I need some help. My 87-year-old mother needs an affordable solution. She’s recently had two teeth just fall out. I’m guessing her teeth are in bad shape. We need to replace the missing teeth. Are bridges a good option?
Kate
Dear Kate,
I’m sorry for what your mother is going through. If her teeth are just falling out, it means she has very advanced gum disease. This needs to be dealt with right away or she’ll loose all of her teeth. Sadly, a dental bridge will not be a good solution for her. With her advanced gum disease, the remaining teeth are not strong enough.
My suggestion is you get her gums treated in order to save as many teeth as possible. I hope you can at least save some. The ideal solution for missing teeth is to replace them with dental implants. But, you asked for affordable dental solutions. A full set of dental implants can cost between 20-40 thousand dollars.
Your mother will need dentures for her missing teeth. Hopefully, you can get her some like the one pictured above which leaves space for some remaining teeth.
Why I Don’t Normally Recommend “Affordable” Dentures
In your mother’s case, because of her advanced age, dentures are a good solution. But, for a younger patient, it’s disastrous.
Your body begins resorbing the jawbone after your teeth are removed. After ten+ years, there’s not enough jawbone left to even support dentures. You’ll spend the remainder of your days on a liquid diet of sorts, unless you get bone grafting done. Then, of course, you’ll also have to get the dentures re-done to fit. You’ll be good to go for about another ten years, then you’re right back to square one.
This is one of those cases where affordable isn’t in a patient’s best interest. Your mother being an exception.
This blog is brought to you by Auburn, AL Dentist Dr. Raymond Bolt.