Archives for October 2020

Can’t Keep Dentures In

Posted on October 31, 2020 by writeradmin.

I’m 62 years old and I’ve been in dentures for over 20 years. Lately, I can’t keep them in very well. I went to see a dentist and he said I don’t have much ridge left on my jawbone. He feels certain soon enough I won’t even be able to wear the dentures at all. Is there anything I can do? I can’t imagine a life without any teeth even if they are fake.

Beverly

Dear Beverly,

What you are dealing with is known as facial collapse. This happens when you’ve been in dentures for a long period of time. When your teeth were removed, your body recognizes that. In an effort to be efficient with your body’s resources, it begins to absorb the minerals in your jawbone which are no longer needed to retain your teeth. This has the effect of slowly shrinking your jawbone. Eventually, as your dentist mentioned, you will no longer have enough jawbone left to retain your dentures.

The Solution to Facial Collapse

In order to solve this, the first thing you’ll need to do is have some bone grafting done to build back up the bone you have lost. After a period of healing, you will need to make a decision. You will need to replace the teeth again. You can get dentures again, but of course, it will eventually lead to the same issue.

The way to prevent it from happening again is to use implant overdentures this time. These will place four to six dental implants in your jaw and then anchor a new pair of dentures to them. The implants serve as prosthetic tooth roots, which your body interprets as you having teeth. It will then leave your jawbone intact.

All of these are advanced procedures, so you’ll need to find a dentist who has invested in a significant amount of post-doctoral training in dental implant training.

This blog is brought to you by Decatur, AL Dentists Drs. Drake and Wallace.

Pediatric Dentist Want to do a Pulpotomy

Posted on October 27, 2020 by writeradmin.

My daughter has a tooth that has decay and our pediatric dentist wants to do a pulpotomy. I am confused by this. It’s a baby tooth. Why not just take it out? They’re not permanent teeth so what is the big deal? When I questioned the dentist he literally snorted and said, “Tell me where you got your dental degree?” I was so offended.

Cathey

Dear Cathey,

I find his response to you extremely rude and arrogant. Yes, he has a dental degree, but that is why you asked him the question to begin with. I find when patients are questioning something a medical practitioner says it is mostly because they are trying to understand the recommendation. This is especially true when it comes to parents trying to take care of their children. My first recommendation to you is that you start looking for a new pediatric dentist. One who understands the responsibility parents hold and how to respect that.

When Does a Baby Tooth Need to be Retained?

Let’s start with what a pulpotomy is to begin with. In essence, it is a child’s version of a root canal treatment. It is only necessary when it is a back molar. While most baby teeth can come out early with no real repercussions, a back molar needs to stay in a child’s mouth until they are around twelve years old.

If a molar falls out prematurely, it will cause the other teeth to shift into the empty space and then when her twelve-year-old molars come in, there will be crowding, which will require orthodontics to repair. I don’t know any parent who wants to pay for braces.

If it is another tooth, then saving that tooth isn’t as urgent. However, don’t just leave an infection there. Your choices are to treat the decay/infection or to extract the tooth. Leaving decay can get into the pulp of the tooth. This can spread to other parts of her body. If you think about how close our jaws are to our heart, lungs, and brain, you can see how a dental emergency can turn life-threatening quickly.

This blog is brought to you by Decatur, AL Dentists Drs. Drake and Wallace.

Why Won’t Dentist Take Out Both Teeth?

Posted on October 16, 2020 by writeradmin.

I have an impacted wisdom tooth that is also infected. Above it I have a molar which has already had two root canal treatments. It doesn’t feel right. My dentist wants me to remove the wisdom tooth, but I want both teeth removed and he is refusing to remove the one with the root canal treatment. Why would he do this? I haven’t moved forward on any treatment yet because I want to do them both at once.

Mandy

Dear Mandy,

My guess as to why your dentist doesn’t want to extract both teeth is he has integrity. Let’s say he did extract that tooth. He’d make money on the extraction. Then, guess what? You’d have to replace that tooth. More money for your dentist. If you wanted the best replacement, a dental implant, that would be even more money. Instead, he is telling you the tooth is fine and doesn’t need to be extracted. I would count his integrity as a blessing.

So, why is the tooth above hurting? I haven’t examined you. However, if it is hurting and he’s told you the wisdom tooth is infected, then it seems to me that the infection from your wisdom tooth is either referring pain or is spreading.

Dental infections are considered emergencies for just this reason. Plus, they aren’t something you can just take an antibiotic for. A dentist has to get in there and physically remove the infection by either a root canal treatment or an extraction. With a wisdom tooth, especially an impacted wisdom tooth, it makes more sense to do the extraction. They aren’t teeth that need to be saved, like the molar does.

I’m sure you would be able to find another dentist willing to accept those extra fees from unnecessary procedures, but I am going to recommend you stay with your current dentist who cares more about what is best for you than what is best for his bank account.

Please don’t put off the extraction, especially if this infection is already spreading as I suspect. Your jaw is close to your heart, lungs, and brain. If it reaches those areas, it can turn life-threatening. This is one of the reasons people still die from tooth infections.

This blog is brought to you by Decatur, AL Dentists Drs. Drake and Wallace.