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Q: I’ve had a bit of dentistry in my seventy-plus years. I know enough about going to the dentist and getting things done to almost be conversational in ‘dental-ese’. Because of my work, I’m always “on call”. I think about the business all the time. When you own a business, it never leaves you. There are always challenges to overcome and problems to solve – it’s life! I broke some more teeth three weeks ago right in front. Because I sport a moustache and have a long lip, my t

Q: Two weeks ago I was eating a soft roll when I noticed something hard in my mouth. I thought what could have been put in that roll? I spit it out and found something that looked like a tooth and thought - gross! Then I thought is that mine? Fishing around with my tongue I found the problem and was both relieved and consternated at the same time. I looked in the mirror and found I’d broken a lower left tooth off at the gumline – well almost. I called the dentist to get it lo

Q: My father has been complaining of his teeth being sharp and he says they cut his cheeks and tongue when chewing his food. Sometimes it happens when he swallows and he says it can happen with certain words when he is talking. I went with him to the dentist to see what could be done. My father told the dentist he needed some fillings because he thought he had holes that were catching food and causing his teeth to be sharp. The dentist examined my father. He said that the h

Q: Over the years I’ve been getting myself ready for my teeth to be fixed. I’ve had lots of work but it’s been by drips and drabs. My bite isn’t right so I ventured to see what could be done. I had a thorough work-up and will go through the process. It was thorough and I’m confident things will work out the way I’d hoped. Two weeks after my consultation, I had a toothache. The work hadn’t started and the tooth in question had been flagged for work – it needed a root canal.

Q: Well,here I am, an older retired senior with “gas in the tank,” a great wife, and a set of teeth so bucked out I could eat a pie out of a milk bottle. I kid you not, people see my teeth before they see me. “Must be Bob, here come his teeth.” Well, you get my drift. And it seems they’re getting worse. The colour of my teeth is getting darker and darker and my wife even says I should do something. At the outset I should say that I’ve got some gaps in every area of my mouth

Q: Many years ago I had four implants put in and very nice bridge work that has worked extremely well. It was, I was told, the Cadillac treatment. It has served me well for twenty plus years. In the past while, part of the bridge came loose, so I went to a dentist to have it re-cemented, but the dentist could not get the bridge to come away from the implants. He could not figure out what the problem was, so he called the original dentist, who told him it had been cemented wi

Q: I’ve come to the point in my life where I’ve got to do something with my upper teeth – well lower teeth too, but I’ll start with the upper. I wear an upper partial and have six front teeth left. They’ve had a bunch of things done including root canals but I was told I’d have to have them out and get implants. I don’t think I’ve got the kind of money that’s needed for implants, especially the kind where I get new teeth in one visit. I’m nervous about having the last few rem

Q: As a kid up till I was out of university I saw the dentist and hygienist faithfully. Mom insisted we all go regularly. Even in university, Mom made sure, when we got home from school, we saw the dentist. I had great teeth. Once I was off the plan and on my own it wasn’t a priority. I was just too busy for my teeth. One day as I was home visiting, Mom asked, “how long has it been since you’ve seen the dentist?” It had been five years. I had started smoking on the job an

Q: I’m in my sixties. I have all but two of my teeth. The two I’ve lost are in the back and don’t bother. I can manage. It’s my front upper teeth and the side back teeth I can’t stand. I’ve had decay and cavities from a child. As I grew older, my fillings got bigger and rougher – yes rougher. I can’t floss without tearing the floss and having it get stuck. It’s such a pain! Now the teeth are mostly fillings and every colour under the sun – mostly grey with dark brown accent

Q: I’ve had a very enjoyable and intense business life. I’ve had forty years of challenge, growth, and fulfilment. In those years we’ve raised a family and were close to those in our community and schools as our kids went through their years of education. During that time, I thought little of myself and health care. There just wasn’t time. When my teeth needed attention, I did what was recommended, giving it little thought. At this point, I have a number of missing teeth in m

