Dr. Crapo

Q: Dr. Crapo: Twenty years ago I had a nice bridge and many crowns done to fix my teeth and my smile. Everything has been just fine until a couple of weeks ago; some of the upper front teeth that were crowned, chipped. It’s unsightly so I saw my dentist last week and he said I also had decay around the edges of the crowns so they’d have to be redone. However he said I’d worn down all my lower front teeth over the years and they should be crowned too. The only problem he said

Q: I have tried to keep my oral health under control all my life. I still have all my teeth but they are almost all filled with fillings that are of various vintages. I have been meaning to address the discolouration and what looks like decay in my front teeth, but life happens and others have needs that exceed my own. In the past year or more, I’ve experienced mild but consistent headaches that from day to day I manage with ibuprofen when the ache gets in my face. The headac

Question: Dear Dr. Crapo: A year ago I had to have a tooth pulled. I’m a big guy and I’ve been told I have a very strong bite. For the most part my teeth are good, with only a few fillings but that tooth had lots done to it including a root canal that wouldn’t settle down, so the tooth was pulled. I was told the root had cracked. Boy the dentist had a tough time getting it out. When he did, he said the bone was hooked so tightly that part of the bone came with the tooth. It m

Q: Two days ago I went to see my dentist for a checkup and cleaning. I’ve needed an implant but have been putting it off. The hygienist noted that we’d talked about it and brought up the subject again. I said I was still thinking about it, not wanting to get into my real reason. When my dentist came in he checked my teeth and said things looked fine; then asked about my missing tooth. In an instant, I decided to come clean so I said “I don’t know what to do, my brother had

Q: Dr. Crapo: I’ve had good teeth all my life. Despite that I’ve noticed my lower front teeth seem shorter. I’ve had fillings in three of them and about every two or three years the fillings seem to pop out. The last time I saw my dentist, he remarked that my lower front teeth showed a lot of grinding wear. I asked him if my back teeth were wearing down too, so he took a second look and said there was very little wear showing. I asked how that could be. He told me I had a dee

Q: I am very frustrated about my teeth. I am first generation here in Canada so it may be hard to ask what I want and even then to know what I need for good chewing. I guess I am hard on my teeth, that’s what they said, so I lost about five teeth. The worst was on my upper left so my dentist said I should go to a specialist to get implants. I went and he put in two implants and later on, my dentist put on the crows. I was expecting to have my good chewing back but no, I was

Q: I have worn an upper denture for most of my adult life. I have most of my lower teeth, thank goodness. My husband has gone through extensive work on two or three occasions and only because of a tooth that failed under a bridge. His dental work consisted of dental implants placed where a bridge once was and he is very happy and looks great. He says he’s never felt more comfortable or confident both in his smile and his ability to eat and chew his food. He told me I should

Question: Dr.Crapo: I’m a twenty-eight year old student. I have two teeth that are black, one of which is broken off. I can see dark black halos between some of my other front teeth. I still have all my upper teeth, though as I said, two are black. I saw a dentist and he said I had decay in all my upper teeth but they could be saved. That’s great because I’d like these teeth cleaned up so they look nice. My bottom teeth – well that’s another story. I have eight teeth left on

Q: Yesterday I saw my dentist for a regular check-up. The hygienist saw me first and said everything looked good. I was happy because I hate bad news. The dentist came in and after a few moments and asked me if I was experiencing any sensitivity anywhere in my mouth. I thought about it then said “no”. He replied “good”. He went on and said that my lower back molars were showing a lot of wear. When he pointed this out to his hygienist, she said she had seen the filling weari

Q: Dr.Crapo: About ten years ago, I learned about veneers. I liked the looks of them very much and as I had a lot of old white fillings in my upper front teeth, I decided to have veneers to make my teeth look more uniform in colour and shape. When they were done I was extremely pleased. After five years my dentist said that because I was hard on my teeth throughout my mouth, I needed some crowns. I knew for a fact that I was a clencher, so I went ahead. My dentist told me th

