Soft Teeth
Hello,
The question I have is that my dentist told me that
in the near future I would need ALL TEETH pulled. Both parents had it done
at an early age (dad 37, mom 39). They both got dentures. I am only 25 and
they see the same problems. I brush all the time but I was told I have
soft teeth? If I have ALL TEETH pulled I don't want
dentures. I want the ones that don't
come out :) . What would that be called? and how much would it cost? How
long would it take? Hopefully all can be done in one day.
Thanks
—Gary from Florida
Gary,
This is very sad. If you follow through with this course of action, you
will be a dental cripple around the age of 50. Having your teeth taken out
that young causes your body to resorb the bone in your jaw, and thus your
jaw will gradually shrink
until there is practically nothing left. Imagine
yourself with a thin sliver of a jawbone in 25 or 30 years. I've seen a
number patients like that and it's difficult to do anything for them. They
don't even have enough bone left to anchor a
dental implant.
I don't believe there is any such thing as soft teeth. I've heard that
excuse many times, and I've never seen it corroborated. I practiced for
many years and never saw a patient with soft teeth. I had patients say
that their previous dentist said they had soft teeth, and when I checked,
there was nothing soft about them. I saw a lot of people that got a lot of
decay, but that was always because of one of two reasons:
1. They had a disease that caused dry mouth--they had practically no
saliva, and saliva is the main defense against decay. This was the case
with about two patients.
2. The overwhelming majority of them had a habit of snacking during the
day. See our page about
tooth decay and look for the item
labeled "5. But the most powerful weapon you have to limit decay ... ".
But never soft teeth.
I would almost be ready to bet you a set of tickets to the All-Star game
that you have a problem with frequent snacking or soda-sipping, not "soft
teeth," and that your parents had the same problem.
And I'd suggest you go to a dentist who tries a little harder to save
teeth. There are dentists who make excuses and there are dentists who try
to find solutions. What you're telling me puts your dentist more in the
first category than the second.
So save any teeth you can for as long as you can. You can get
removable
partial dentures to anchor to the ones that are left. You can get
dental implants. There
are a number of options to replace
missing teeth. They all require some time and a couple of
appointments at least, though. I'm not sure why you would want it all in
one day. You can get the new dentures put in the same day as your teeth are extracted, usually, but you can't get everything in one visit. Doing dentures properly requires a number of steps with lab work in between. When you get your dentures the same day the teeth are extracted, you will usually have had several preparatory appointments before that for taking impressions and measurements, etc.
I don't want to get into the costs and things, because I can't examine
your mouth to tell you what you need. But I really encourage you to find a dentist who is more concerned about your long-term welfare and see what he or she says are your options and the costs, etc. A dentist saying you have soft teeth to me is just an excuse for not wanting to go through the trouble it would take to help you keep your teeth.
My opinion,
—Dr. Hall
