I am 26 years old and my teeth have been crumbling to pieces. The dentist I had most of my life kept giving instuctionsto save them and nothing I tried worked. I brush and use floride rinses and calcium, and nothing helps. Finally I saw a specialist last year and he told me that my problem was my body is producing too much acid and nothing is going to help and I now have to have the last 20 teeth I have pulled unles I want to spend an outrageous amount of money to have root canals and crowns. I would just like to know if anyone else has heard of this problem and advice. My father's family had the same problem and all had false teeth by the age of 20. how hard are dentures to get used to and how bad is pain of healing with dentures in right away?

[This message has been edited by tinas008 (edited 04-10-2002).]

[This message has been edited by tinas008 (edited 04-10-2002).]

HI- Sorry to hear about your situation. The same thing happened to me too. I was told it was because I had too much acid AND my teeth were soft. I had to have all of my upper teeth pulled and a denture put in at age 24. There's really nothing you can do, but deal with it even though it kind of isn't fair.

Look up "Sjogrens Syndrome" (show-grins) on the net...that is one of the symptoms...so is dry eyes, fatigue, female infections--infertility, just to name a few. S.Shine

Thank you, Sunshine. I have never heaard of Sjogrens and am reading up on their site now. I would appreciate any other ideas because I would like to know if there is something other than acid causing this condition. Thanks

Hi Tina!
Sorry to hear about your problem! I worked for a general Dentist for 10 years and I have seen this happen quite a bit! I myself have not had to have a denture but a big part of my job was to help the patients adjust to them & it takes time, patients, & wilpower to get used to them! The youngest patient that we had to make a denture for was 15 1/2 years old! Everyone in her family had "soft tooth" syndrome and it was a very hard thing for her to have to face. Needless to say when it was over with she LOVED it! NO MORE PAIN...DENTAL VISITS...SHOTS... etc.....(you get my point) & on top of everything she now has a beautiful smile! http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/dance.gif She allways hated hated to smile because she thought her teeth looked so bad before & she was ashamed of them!
It is an awfull thing to have to face Tina but there are a few good things to having this done!
I wish you luck & hang there!
Keep us posted on what you are able to find out!

i am the person who has the wierd thing going on with my tongue, i also had several back teeth crumble or break apart. maybe my tongue problem is relative to too much asid too. all i know is that the dental issues with the crumbling teeth is a night mare. one i had to have a root canal, the other two will require crowns and the best dental insurance only pays so much on the major stuff. good luck

i am truly sorry to hear of your plight. that's awful.
i'm going to throw my two cents in here though....i have celiac disease; i didn't "present" with any of the classic symptoms, but one of them IS dental problems.....i'm probably way off base here but thought i'd offer it anyway. hang in there.

Thank you to all that replied to this posting. I go in Monday afternoon to have all the top teeth pulled and an immediate denture put in. I am very happy about getting this done and over with, though I am a little fearful of the pain and how hard it will be to get used to chewing with a denture. But anyways, thanks for all the well wishes and I'll let you know how it goes.

Tinas008 - Did you get your teeth pulled on Monday? If so how did it go? I hope everything went good for you! Let us know!

Hello everyone. I went in on Monday to find out the oral surgeon I was sent to does not take insurance and was going to charge me $2374.00 for the removals and anesthesia. I was shocked at this due to I have two very well known insurance companies. So when I went back to my dentist she also was shocked to hear this and is sending me to someone else. So now I go in on May 1rst. I'm going to be doing this without sedation and I hope and pray all goes well. I will let you all know how it goes next week. Thanks for the interest.

Did you go back to the dentist on 5/1/02 to get your teeth pulled?

Hello everyone. I did get all top teeth done on Wednesday. The surgery went very well and the new denture looks great. The pain is kinda bad trying to get used to the denture,which is probably the hardest part. The swelling is pretty bad so I could only bear to wear it for small periods of time. I will tell more when I am feeling better.

Hello everyone. I have healed up very well and love my new teeth. I smile again and have a self-confidence level I haven't had in years. Just wanted to say thanks for the support. I will eventually have the bottoms done also. This procedure was very worth it for me.

Hi Tina,

I am glad to hear this all went very well for you.. I am fighting the same problem but my teeth became very thin and weak due to medication, (I have epilepsy) Then when I would have a seizure they would chip now I am struggling to get my teeth fixed but am without a job or insurance.. I swear there is no help for disabled anymore. god bless and enjoy the new self esteem you deserve it http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wink.gif

Koko