longer accept BCBS. So he does the work, submits the paper work and accepts what they pay. It is significantly less than they charge.

My thought is when I no longer have insurance, to negotiate with the doctors to accept the same amount as what they would accept from insurance.

My recent Colonoscopy (2) of them, along with an MRI and x-rays would have run about $5-6K total. It's a lot, but only about 25% the rack rate and only 1/2 the years insurance premium.

I imagine the same would hold true for the $100,000 heart attack, true cost $10-50K?

 

[exnavynuke]

That's cheap compared to what I paid. I had two root canals and caps as a kid. 30+ years later, one finally failed (underlying dead tooth broke) and the other wasn't in good shape either. End result - pull both teeth, two implants and the new fake teeth. Total cost just shy of $10k. Dental insurance covered almost $700 of that...

 

[I was misinformed]

I think I'll cut my egg salad and tuna gutted bagel into really small but size bites and try not to chew too hard.

Years ago I broke one of my front bottom teeth biting into a bagel. I started explaining this to my dentist and he interrupts me and shouts loud enough for his assistant down the hall to hear "Another bagel job!" He tells me that "you wouldn't believe how many stories I hear that begin 'I was eating a bagel...' ".

Anyways a definite milestone in my aging process and a shock to realize I needed to be careful about biting/chewing thereafter....

 

[Amethyst]

I think it is more likely, with such a history, that your teeth will outlast you!

My grandfather was a dentist. My uncle was a dentist. My cousin was a dentist. I was a dentist. Today is the last day that my wife will be working (for a dentist).
Now that our access to free care is at an end, I fully expect our mouths to start falling apart.

 

[sengsational]

Everyone needs two dentists.

You walk into Dr. B's and say "do you see anything that needs doing" after Dr. A just tells you it's urgent to get something done. If "B" finds the same problem, independently, then you have "B" address the problem (and collect the revenue). If "B" doesn't come up with the same issue, it can't be that urgent, so wait another 6 months. Rinse, repeat. You'll get two cleanings per year and you'll get two different [-]sales pitches[/-] recommendations. And of course if you have something that certainly needs doing, you can waltz in and either will gladly quote the job. You might have to make an excuse "oh yeah, I was in Florida and got that done...did he do a good job?"

 

[Pilot2013]

DW and I very lucky that her Niece is a dentist...

 

[Nemo2]

Yesterday, while eating a sandwich, a molar dental crown snapped off at gum level......have an 8:00 a.m. appointment tomorrow with the dentist to find out what my options are.

Ain't old age grand?

 

[harley]

I went into the dentist yesterday and got work done, resulting in two temporary crowns. The permanent ones will take a couple of weeks. So tonight I after dinner I ran my tongue across one of the crowns and it feels like half of it is gone. I didn't eat anything hard or sticky, and must have just swallowed the piece without noticing. I've got a call in to the dentist to see if they can fix me up before the weekend.

 

[sengsational]

Don't call the dentist too soon, he might want to reglue that "lost" crown

 

[rayinpenn]

Yesterday, while eating a sandwich, a molar dental crown snapped off at gum level......have an 8:00 a.m. appointment tomorrow with the dentist to find out what my options are.

Ain't old age grand?

Brother you have my sympathy I write this with a sore mouth from Monday's extraction and implant. I keep checking to make sure nothing else will fall off this old body.

 

[athena53]

You have my sympathies. My first dental implants were from two unrelated incidents: decay under a crown that was too extensive to repair once it was found, and (I think) another crown breaking off a couple of weeks later. Bad luck but good timing since I had them done at the same time, but no discount.

Since getting the first implants I've been religious about 4X/yearly professional cleanings, brushing, flossing and using a WaterPik. I also have a bite guard I use at night which seems to have drastically reduced breaking/cracking crowns. Still, I've got a mouth full of old dental work and one bridge likely to go at some point. That could leave me on the hook for 2 implants again, which happened in 2014; one to replace the decayed tooth holding up the bridge plus one to go into the gap the bridge covered. My planned withdrawals from savings every year include some unanticipated, "oh, crap!" items and this would fall into that category.

Given my overall health (so far I'm signed up for a 35-mile charity bike ride and a sprint triathlon this year, with more to come), I can't complain.

 

[Bamaman]

I went into the dentist yesterday and got work done, resulting in two temporary crowns. The permanent ones will take a couple of weeks. So tonight I after dinner I ran my tongue across one of the crowns and it feels like half of it is gone. I didn't eat anything hard or sticky, and must have just swallowed the piece without noticing. I've got a call in to the dentist to see if they can fix me up before the weekend.

You may be out of luck. We all know dentists no longer work on Fridays, and that's when the most serious problems, like serious toothaches, happen. Pain never comes Mon-Thur.

I found a dentist that has a CNC machine that carves crowns out of a solid porcelain chunk in 6 minutes. She scans the mouth in 3D, and makes electronic adjustments before she starts the machine. I can be in and out and not have to come back 2 weeks later. Best news is that she's $100 cheaper than my regular dentist since the procedure takes less time.