Losing a front tooth. Feeling horrible at the moment.

[WiredIncorrectly]

These days I keep losing teeth. I have an appointment for 25th to have a tooth capped. Problem is in that time it's cracked and all sorts. I called the dentist and she said nothing she can do until my appointment they're fully booked. I had appointment for 23rd of December but they cancelled it on me.

I'm going to lose a K9 and it's circling my brain. I'm going to have 2 front teeth missing. The first one is hardly noticeable, but this one will be. I just feel like a degenerate. Like a drug addict and that's how people will see me. Even though I don't do drugs.

Not sure if anybody here lives with missing teeth but it's weighting heavy on my brain.

I asked the dentist if I have to lose the tooth what are the options? She said "denture". Freaking out to be honest. I'm 36 I shouldn't be losing teeth like this. Messed up.

[Carys]

Surely denture isnt the only option, they can do bridges (attaching to teeth either side) and there is obviously the implant option ! Why have you lost both front teeth ?

[WiredIncorrectly]

Surely denture isnt the only option, they can do bridges (attaching to teeth either side) and there is obviously the implant option ! Why have you lost both front teeth ?

One front tooth was removed when I was 15 to make space for my teeth when I had braces fitted. It was a small tooth. But, when I reached 16 they said my tooth problems were cosmetic. Which they wasn't, I've got a bite that can't be corrected now. Bottom teeth are too far back. So they stopped the brace treatment and asked my Dad to pay. He couldn't afford it.

This tooth needed a filling. I had the filling, but it came out. I told the dentist and hence why I had appointment 23rd to have the treatment. They cancelled, and offered me 25th as their earliest appointment. In that time the tooth cracked completely in half. She said if that happens I'll have to loose the tooth.

She said bridges are cosmetic and said something about £800 and then I switched off.

My dentist is Bhandal Dentist, quite a large chain in the UK but they're the only dentists in the area. All 3 are owned by them. So I don't really know what my rights are.

But my depression in general, and anxiety, is attributed to my teeth. Still, they say it's cosmetic lol. Daft aint it.

[Carys]

I can understand how anxiety and feeling low can be caused by 'cosmetic' issues ! Though, I'm struggling how it can be argued that this is just cosmetic, as your front bite isn't possible and your 'smile' is affected, which causes all sorts of mental health issues. I'm guessing that what she means is that a partial denture would do the same job as a bridge, but bridges are more expensive and give a better cosmetic look.

I broke off both my top front teeth as a young teenager in an accident, it traumatised me and I've had a full life-time of maintaining various replacement crowns (as they aged and broke) and then reconstructive work to rebuild and insert metal posts, something to 'do' with them every few years. I've managed to stave off implants to this point with not using my front teeth for biting.It can really really affect you having a missing front tooth, when I've broken a crown I've literally been unable to open my mouth to let anyone see how I look and been incredibly stressed. I don't know what your NHS rights are (I am assuming you are an NHS patient, because when there are problems as an NHS patient you are offered generally the lowest cost alternative), but I would say that its very important to you to find out from them if you can perhaps add something to the price and have one of the better alternatives. Or push even harder and ask if there is anyone they could recommend who would consider a bridge or implants on the NHS :( Implant specialists often need to be found, if thats something you would consider.

[pulisa]

You may be able to get a referral to the NHS and it's certainly worth a try. Otherwise you'll probably get offered a partial denture at a private practice as Carys says. Implants can be staggeringly expensive

My son has 10 missing teeth (self-inflicted) and the NHS maxillo facial surgeon can't treat him as his problems are psychological.

I wonder whether you could pay for any suggested treatment in installments? Your tooth issue is really important to you and rightly so. If people can't afford restorative work there should be a way of helping them spread the cost?

[BikerMatt]

You can definitely have a crown or bridge under the NHS. It's band 3 and cost £280 ish. Unfortunately it's time consuming and NHS dentists have become pretty unscrupulous as they are pretty much paid more for the amount of heads they can get through the door. You really don't want a single false front tooth which will be a flipper.

[Fishmanpa]

I second what's being said. My wife lost several teeth in an accident many years ago. She has a partial she wears and you would never know.

Positive thoughts

[WiredIncorrectly]

It's incredibly frustrating.

Who would I contact about this to see if there's any way I can get restoration work done everywhere and fix my bite and smile? I could pay in installments but my big problem is I can't get credit. Not even for a mobile phone. I don't have bad credit, I have no credit record at all. I paid Experian to look into this but that's another story.

I tried to braces on credit and was refused. I really don't know how any of this works in dentistry but it would be amazing if I was able to pay off in installments.

Matt I think you are right there. Unless you have the cash they're not really concerned. It's a business that obviously want's to thrive and grow so they push for the more expensive work from paying customers. I completely understand the business logic, but it sucks for anybody in my position.

Thanks for the discussion though.

[WiredIncorrectly]

I second what's being said. My wife lost several teeth in an accident many years ago. She has a partial she wears and you would never know.

Positive thoughts

My sister in law lost all but 4 of hers because of a genetic condition that caused them to crumble away. She looks fantastic and you'd never know she has dentures. She said most celebs have no teeth, just stumps that veneers are attached to. Not sure how true that is though lol.

It's partly stigma I guess. If they could replace all my teeth with semi permeant dentures I might be ok, but the dentist won't touch any tooth that's not bad. I still have a lot she calls good.

Ps. I'm a tooth grinder. It's genetic. My mother and brother do it. But it's grinded my teeth right down.

[One-Day-At-A-Time]

In my experience, dentists often nowadays say the only option is to have an extraction, when there are better options. I broke a tooth (not a front tooth but close to it) back in November. I got an appointment within a couple of days where they assessed it. I was very worried to be told they wouldn't be able to do anything until early January, because of the Covid situation. I was convinced that I would loose it if it wasn't done sooner.

The tooth was broken almost level with the gum, apart from one small piece that was loose and fell out over Christmas.

I was so relieved on the second appointment, when my dentist said he was able to save the tooth. He put metal pins in first to strengthen it and then built the tooth back up using the composite material they use for fillings. He did a great job and it looks really good. If like mine, the root of your tooth is strong, maybe that might be an option for you.