I have given up all caring about my teeth.

In my neck of the woods you can’t get an NHS dentist at all people are pulling their own teeth out
I m lucky I have an NHS dentist although the NGS prices are very high now I just turn up for my check ups and do like you brush daily, use mouthwash, and I m so glad at the age I am
I ve still got plenty of them left a few missing from the back but hopefully they ll last me a few more years I don’t know what I’d do if my teeth were horrendous as it’s so expensive

It is said that infection enters the body through gum disease and dental issues more than any other way.
Given the rapid spread of resistance to antibiotics frequently leading to sepsis, I think “giving up caring about your teeth” is an unwise course of action.

Hang on to them! As mentioned many times, my mother took me to a dentist with a couple of rotten teeth when I was 11 and let him take all of my teeth out. To say it's been difficult since then is an understatement. Quite a nightmare. Sorry to put a dampner on the thread.

What maw said.

And floss of course. I think you are still caring for your teeth, which is important as MawBeMaw says. You just aren't going to worry about having gaps. Your choice completely. I have decided not to have work done. Not because of cost but just couldn't cope. If a simple bridge doesn't work then I'll have a gap. However if it was front teeth I would bite the bullet and have an implant although I hate the thought.

Having seen my parents lose all their teeth and struggle I am determined to look after mine. I can't get a dentist in my small country town or anywhere nearby and so I have ended up going to the nearest private one taking patients and actually seeing people. It's a 140 mile round trip!

When I retired I started thinking about a bit of cosmetic dentistry, then lockdown put a stop to that, also my feeling very uncomfortable for long sessions at the dentist. Now who cares? I’ll just keep brushing and go for my usual checkup. I agree it’s very difficult to get or even stay on a NHS list, as most of them insist on a dental plan.

If a simple bridge doesn't work then I'll have a gap. However if it was front teeth I would bite the bullet and have an implant although I hate the thought

Might be difficult! (Biting, I mean) .

Again what Maw said neglecting your teeth is neglecting your overall health and could be very serious and indeed life limiting e.g. sepsis.

MayBeMaw

It is said that infection enters the body through gum disease and dental issues more than any other way.
Given the rapid spread of resistance to antibiotics frequently leading to sepsis, I think “giving up caring about your teeth” is an unwise course of action.

I absolutely agree with this, I also think caring for teeth has a bearing on health in general. During lockdown unable to visit the hygienist, when I did it was evident, even though I floss and use an electric brush twice a day, the plaque that had built up in that period was far more than it would have been on twice annual visits. Plaque can enter the blood stream and deposit on the arteries, aside from that it's horrible.

I’m about to have a second implant done. I had the first put in some eighteen years ago. I can accept gaps at the back, but not where they can be seen. The first implant was an eye tooth, the new one will be the tooth behind it.

I feel extremely lucky?? that I have had since my mid 30's, full dentures top and bottom. Born just after the war, I had a very healthy diet, few sweets and teeth brushed morning and night - the exact same as my big sister who has all her own teeth to this day.

I became dental phobic after many extractions as a child, used to have nightmares where masked men attacked my mouth with pliers and on several occasions fainted at the Dentists. When my DDs were small their Dad or my Mum had to accompany them. All that is way in the past. My dentures have never given me any bother, no one seems to have noticed them and I must have saved a fortune.

MayBeMaw

^If a simple bridge doesn't work then I'll have a gap. However if it was front teeth I would bite the bullet and have an implant although I hate the thought^

Might be difficult! (Biting, I mean) .

true

Discos and clubbing doesn't come into it, for most on this site, I imagine those days have long gone! I had to have a crown after some root canal treatment for an infection in the gum that didn't save the tooth. Personally I wouldn't want to walk around with a gap in my mouth particularly as it was fairly near the front.

I do agree that dental treatment is costly, but so are hairdressing costs, which have gone up dramatically since lockdown, and hair maintenance isn't essential to health in the way oral hygiene is.

MayBeMaw

^If a simple bridge doesn't work then I'll have a gap. However if it was front teeth I would bite the bullet and have an implant although I hate the thought^

Might be difficult! (Biting, I mean) .

Its not as easy as Oh I will have an implant...(experience) you need good bone density for implants to work and one of the things letting teeth rot in your mouth does is reduce bone density...as does meopause, age and so on as well as the genetic aspects. I had a failed implant due to leaving it too late to have the procedure...its an expensive way to end up with a gap.

The thread title is a bit alarmist but infoman hasn't actually stopped caring for his teeth.

It's perfectly possible to continue with some gaps in your teeth and when they start making eating too difficult you can get a partial denture.

my mother took me to a dentist with a couple of rotten teeth when I was 11 and let him take all of my teeth out

I'm gobsmacked at this, though.

oh and PS www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/health-risks-of-gum-disease/

I really think dentistry in this country is at an all time low, together with some other things.
I now work on the principle that I can cope with gaps but not pain.
But yes love Pam Ayres poem "I wish I'd looked after me teeth."

Granny23 my mum had all her teeth out when she was about thirty. No one noticed. She was still very attractive. I sometimes envy her. Nothing to do but clean her dentures.

Kate1949 totally shocked!

There is a close connection between gum disease and heart disease www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/health-risks-of-gum-disease/

Born I 1943, I too was lucky in having a mother who insisted on regular dental visits, brushing of teeth night and morning, plates top and bottom to straighten crooked teeth, and sweets at a minimum, well, you couldn't get that much after the war! I've always kept up the good work and have only lost three back teeth over the years due to receding gums, which my brilliant Hygienist has got on top of with the help of intensive cleaning interdental brushes and electric toothbrush. Now all these years later I can't thank my long dead mother and our wonderful dentist enough of the day for the dentist battles of my childhood!

Let us face it NHS dentistry has long been a joke to the rest of the civilised world - even Cuba prioritises dental health!

Chiropodist/podiatry also. The Cinderellas of public health

Teeth and feet. 2 things that can cause pain, embarrassment and agro for anyone with no remedies unless you have pots of cash to spare. ?

BigBertha1

Again what Maw said neglecting your teeth is neglecting your overall health and could be very serious and indeed life limiting e.g. sepsis.

Or endocarditis!