Question: Dr. Crapo: I had a frightening and frustrating experience on my holiday this past summer. On the second day of my trip, I was eating an egg salad sandwich when all of a sudden, I felt something hard in my mouth. I quickly spit it out into my hand and it was a tooth – my tooth! On closer examination, it looked like a front tooth so I ran to the mirror – it was my left front tooth! I called my dentist (yes long distance) – I must have sounded hysterical – in a country

Q: Life is really three steps forward and two steps back. Try as I might I can’t seem to get my teeth fixed and they stay fixed. Over the years, I had decay then root canals and crowns. Then they said I had a hard bite because my crowns started breaking off and then I’d lose a tooth. I got so frustrated that I stopped going to the dentist even though I had missing teeth on the top and needed a bridge for each side. After years of poor chewing I went back because I had a tooth

Q: I am deathly afraid of dentists. I have always had trouble with cavities since I was a child. As an adult I’ve had tons and tons of work. So much so that a few years ago I decided I just couldn’t go back and have the dentist say you’ve got three more cavities, or four, or five. It was a bad decision because I was forced back by a toothache that ended up as a root canal and a crown. If only I’d gone sooner, it would have been a filling – ten times cheaper and far less painf

Q: Dr. Crapo: Many years ago (thirty-five plus), I had extensive bridgework. I lost my right eye teeth and the one beside it towards the front. Over the years it has held up well but I’m hard on my teeth. I’ve broken off porcelain from my eyetooth, which I guess is a fake tooth. The bridge is still hanging in there but I had to have the piece of porcelain bonded back on. I know it’s just a matter of time till something bad happens – so I went to a dentist to ask him about de

Q: I’m in a state. My life has had all kinds of ups and downs. It seems that I go from emergency to emergency, putting out fires. It’s a drag, physically and emotionally. The latest is my teeth. They are a mess. Decayed and broken down. I have about three left standing, and the rest are decayed to the gum. I’d like to have something to smile with, and I’m afraid of dentures because I saw my mother and grandmother with their teeth out, and it grossed me out. But then, I don’t

Q: I’ve had trouble with my teeth all my life. I’ve had big fillings, crowns, root canals and extractions. I never seem to be able to catch up with the dental work; no sooner is something done than something else crops up. It’s discouraging. I’ve asked several dentists why it happens and mostly I get the “floss more – brush more” brush off. I really was upset when several months ago one of my upper front teeth had to be pulled. I’m left with this tooth fastened to pink plasti

Q: I’m not a dumb guy. I have many skills in many fields. That’s a good thing and a bad. Good because I see things that, in my field of expertise, could be done better and I know they should be done better. Bad because sometimes I over analyse things and put things off that need doing because I want things done in a certain way and can’t find someone to do it “my way”. I’ve had bad luck with teeth and dentists doing things wrong. What has happened is that so much was done in

Q: Dr. Crapo: I am from Mexico. My husband and I moved to Canada forty years ago. We had a family and made a life here. My husband was a good father and provider. He was a very good man but sadly he passed several years ago. As I said, he always took care of us. About ten years ago we went to Mexico for a month visit. During that time, I had some problems with my teeth, so my husband said let’s get them fixed. He wanted the best for me, so he had the dentist put in gold filli

Question: Dear Dr. Crapo: I’m a forty-five year old man with an upper partial denture that’s been there for fifteen years. I lost my front teeth in a bar when a guy going for someone else, planted his fist between my front teeth. Three of the teeth were beyond repair and I never did find the fourth tooth. I was in the military at the time and they made me a partial which I’ve worn since. Two years ago, just before I got out, they talked of placing implants because they said t

Q:I’m terrified going to the dentist because of a nightmare surgery. My eye teeth were sideways – fangs under my lips. My front teeth were in and out. One forward, one pushed back like someone knocked it there. My dentist sent me to the orthodontist who said, “take out her eye teeth and I’ll straighten the rest of them.” He sent me back to my dentist who took out my eye teeth… all four of them. O my goodness, ninety minutes of hell! It remains to this day my worst nightmare