I would like to share a little background with you all before getting to the point of this post as it might bring forth helpful information from readers that otherwise may not have been mentioned. I will be brief as I am well aware that no one cares about some sob story about a stranger's personal history. If anyone replies to this and would like more detailed info I'll be happy to share. With that said.....

I am a 34 yr old single mother of 3 little girls. I work as an Assistant Director at a local Montessori School. I live a very simple life and am thankfull for every day I have here on Earth with my kids despite the dental mine field inside my mouth.

As life would have it around the age of 20, I stumbled upon cocaine and methamphetamines. (After many hours in therapy I now understand that this incredibly embarrassing vice/habit/addiction was my screwed up unconcious way of self-medicating undiagnosed ADD) By 21 I used frequently and for sure by 23 I was using daily. I continued daily use until I became pregnant with my first child at 27. I have not used since then, I am now 34. I guess it might be worth mentioning I had my second child 20 months after the first and my third 12 months after that. WHEW! In conversation I have been told having children so close together, and so many of them, played a role in my current dental situation. The jury is still out on that one. Just not sure.

Over the past 3 or 4 years my teeth have one by one been eaten away by what I'm guessing was my habit. Every tooth in my mouth has extensive decay. I was and still am a religious tooth brusher and flosser but I may as well have never put one in my mouth.

To date I have had I believe, 7 extractions and 5 or 6 root canals, and I still have unbearable tooth pain everywhere! The teeth I have left that have not been worked on are in very sad shape.

So that brings us to present. Last Wednesday I went to the dentist with an eyetooth that if I could have I would have pulled it out myself it was hurting so badly. Dr. says the tooth needs to be pulled. The infection is so bad it's making me sick. So we pull it. He says, let's take some impressions and we'll order you up a flipper tooth deal and you'll be good to go. Great! I'm all for it. Come Friday morning I was still in so much pain and I had a crazy reaction to something and my face had broken out like I had never seen before I thought I had better get back in there and see what was going on.

Apparently I had an allergic reaction to the antibiotic or the vicodin which resulted in my lovely hormonal teenager look, but the pain...on the other side of my mouth this time was due to the fact that the teeth there have cavities to the nerve and need to be taken out as well. After a bit of looking at xrays and saying hmmmmm he says you know...none of your top teeth are worth saving. Not much left of them and would cost more yada yada yada than pulling them all out and giving me what I guess would be a top denture.

Well that sounded all good and fine then, sure, get them gone! All they do is hurt anyway. So I say great and he tells me we'll schedule to pull them this coming Wednesday. That is the day after tomorrow. I am now truly freaking out about this. There is not a chance in hell that I am going to be without all of my top teeth for any amount of time without something to put in their place. I have no clue what to expect in 48 hours when I arrive at the dentists office.

I am most afraid of the pain afterward. Having one or two pulled at a time is not a walk in the park, having 10 has got to be just awful! WIll I be able to function that day to care for my girls? They are only 6, 4, and 3 and need mommy for everything still. WOW! I don't even know where to start my questions, comments and concerns about all of this. I feel the need to put together a list of questions for my dentist prior to all of this happening. I just don't know what all I should be asking. Any ideas, suggestions, comments?

It is 4:00 am where I live and after typing this I think I could almost sleep a little. Thank you for your time in reading this.

First of all, I want to say WOW! I can't believe you are going through all this pain for so long. You must have a really good pain tolerance.:jester: I don't really have much advice to give you, just to say, don't worry, the doc knows what he's doing, and if he doesn't, you can always sue for malpractice! :D just a little humor there. At any rate, I would think that you would be just fine taking care of your kids that day, unless the dentist knocks you out before he takes out your teeth. Plus, a 6 year old should be able to help you keep on eye on the younger two.:angel: I'm really glad you found this site, I hope it will be a good stable place for you to go when you need it. Let us know how the procedure went, and GOOD LUCK!

I can relate to a lot of what you've stated....I haven't done any "hard drugs", but I have smoked for over 10 years...so have gum disease, stained teeth.
I've seen and heard about the harm some drugs can do to your mouth..I am so sorry you have to go through this. Hmm? Pull all your teeth vs spending thousands to fix the decayed and destroyed ones? It seems an easy decision, but I agree that going without any teeth at all seems a little wierd....and I've been programmed all my life to save the real teeth at any cost....I don't know if the cost was worth it.
Does the dentist know how long it is after pulling you can get fitted and have new teeth in place? If it's just a few weeks, somehow you'll be able to survive it....
Believe me, after having my jaw wired shut for 7 weeks in January and February, I didn't think I could do it.....look bad, feel worse. but I made it through. Now I am facing a similar decision right now to fix the damage done partly by the wires/bands on my teeth and the jaw fracture...Get braces for 3 years and then still have to pull 1-2 more of my badly decayed, broken teeth and crown others to make my mouth and bite aligned again.
...It seems it would be much cheaper to have the remaining teeth pulled (or all the bad crooked ones in front and make a bridge to match up to the few good ones left toward the back of each side of my lower jaw...We could pray for guidance in going forward with what you've decided and for strength to endure whatever pain comes with the procdure...and for patience to get by day by day....I wish you luck and a quick recovery with any more teeth extractions.....Rest - and ill be will be

What is your Denture plan? Is you present Dentist going to make it? Or do you have to go elsewhere? I'm surprised he didn't give you a timeline for extractions, impressions, etc. Did he mention an immediate denture at all? That is what I got. I had an immediate denture made and in 6 months the final one will be made. I've had six teeth removed at one time and with good pain meds you will be fine. I've been able to take care of my kids afternoon after extractions. They are 6, 5, and 3.