Q: As I hit my fifties, I’m realizing I’m my own worst enemy. It seems that at every fork in the road I’ve taken what looked like the easiest and the one with the most personal fun or relief or escape. That confession behind, I have terrible dental problems. I have always done dentistry by emergency. Yes, I hated going and I just hated spending money that wasn’t for fun, but you know a toothache is the worst so when I got one, I reluctantly trudged off to whoever could take

Q: I’m in a state. My son is going to school in Europe. We immigrated to Canada twenty-five years ago and have a good life. We have worked hard and been rewarded. I say this because we’ve saved and are going to take him and have a holiday as he gets oriented and installed. That’s coming up very soon and two days ago my upper right bridge connected to my eye tooth and molar behind broke right off. I hurried to my dentist and they said I needed the roots taken out and implants

Q: Dr. Crapo: Eight years ago I was losing my teeth. I had nothing but black stumps on the bottom and lots of decay on top. My dentist suggested I get implants, which I did on the bottom. He sent me to another dentist to put them in; there are six implants. After it healed, I asked the dentist when he was going to put my teeth in. He said he didn’t put teeth in, he just put in implants and I should go back to my dentist and he would do it. When I went back the dentist, he t

Q: Dr.Crapo: I’m well into my 70’s and have been subjected to the English national dental system all my life. I have only six teeth left on my lower and they’re in bad shape. The dentist here says I’ve got a failing root canal in my lower right eyetooth, so I’ve got to do something with it. Before I left to come to Canada for a year-long stint, my dentist in England secured a crown on my upper right by gluing it to the eyetooth just in front of it. Now I’ve got pain in the ey

Q: I have pretty good-looking teeth. I’ve been happy to smile all my life, I have no problem eating or chewing anything. When I went to the dentist last, it was a first time after several years but I’m not feeling any pain so I expected a “good check-up” and I’m on my way. But that didn’t happen. What I heard was, “There is a lot of recession on these back teeth – more on the top than the bottom. We’ve got to get you back for more information gathering.” That didn’t sound goo

Q: At fifty-two I’ve gone as long as I can without seeing a dentist. I’ve lost a few teeth to looseness and the rest are wobbly. My wife has urged me to see a dentist for years but I’ve put it off. Now I’ve got some swelling around several teeth, which feel like they’re going to fall out by themselves. So, three weeks ago I saw a dentist who told me I’d have to have the teeth out and get dentures. He asked if I smoked and of course I am a smoker since age twelve. He said I

Q: I’m terribly hard on my teeth. I’ve destroyed my natural teeth and now have a mouth full of implants. I wear my teeth down badly, I break the screws that attach the teeth to my implants. I break the foundational structure that holds teeth to the titanium bar that connect the implants in my mouth. This on the lower bridge. On the top, everything was fine and then I bit down on something hard and felt two teeth or implants give way. It startled me so I went to the washroom

Q: I’ve had a full life and in my mid-eighties, I’m still full of life. Aches and pains, I have only a few. Friends and family make up my days. I have seen my fair share of challenges personally and poxily. As the song says, I’m “not as good as I once was but I’m as good once as I ever was.” Having said all that, teeth have always been a concern and I’ve spent a lot of time and money in the dental chair. Through my ups and downs, I’ve been good and I’ve been bad as far as ca

Q: I’m a sixty-something guy who’s had a lot of dentistry. Just about the time I get my teeth problems taken care of, something else rears its ugly head. I’ve had a couple of implant crowns done just recently, but then as the dentist was finishing them, he decided to take an x-ray and found a problem that’s a whopper. He found a molar with a crown that has a split root. Go figure, just my luck! I ask all kinds of questions only to find out that my best option is probably an

Q: Just three years ago, I felt a problem in a molar that had been treated with a root canal and a crown several years before. When I saw the dentist, he said I had a gum abscess that was destroying the bone around the roots. It had to come out, so it was extracted, and a bone graft put in. Eighteen months later I had a similar problem, this time on the lower and upper right side. I lost four molars to gum abscesses. When the dentist did an x-ray, he was surprised to see lo