Dr. Robert Thein's Implant Dentistry Blog

I am writing to you because I am so depressed about my teeth and I just want some advice from somebody who cares. I have had extreme problems with my teeth since I was very young. I remember having several root canals as a teenager. I had a front tooth then that broke off. I had to fix that, so I got a bridge, but it looks ugly. Now I have other teeth that are infected. When I got married, I finally had dental insurance, so I went to get my teeth fixed. But there is so much wrong, I can’t keep up with it. Should I just get them pulled?

Regards
-Elizabeth from Wisconsin

Elizabeth,
Here’s the problem with just pulling all your teeth out. Your body, once the teeth are gone, starts to dissolve away the jawbone. If you have removable dentures, they gradually get more and more loose, and you get them relined, until, in about 20 years, you have what we call facial collapse and you become a dental cripple.

I had my bottom jaw teeth pulled today. I had in mind to get dentures. (They were cracked.) But, I am having second thoughts. Can you combine dental implants with bridges? What is the cheapest route without going to dentures? My teeth are too brittle to hold the fillings. What are my options? Besides marrying a dentist? I have about $5,000 available for dental work.

Thank you!
Christina from Missouri

Christina,
If you have had all your lower teeth pulled, I would strongly recommend having some dental implants placed. If you don’t, in about ten or twenty years you will be a dental cripple, suffering from facial collapse.

The more dental implants you have, the better. But if cost is a strong factor, as you’re indicating, you can get by with only two implants in the lower jaw. That should keep the cost within your budget, assuming there aren’t any complications. Then you have a denture made on top of that, and the dentist can place snap-on fixtures so that the denture will snap in. This will give you teeth that will stay in securely, and the bone around the dental implants won’t shrink and shrivel up.

There is no problem with combining dental implants with bridges, crowns, partial dentures, or any other dental work.