I just finished having gum surgery on most of my mouth. Now, I'm on to the next step - because I have teeth that are shaky (4 on the lower front), I may lose them. He is talking about implants, but I'm not in the position to do that now. He told me that I will not be happy with a partial denture. These teeth have been shaky for some time - I can eat with them, no problem. Should I just wait and see what happens? Also, a small piece of another tooth broke off when I flossed. He's going to try and build it up, but he's pretty sure that I will have to have a root canal and crown. I have no pain in this tooth at all. I'm all for taking care of my teeth - I go every 3 months for cleanings at the perio. Do all these dentists see $$$$ signs when they see me? I'm back to my regular dentist now for this work.

I went down the road you are heading in. I lost my upper and lower front teeth many years ago and did implants. I felt I was too young to lose my teeth and wear something removable and at the time I could afford it - it was a high price even for then. They take a while though to heal and in the meantime they usually will attach a temp bridge to other teeth which means they have to get crowned as well. It took almost a year for me to be completed. They were fine for alomst 8 yrs until I had the brdiges replaced due to chips on them - and from there I started having problems. If the prosthetic or bridge is not done proeprly you can develop stress on the implant, torqueing (pulling) and this can cause bone loss. Evenutally, my implants started to become painful and kept getting infected. After 4 yrs of this I developed severe tmj - so I just had my implants taken out a few wks ago and it cost almost as much as when I had them put in. Looking back - were they worth it - I thought so. Had I known that my bite would change though, I would have gone to a removable partial. Also, I let them talk me into it at the first sign of teeth mobility - there are other options to try such as a splint bonded to the inside of the teeth that can support them for a while - it looks like a little white picket fence, but when attached and covered by bonding you do not see it. My sister has been holding on to her "shakey" teeth for 5 yrs now just by letting the perio scale them every yr. The perio keeps insisting she do implants and she is adamant about not doing them becuase she has seen what has happened to me.

My advice is to wait and see. Sometime the gum around the tooth will rebuild itself and the tooth will settle in on its own. I know I am biased given my dental history - but I do think most dentists are out for the $s and not the overall health of their patients. If you do decide to do it, make sure it is with a reputable dentist/implantologist/prosthetdontist. The bonding on the broken tooth is OK but it tends to be bulky and hard for dentists to mold - make sure your bite stays the same afterwards - if it starts to ache or feel sore on the side where they do the bonding or the tooth itself go back to the dentist promptly. And not all teeth with crowns require root canal. I have had several crowns due to tooth fractures - its only when the root becomes enflamed or is dying that it needs to have a root canal. I think they generally tell people to have the root canal & crown because filing the tooth down can aggravate or damage a tooth and bacteria/plaque can get under the crown - so eventually the tooth may need the root canal anyway and its easier to do when there is no crown to have to drill through.

Thanks for all the info Thelma. Yes, I am going to wait and see what happens. The dentist never mentioned a splint - I did some research and it sounds good to me. Hopefully I will be a candidate for it. I just hope the dentist can bond the broken tooth, or else, I will have to have root canal first because of future problems. The tooth doesn't hurt me at all. And I am going to the perio for cleanings every 3 months. I just had one 2 weeks ago. I was just thinking, that if most people went to specialists, etc., they would definately find something wrong and lots of things to fix!! It's really too bad that you went through so much with your implants - I know it's very expensive and painful as well.

I forgot to mention they can also do bone grafts to help teeth stabilize - still cheaper than the implants. There are probably other options I am not aware of, too. Good Luck.

Thelma - bone grafting does not sound too appealing to me. I've just had so much gum surgery. I will speak to my dentist and see if he can come up with a reasonable solution. Teeth can cause so much trouble !!!!