How are your gnashers?

Although I had considerable orthodontic treatment in the 1950s, for which I am truly grateful, my teeth were almost filling free until my 20s. For no obvious reason I needed endless dental treatment for decay in my 20s and have had no problems since, until the last few months.

I think our dentists have always treated us to the best of their knowledge but dentistry, like medicine, is constantly developing, so obviously dentistry in the 2010s will be better than that in earlier years

Certainly not guilty of that Ana, first taken to dentist aged 2, so nearly 60 years of dental visits and problems have only arisen in past couple of years.....

I agree with you Apricot. We had very few sweets, no sugar laden drinks and processed food, yet I haveh more fillings that my children. I blame poor dentistry in the 50s, 60s and 70s. x

I agree, apricot, and I do get rather fed up with the apparent assumption by both dentists and dental hygienists these days that it's because we haven't looked after our teeth!

I've twice heard top men from the British Dental Association say that if your teeth are good, you only need a check-up every year or two.
Also, you don't have to have your teeth scaled and polished. I had it done once and a chunk of tooth fell off so never been back.
Most people of my generation had our teeth ruined by dentists who were paid to drill and fill.

I had a root canal filling done from the top of the roots instead of the bottom two days before Christmas in a last ditch attempt to save a tooth otherwise it will have to come out and get an inplant.

I investigated veneers but too expensive and I have an overbite which might have caused problems with the fitting and how long they would have lasted. Unfortunately my two upper front teeth are discoloured from being replaced after they were knocked out when younger, so am lucky to have them.
Dental phobia not improving!

Three months ago I would have said mine were fine - then a tooth broke so catastrophically that the remains had to be extracted, so I currently have a big gap, fortunately at the side so it is not very visible, but I am now faced with the cost of either an implant or a bridge, if that is possible.

I have been advised not just to leave a gap as I already have a very bad 'bite', which has caused problems and if the adjoining teeth move into the gap it will make a bad situation worse. I have an appointment in a month and whatever is done I will probably need a mortgage to pay for it.

You can ask for a hand scale rather than having the sonic scaler. I have that now as the sonic thingy left my teeth so sensitivev that I couldn't clean my teeth properly which rather defeats the object!

For sensitivity, I use Colgate Pro Relief, on my dentist's recommendation, and find that it works well!

Loopylou and Juliette, are you able to have veneers? On of my front teeth chipped. The dentist could have filled it, but it was not going to be stable. She suggested a veneer. I was sceptical, but agreed. It is fantastic. I went slightly lighter than the other front tooth because the Dentis said that it was beginning to deteriorate as well and eventually would need a veneer.

The cost was much cheaper than an implant and you do have to be careful not to bite off thread or cello tape with your teeth! x

I'm lucky Hygeinist-wise in that have never had much needing doing and my gums etc are 10/10, yet teeth........

I thought it was just me who hated the hygienist session. I feel like a naughty child when I am told certain teeth and gums don't pass muster. I try so hard to keep up the oral hygiene procedure, but I never quite make the grade.

I too visit a private dentist who is just a bit more expensive than NHS and it is money well spent.

Despite half my teeth being filled, a number of crowns and one very expensive implant, most of my teeth are my own. I spent an inordinate amount of time in the 'chair' as a child and only slightly less as an adult. I changed to a private dentist about 5 years ago after my, very bored- why am I here- NhS dentist told me that if I wanted my fillings replaced with white ones, it was up to me and it was my money I would be wasting. I now 'waste' it on the lifestyle of my very pleasant German dentist. Thankfully, I always get 10/10 for my gums, so I must be doing something right! Don't mention the hygienist's torture chamber to which I subject myself 2x a year

My DD had same experience as you J52.
Expensive private dentist told her all was fine & to get back to them in a few months.
Then she got a check-up appt with NHS dentist who was so horrified at state of a tooth (which she had been worried about herself) that it was dealt with right away instead of making another appointment.

My own teeth are like Coolgran65 - a generally deteriorating mix & match.

The front upper ones have, but I'm hoping denture will closely match. My dentist doesn't want to remove them as they seem secure, but I totally empathise with you. The locus dentist wanted me to have implants - £16000 worth! Needless to say it was out of the question and, I've found out since, the infection has 'honeycombed' part of the remaining jaw so probably implants wouldn't have been stable.
Odd thing is that when I had the swelling I had been feeling rather 'off' for sometime but no toothache until the swelling erupted overnight....
It has knocked my confidence but I try to override it.

loopyloo have your remaining teeth discoloured as well? It has completely knocked my confidence, I start to smile and then remember....

Miserable isn't it Juliette? I didn't have a clue what was going on until woke up looking like some sort of alien, huge swelling on right upper jaw and X-ray showed up cavity....
Welcome to the madhouse Gransnet!

Previous post: seems was I pad translated to emb?

Re gum infection. What impressed me on my emergency appointment with my dentist was that he detected a serious problem with my jaw that had been there for a while. My previous v expensive dentist had not noticed! Swift surgery sorted the problem. x

Up until five years ago my teeth were fine , then suddenly disaster struck, like loopyloo I've had an undiagnosed infection at some time which has destroyed the bone on the upper left jaw. The remaining teeth are all discoloured and look awful. I could probably rent myself out for Halloween!!

I have an appointment next week and am seriously considering going fo a full upper set of 'toy teeth' even though it will mean destroying the implant on the right jaw which cost nearly as much as our first house.

At least I will be able to smile again without scaring small children.

This is how I wish I looked.

IMO dentists earn every penny. I'd hate to spend my working life, bent over looking into someone's mouth.

Lona, the local private schools must be full of dentists' children. Mine has sent a letter to announce his imminent retirement, so he must have built up a nice little fund, as his daughter is still at school! I will miss out discussions about rugby, but will now take the opportunity to transfer to a dentist close to home.

TerriB I also have trouble with the icy cold water in the hygienists torture implement, but she and I have reached an agreement that the most sensitive area will be done with her metal scraper and not with the high pressure hose. I think I must be quite lucky because she is the least sadistic of all the hygienists I have seen over the years, but I was very miffed on my recent visit to be downgraded from 0/1 to some 2s. Felt like a naughty child!

The use of an electric toothbrush does seem to help. My dentist gives me cordysil gel to keep the gums healthy. This embs to do the trick. x

Is it coincidence that my old dentist retired a couple of years ago? I religiously had 6 monthly checkups/ Hygeinist visits for the previous 36 years, rarely requiring any intervention at all.
And I noticed yesterday that Hygeinist charges have gone up from £25 to £39.95!!!!!
Almost tempted to tell him to remove the rest!

MrsPickle I've been like that for about 3 years now since I started using an electric toothbrush.
Also delighted as I think I was paying for private education for his children!