Do you still have all your own teeth?

I had an overcrowded mouth and firmly believe I was a guinea pig for students at Newcastle Dental Hospital in the early 60’s,
I had teeth out, then braces to close gaps, then other braces with painful claws to pull my teeth apart as the gaps closed and my front two threatened to cross. I went every month and to say I was traumatized was an understatement!! At one point most of the teeth in my mouth seemed to be filled in one way or another. Thankfully, I’ve had 2 very sympathetic dentists in the past 40 odd years and all my top teeth are crowned. I’ve most of my bottom teeth, now refilled and tidied up. I go regularly.
Unfortunately, I didn’t start off with good teeth - Dad had his out in the RAF and poor Mum lost hers in hospital when she was only 24, when it was believed it would slow down the onset of her RA.
Both DDs attend my Dentist - they have lovely teeth, all down to his expertise and their own careful maintenance. When DD2 was 30 her gift request was to have her teeth veneered - she’s 40 now and still happy with her choice.

I swear if God was a woman, we’d have had beaks!!!

I have a rare blood cancer - Essential Thrombocythemia and take daily oral chemo. This will be for life as my cancer isn't curable. This has badly affected my gums and I've lost several teeth and now have another 3 loose right at the front which will be taken out soon. The dentist (luckily NHS) will be fitting a denture straight away but has told me that I will need to pay for another denture after a few months once my gums have shrunk a bit more. I'm dreading it as had a denture for a few months 12 years ago but managed to pay for 2 implants. Can't do that now.

I think those dentists back then experimented on people.

When I was young we had a terrible dentist, in the 1960s he filled most of my teeth as a preventative measure he also removed my Dads teeth as he had the start of gum disease , my Dad never believed it.
He also removed 2 top teeth as he said my mouth was overcrowded.
Recently my dentist had to remove a crown as I need root canal treatment the crown couldn’t be replaced so I was going to have a bridge only to be told the adjacent tooth is not stable enough. So an implant is my only option but it’s so expensive so living without it at the moment.

Of course they're all my own: I've paid for them!

The ones I have are my own.

Our children have only 4 fillings between them. We were quite relaxed about sweet stuff but not relaxed about when it was eaten (straight after meals) nor were we relaxed about tooth brushing.

You've mentioned your teeth before Kate1949 and it always makes me sad. 💐

My mother had all her teeth removed in 1955 aged 40 which is still very young I think. We had been abroad so that was her first chance to see an NHS dentist. He told her they had to come out because of gum disease, but I find that very hard to believe. A photo of her shows she had nice teeth, I just think it was too much effort to treat her because the dentists had so many people requiring treatment. Since 1948 the NHS had been struggling to cope because so many people had not seen a dentist for years, or maybe never.

A bit of dental history from Wiki:
When the NHS was established in July 1948 dental treatment was free. Demand on the service was enormous. About a quarter of the dentists joined the NHS and by November 1948 83% had joined. Dental health in the UK was worse than that of Germany. In the first nine months of the NHS 4.5 million teeth were removed and 4.2 million teeth were filled. In 1950-1951 65.5 million artificial teeth were fitted.

Yes thank you

A mixture in my mouth of crowns, fillings one implant but no actual denture as yet.

All my own teeth, only a couple of fillings. My children all have no fillings. I think it is partly genetic.

I am in my eighties but had four upper front teeth removed about 40 years ago. I had developed severe abscesses under my teeth and in those days extraction for this was quite normal. I can’t say that it bothered me.

I have all my own teeth I am nearly 71. I had one tooth extracted years ago so have one gap one side of my mouth but it’s near the back so not really noticeable. I go to the dentist regularly and just say to him “ please keep them in my mouth” . I have some fillings but not had any for a while now

One missing, it had decay under a crown. I’m in the process of having an implant. Mine is second from the back, and I hate the gap because it affects the way I eat. Implant is an expensive process, but I was put off the idea of a bridge because over time it weakens the teeth it is attached to, and one is the back tooth so it is more susceptible to movement because there aren’t other teeth next to it. I may be wrong, but I don’t think a denture is an option for a single tooth, I was only offered a bridge.

💐*Kate*. You are the mother that sadly you didn’t have.

I have had masses of fillings but only one back tooth extracted after failed root canal treatment. I am very lucky.

I have a condition called Sjogren's syndrome, dry eyes and dry mouth which means I don't have any tears or saliva. I have had corneal ulcers so using eye drops all the time and had to have all my teeth extracted as they were all disintegrating. I have had dentures now for 5 years and I love them. I was going to splash out and get dental implants but it meant having my jaw bone built up with other bone so I decided to stick with the dentures. The best thing is that the dentures make me look much younger than I am as they look perfect and you cannot tell they are dentures but all of my friends who still have their own teeth have found theirs to have gone yellow as the enamel has worn off, we are all in our 80's and I can smile whilst my friends cover their mouths with their hands when they talk as they are ashamed of the way they look. Because of my medical condition I was referred to the hospital for my teeth removing and instant dentures fitting rather than a high street dentist and the specialist did a fantastic job and it was free too.

I now have a private dentist as there are no NHS dentists around anymore and I just go for checks every year but so far my dentures still fit perfectly so should last me until I kick the bucket.

86 and one removed about 18 months ago as it became very loose but had no decay.
However I do have 3 crowns due to extreme teeth clenching when my H first diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

No! A bridge and implants for me. Otherwise I'd resemble Shane McGowan rip.

Our daughter was taken to regular dentists appointments from an early age. She is in her 50s and has a lovely smile. No way was any child of mine going to go through what I went through.

My two adult children at 51 and 53 still have all their teeth without a single filling.

Reason?

A really mean mother who only allowed sweet sugary stuff once a week on a Friday - either that or a book for mum to read to them at bedtime.

Sometimes they chose the book!

I’m 65 Have had two wisdom teeth extracted in 20’s and lost a molar 5 years ago, another molar capped almost 40 years ago and the one next to it very wobbly. Front teeth all good but I grind my teeth in my sleep and thus damaged some especially the wobbly one

I had all mine taken out aged 11 due to parental neglect. It's been difficult to put it mildly

Really sorry to hear that Kate1949

Long life =no teeth😄😄

My parents had all their teeth removed and both lived to be nearly 90. So you’re probably right

I had all mine taken out aged 11 due to parental neglect. It's been difficult to put it mildly.

a 90yr old lady I used to visit would answer that question with ; yes all bought and paid for'

Long life =no teeth😄😄