There is nothing worse than having pain at 1am on a holiday weekend. I am taking Vicodin and the pain still breaks through... Geez..

I have an appt on Wed.. Need to decide if I am going to fix some of my teeth and fix the rest when I get more money, and or the end of the year comes up and my insurance kicks in again with the $1,500.. or just go for it and get full dentures..

I am so brain racked trying to figure which i want to do.. Obviously I would like to keep m teeth, but I also don't want to be in pain anymore either..

Hottrodd

Your dentist should be able to see you in an emergency, or have someone covering for him/her. Have you called? Usually you'll at least get an answering machine message with instructions of who to contact.

Your post suggests that there is a lot wrong with your teeth. In terms of planning for extensive dental work, the end of the year is not all that far away.

First you have to deal with the immediate pain and I would follow DonnaDe's advice and not wait until Wednesday. After dealing with the emergency you need have a thorough check-up. Find out exactly what work needs to be done to your teeth and how much it's going to cost. Get a second opinion if needed. Think of the dentist as an auto mechanic and your teeth the car; take them in and get an estimate.

Once you know what needs to be done and have the estimate, start your planning. $1500 really doesn't go all that far where extensive dental work is concerned. Break down the work that needs to be done into 3 categories - do now, wait for insurance, and do later. If you have teeth that are likely to cause pain before your insurance kicks in fix them ASAP. When your insurance kicks in do as much as you can. When your insurance runs out, do as much as and when you can afford it.

My point is, you need a plan and a willingness to carry the plan out in order for you to get your teeth fixed once and for all.

You mentioned going for dentures. I wear dentures. An upper and lower will cost anywhere from $5000 to $10000 depending on the number of extractions, and the fees the dentist, oral surgeon and labs charge. I would strongly recommend you keep your natural teeth as long as possible. Once they're gone you can't put them back. If your teeth are in such bad shape that dentures are an option proposed by the dentist please start a new thread. There are denture wearers here that can help you.

Good luck with your appointments!

Cutler

I think Cutler is a corporate plant...

Most people who have dentures don't seem to mind.They have not mentioned that they wished that they regret getting it done, but how many have raged about the waste of time money and living that the decision to not get dentures?

And the cost he mentioned is a bit high compared to my reality - I am getting my uppers pulled, and a full plate put in, the cost is $1750 for the extractions [maxillio facial surgeon], and the dentures cost $550 [cash]. One time for the extractions, yes, but that could be seema s a good thing! You cannot put them back in, but neither can you get back the decade of poor health and horrible pains.

The tortures I have endured, with untold ill-effects on my general health, maybe even the [Fibro]pains in my legs, the bowel disease [swallowed lots of mercury bits as they break apart]- I wished I had done this much earlier.
They do have a point in saving the bottom teeth as long as possible though - the jawbone will get very thin over time, they say, and the older you are when you get the bottom ones pulled, the better. But only to a degree that your life is not wrecked!

So I protest Cutler here, but I hope he won' take offense.

Remember - "They create the problem, and then offer the solution" [this is meant for another 'profession', but could apply to dentistry too!]it is about being on our toes when this situation shows up, and runnign the other way - if someone both causes the problem, and then offers the solution, its time to find options!!
This is what presBush is getting famous for too.

I've been called many things. This one takes the cake http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/dizzy.gif A corporate plant? And which corporation might that be? (BTW, that's a rhetorical question)

If you read my post a litte more carefully you will notice that I say "uppers and lowers". Using your own values for an upper only, my estimate for both uppers and lowers would be at the low end of the amounts I mentioned ($5000). You also seem to have ignored the part where I say "depending on.....".

FYI, my reality was $4,772.46. 26 extractions, full upper, partial lower and scaling on the remaining natural teeth. I have a hard reline coming up next month which will put the total cost slightly over $5000.