This is My Worst Nightmare

Question: This is embarrassing and disastrous. I’ve never been good with my teeth. Even as a kid I was terrified. As an adult I always put the dental health of my kids and husband to the top of the list and me only when I couldn’t stand the pain. So, I had fillings only when I had a tooth that needed a root canal or pulling.

After the kids were long on their own, I still didn’t go to get my teeth checked or cleaned. For some reason I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.

But now I’ve got serious trouble. My front teeth broke away! I mean, they just all of a sudden started to wiggle, then move. When I talk, they move, no, fly forward like they’re going to ricochet out of my mouth. It’s such a helpless feeling. I don’t know what to do. What is happening? Can they be fixed? Will they just fall out on their own? I can’t be without my front teeth. I can’t go anywhere.

My husband said I’ll have to get dentures. I can’t imagine how that will happen. I know of a friend who had to have her teeth out and she was toothless for six months. Tell me that isn’t my future. Surely they can be saved or teeth screwed in or something. I can’t imagine myself without my teeth. Is this common? I’ve seen bad decay and broken teeth and rotting teeth but not teeth just getting so loose they’re going to fall out. Please, what do I do?

Answer: First off, yes, your situation can be remedied. But to answer your questions, you are suffering from severely advanced periodontal disease where inflammation left unchecked by inattention has “eaten” its way past your gums and into the bone around the roots of your teeth causing the bone to “dissolve” little by little until none was left. It is very likely that your bite has shifted as you have lost your teeth to extraction, so that extra force on fewer teeth also became a factor. Gum infection unchecked plus strong biting forces almost always leads to bone loss. When most of the bone is gone, the roots give way, the teeth become extremely loose, as in your case.

Today in almost 100% of the cases we see, there is a remedy. The procedure requires good CT scan x-rays (3-D x-rays) to determine where there is adequate bone in your dental arch (jawbone). Moulds are taken to know how to make the teeth that will replace your own. In a comfortable setting, your teeth will be carefully removed along with any disease, implants will be strategically placed, and custom bridgework custom made at the same appointment so you will leave with a beautiful smile and teeth that will work from day one.

This procedure is providing wonderful function for many folks that have problems where teeth cannot be saved or for whom dentures no longer serve.