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Q: This is a hard letter/confession to vocalize. During the Covid time with all its precautions and warnings, I was affected more that I knew. I consider myself a hardy person and am very conscientious. I am part of the dental health profession so this seems doubly hard. About three or four months ago, I was having dinner with a dear friend-a confidante. This friend leaned over, after we’d sat and began our visit, and said, calling me by name, “What’s happened to your tee

Q: Two years ago, I came to the realization that my teeth, my lower teeth wouldn’t make it through much more indecision. They were starting to get loose, trap food and were painful to clean. Though I’m a medical professional myself, dentistry has never been easy. Finally, I screwed up enough courage and had my hopeless teeth out and teeth put in that same day. It went better than I thought and today my speech, my smile, my chewing ability is better than I can remember. Havi

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 shoul

Q: When I was twenty-five, I was told that my back teeth were soft. I was told they would never hold a filling, so my best bet would be to have them all out. So, they took all my lower molars and the teeth in front of the molars (bicuspids) out nearly fifty years ago. I’ve had good and bad partials for all that time but right now I’ve got nothing, which makes it hard to eat. It’s been quite a few years in fact, since the last set broke. When I didn’t get them replaced, I wa

Question: Dear Dr. Crapo: A year ago I decided to get my teeth capped. I had the dentist cap my six upper front teeth. I wanted to get the lower front six done too but the doc said I had some gum and bone problems, which I kind of knew because a couple of the teeth were a bit loose, but what the heck, I figured yank those and put in a bridge. Well, we decided to do just the top to start. My teeth were always a bit rectangular and flat. When the new teeth came in the doc said

Question: Dear Dr. Crapo: Two years ago I was in a terrible accident where my back was broken in three places. Fortunately I survived the accident with no physical impairments – it was quite miraculous. As time has gone by other problems have cropped up, the most recent being a broken eyetooth. At first, because I was dealing with other things, I just left it – a space at the upper right corner of my mouth seemed no big thing but last night the tooth began to ache. It was bad

Q: Dear Dr. Crapo: Twenty years ago I developed a lump under my jaw. I went through the tests and it was discovered to be a lymph node cancer. I went through surgery, chemo and what seemed to me massive radiation. Today I’m alive and healthy but over the years following the treatments I lost a lot of my saliva capacity and suffer from dry mouth. In that time, my teeth have been lost. We’ve tried to save them but the decay was so aggressive that the dentist couldn’t keep up

Question: Dr. Crapo: A number of years ago I had a lot of dentistry. I had four implants put in. Two of them held a bridge on the upper left back teeth and two held separate crowns on my upper right eyetooth and the tooth beside it and to the front. I also had a crown for my upper left eyetooth and then two years later I lost an upper left tooth between the eyetooth and the front tooth, so they put a crown on the left front tooth, attached the tooth beside it and braced it ag

Q: When I was a kid, we moved around a lot – and I mean a lot – and always in the hinterlands. There were no medical or dental services close. We were a big family and when we kids got toothaches, we were lucky if mom or dad was going to town that was hours away so we could see a dentist and get the tooth pulled. My parents just didn’t have money for our teeth so baby teeth would start to ache, then gums would swell, then a piece of tooth break off and then miraculously, af

Q: About six weeks ago, I’d had it with my front teeth. They were so sharp they’d cut my tongue and it would literally bleed and then become sore – the very tip, and you know how the tongue is – can’t leave anything alone and is always testing to see it’s feeling better. It was miserable. I said to my husband, I’ve got four front teeth that don’t look right and the front ones are killing my tongue. So, I went and got a very thorough work up, but I said I just want my four fro

Q: I don’t know if you’ve come across a problem like mine but it’s getting serious. I’ve managed to keep some of my teeth. They are all very well capped and I have a partial denture that was machined to fit and it’s great. I’ve had a full upper denture for as long as I can remember and it has always fit snug as can be. When my bottom teeth were fixed and the partial was made, the dentist examined my upper because it was a bit loose and I decided I wanted everything new so I h

Q: I’m a sixty-three year old man. I’ve had bad teeth for the last twenty-five years. I’ve pressed my dentist for every idea under the sun to fix my teeth and I’ve made commitments over the past five years to do something. They’ve been very kind and patient. I’ll bet they’ve given me ten different treatment plans with prices and education. I’ve felt bad the number of times I’ve said let’s set a date and do it, only to have cold feet and back out. I knew I needed implants and

Q: I’ve kept most of my teeth to this point of my life even though I was told by my parents when I get old, I’d lose my teeth and have to have dentures. True to form, I’ve had siblings both younger and older lose their teeth and now have dentures. Even my wife has lost most of her teeth but now, because of implants, has nice teeth that are comfortable, and she can eat anything. With her having a good experience, I thought I’d go and get an assessment of my own teeth and where

Q: Dr. Crapo: I’ve got a bit of a dilemma and I don’t know if I’m being too fussy, (aka) anal, or if my doctors dentists) are not explaining things. Several years ago, I had a root canal on my last upper left molar. The tooth as then crowned and everything has been okay. Six months ago, I felt a little tenderness on the gum beside the tooth, but it only lasted a day or two. I had an appointment with my dentist for a cleaning, so I thought I’ll just have him check it out then.

Q: As a kid I hated going to the dentist because every time I went it was because of a toothache and the dentist just pulled teeth. Even as a teenager I had many of my permanent teeth pulled and I ended up with a partial denture for appearance's sake. I had a front tooth missing and about four back teeth missing. It happened to everyone, so we thought it was normal, but now as a mature adult with children grown, I’m looking for more permanent solutions. I’ve learned a bit abo

Q: Many years ago as I decided my vocation, I fell in love with cooking. Almost forty years later, I still love to cook. I make very good and tasty dishes. Each dish is sampled in its preparation to ensure taste and quality control. I’ve retired from commercial work but still cook at home for my wife and friends. I say this because when you’re cooking and tasting six days a week for long hours then fall into bed late after clean up only to sleep and start the day again, there

Q: Dr. Crapo: Last week I went to the dentist because I had a bad ache in my upper right, last molar. When he looked at it he said it had a lot of decay and should be pulled. Four months ago, he pulled my lower right molar, second from the back, because it had lots of decay. I told him I didn’t want another tooth pulled because it felt like I was losing all my molars. Yesterday I saw another dentist, who said the tooth could be saved. He also noticed I had a dry mouth and a

Q: I’m a guy who can put off tooth pain with the best of them. I’m so good in fact that I’ve lost most of any back teeth. I get pain, take some pain pills and for the most part get through it. I then get holes in said teeth. I’ve had root canals, but never would spring for the crowns—what happened—just what they told me would happen, I broke my teeth down to the gums. Presently I can just feel some shards of teeth in my gums on the upper right side. The last molar on the lo

Q: I am 56. Ten years ago, a gold crown came loose and fell off one of my right lower molars. The hollow tooth hasn't bothered me since then. Should I worry about getting it repaired or replaced with an implant? Friends and family seem to think so, but I quit chewing on that side and if food particles happen to get stuck in it they come out easily enough with a toothpick; I also brush at least three times a day. A: Your dilemma is a common one. In the loss or breakdown of fil

Q: I retired three years ago and I’m in good health, but I’m having a hard time chewing my food. I have most of my lower teeth but only six front teeth on top. It’s embarrassing when everyone has finished their meal and I’m only half done. Two weeks ago, I went to a denturist to see if she could make me some teeth that would work. I got three choices from her. Two were different types of partial dentures where I keep my front teeth and the third option was to have the teeth o