Well that sounded all good and fine then, sure, get them gone! All they do is hurt anyway. So I say great and he tells me we'll schedule to pull them this coming Wednesday. That is the day after tomorrow. I am now truly freaking out about this. There is not a chance in hell that I am going to be without all of my top teeth for any amount of time without something to put in their place. I have no clue what to expect in 48 hours when I arrive at the dentists office.

I am most afraid of the pain afterward. Having one or two pulled at a time is not a walk in the park, having 10 has got to be just awful! WIll I be able to function that day to care for my girls? They are only 6, 4, and 3 and need mommy for everything still. WOW! I don't even know where to start my questions, comments and concerns about all of this. I feel the need to put together a list of questions for my dentist prior to all of this happening. I just don't know what all I should be asking. Any ideas, suggestions, comments?

It is 4:00 am where I live and after typing this I think I could almost sleep a little. Thank you for your time in reading this.

Hi mm...I think you answered your own question..."I feel the need to put together a list of questions for the dentist...prior to all of this happening". It sounds like this all happened really fast and you weren't really expecting it... so maybe you haven't had enough time or opportunity to think about your options and to discuss this fully with your dentist. I think if you're concerned about having more than two teeth out at once, then you can and should discuss that with him. Everyone is different as to how much they can 'handle'. Your dentist should have also discussed your options and timeline for after the procedure, imo. I wish you luck with whatever you decide to do...you are one courageous woman and from the sounds of it, a great mom.

Just want to let you know it'll be ok. I had 5 front teeth--#'s 7,8,9,10,11 pulled 2 weeks ago tomorrow. My dentist doesn't do extractions, so he referred me to an oral surgeon. He told me the decay was so bad crowns won't support them; the whole episode started when tooth #9 broke off when I bit into a slice of pizza! Anyway, since this happened recently, I'll share my experiences with you. First of all, cost. 2 of my teeth were coded as surgical extractions, which are more expensive than "simple extractions." IV sedation is the way to go, which costs as much (in my experience) as a surgical extraction for 1 tooth. Everyone is different, but almost immediately after they put in the IV, I was out. Didn't feel a thing. I did keep falling asleep every few minutes when it was over on the car ride home; my ride had to make me stay awake so I could take the vicodin a couple hours later--very important! Had a flipper put in immediately after the extractions. The flipper is a curse and a blessing. No one can tell it's not real teeth, but I'm still getting used to having this hunk of plastic in my mouth. Today was the first day I didn't have a gag reflex. As for pain, I haven't had much at all. It's mostly discomfort and soreness. My gum still feels tight, if that makes any sense. I'm waiting for a fixed bridge, and it can't come soon enough. Two weeks into this, and my gum has already shrunk some.

The hardest part of this, besides finances, is the emotional aspect. You brush your teeth, and there's a giant gap. Try to eat normally and you find you can't; everything has to be either soft or cut into small pieces. I did manage to eat a cheeseburger without having to cut it and felt like it was a small victory. It is doubtful you will be able to eat with the flipper in. I have to take mine out; it's all plastic, no wires to hold it in place. After the first week, things start to get better and you get used to the idea.

I didn't mean for this to be so long, but I thought I'd share my experience with you to give you an idea of what to expect. Good luck to you!

It will be okay and you are not alone! I had all of my top teeth pulled on Feb 22, so I know some of the nervousness you are going through. You do not have to be without teeth for any length of time. You just need to get an immediate denture that they will put in right after the extractions. That is what I had done and I am doing okay. It is quite an adjustment getting used to, but you will not have the pain of your real teeth anymore. It sounds like you need to get a lot more information from your dentist as to what is going to happen. If you would like more info on what I went through let me know.

Well, I'm not sure how this posting thing works so replying to everyone's wonderful replies to my first post was the only thing I could figure out how to do. I thank you all for the words. I am surprised at the response and think it's wonderful people do such nice things as this for others.

So I thought I was having them all pulled this last wednesday. Well, come wednesday I show up at my appointment fearing this major production and apparently my dentist and I had a bit of a miscommunication. He was not pulling them that day but only discussing with me what we were doing and when. In a way I was relieved but in another I was a little upset since I am in so much pain it's hard for me to function 1/2 the time.

So, I guess I'll be going in on the 11th. Surgically removing 8 of the 10 teeth remaining on top and just pulling the other 2. He ordered an immediate denture which is nice I guess and feels I should be up and running in no time.

Now I just don't know if I can wait another two weeks. What if the painful teeth develop infection? Pain pills kind of help yet I can't function at work on them and how will the effectiveness of the meds I'm going to need after this be if I'm taking a bunch before hand too?

All in all i think I'm actually ok with this now. Not nearly as scared as when I first wrote and I thank you all again for your kind re;lpies.

Reading what everyone has had to say really helped alot. Thank you.:)

It is probably best to stop saving these teeth that are not in good condition and instead just get some sort of veener work done.

Now I just don't know if I can wait another two weeks. What if the painful teeth develop infection? Pain pills kind of help yet I can't function at work on them and how will the effectiveness of the meds I'm going to need after this be if I'm taking a bunch before hand too?

All in all i think I'm actually ok with this now. Not nearly as scared as when I first wrote and I thank you all again for your kind re;lpies.

Reading what everyone has had to say really helped alot. Thank you.:)

hi mm...if it happens that you think you are getting an infection then call your dentist right away. If your teeth happen to get infected, you will probably have to go on some antibiotics before they can do the procedure, so you don't want to delay the work if this is what you want to have done.

Be sure to talk to your dentist about the strength of the pain meds that he prescribes after the procedure. It's funny how we forget to ask questions that we think of after the consultation! I do that all the time.