I feel old suddenly!

I am having problems with one tooth in particular and at the moment I don't care if I end up with a gappy smile, I may go and ask her to take the tooth out.

I do wish we grew a nice new third set of teeth in our sixties!

Revelation! I hadn't thought about under active thyroid and it affecting your hair but I've got that as well! Thank you, Sunfield, for making the connection and your recommendations. No wonder I'm struggling. I think the message is, do the best I can in whatever way I can with the hair - I already use volumisers etc but maybe add more with pieces, rollers, just 'do it with smoke and mirrors'!

As for the teeth, I cannot come to terms with this gap and the soreness at the moment, I'm missing a whole side of my mouth for eating, cleaning my teeth and so on. I'll just have to manage and again, make the best of it. It doesn't inspire me to smile, put it that way. My silly H has agreed for us to go out tomorrow night, I'm not ready to go out, talking to people so I'm going to have to keep my mouth shut (if I can) as I can't refuse to go. You are all so kind.

Well said , you are NOT alone

Here, here Petra.

Don't panic Mazza 245. As you will see from most of the responses we all have similar problems, its our age I'm afraid. My hair is thinning too but I style it myself in such a way that it doesn't notice. Have you tried a few rollers to lift it. I put them in every morning before I go out and spray the roots before I muss it up with fingers. I do understand that this may not be possible after chemo however. I lost all my teeth a few years ago and now have mini implants which look very natural. A friend of mine who is 83 lost most of her hair at the back of her head, she grew her hair and she keeps it up in a kind of french roll with with a butterfly clip, this covers the back of her head so well. YOU ARE NOT ON YOUR OWN is what i am really saying. So pick yourself up and enjoy your life with all the fakery you can get your hands on! Come on cheer up.

Mazza245 I'm sorry for your dental problems. I'm always having nightmares about losing my teeth, it's just such an awful prospect. I hope it doesn't spoil your holiday too much, and at least you won't ever being seeing the people there again!

I think hairdressers must invest in special mirrors that make everyone look their worst. Sometimes I can't believe it's me, it's such a shock.

What bucks me up, though, is having my nails done in a rich red or deep pink polish and putting on a necklace and perfume when I go out. They make me feel dressed and as though I'm presenting my best face to the world. Perhaps that would help you too.

Hi mazza245, someone once said "getting old sucks " ,so true. I would like to contribute something which may help.I have an under active thyroid and this combined with ageing has left me with VERY fine hair. Have tried every volumising product under the sun, nothing works very well. However I have used hairpieces when going out for some time.Nowadays they come in all colours and all styles , can let you know the name of the ones I use, don't know if allowed on the site to give trade names or if you can "private message" as per Facebook, but more than happy to help.
As a lot of people have said I am sure we will all feel better when this awful rain stops

If it helps I was away in Asia for 3 months when my Front upper bridge of 4 teeth fell out into my bread! I was in a third world country where people usually went to the market to see a man to fix their teeth! My husband was so good, told me not to worry my teeth were still better than most of the population. I have now had the rest of the teeth on the top out and a denture that fits into implants fitted. It was expensive but so much better. Maybe you and your oh could go on one of these trips to Poland and both have them done. If I ever need the bottom ones done thats where I am goung its far cheaper. Advice, just go on your holiday, smile with your lips together and also remeber the sun will help your hair grow! Enjoy as they say

For each of us there will be a loss that brings home the passage of time. For me it is my singing voice which, tho I says it myself, has always been lovely. There are times now when I struggle to get a note out after a winter of coughing and I fear this is the beginning of the end for something that is so very much who I am. Sigh.

Someone I know has all her dental work done in Hungary mazza245. She says it is much cheaper and very competent dentists.

I wrote a post which has disappeared! The -clever little bugger- dentist was adamant that I shouldn't waste any more money on dentures or putting the bridge back in. He thinks I'll get used to it and, as the healing will take six months anyway, I can't put anything in. I'm glad for the reassurance about the extractions, I have imagined a lot of difficulty getting two rotten roots out of a very sore gum. I will look for someone else after I've got this lot over with but I haven't time now.

I like Stansgran's idea of walk tall, don't dither and cover mirrors. What's the new hair system, KatyK please? I'll get on with my packing, which is a whole other story, but I'll have to get on with things if I can stop holding my cheek!

Thank you mazza This is my lot so I am dealing with it the best I can. I have a new hair system which costs me a flippin fortune and now I am having a new type of denture which is also costing me a fortune but I have to deal with what I have and make the best of it. So outwardly I will look good but none of it will be real!!

I sympathise with you, mazza . Dental work can be so painful. My parents never took me to a dentist when I was young and I am certainly am paying the price now. A few years ago, I went to get lateral roots removed after suffering unbearable pain, to discover the bone was infected and had to be scraped, as result of my medical conditions. The pain wears us down and it's OK to feel sorry for ourselves, but I am sure things will improve for you. Like you, I suddenly realised that I was getting old, when I noticed my droopy eye and wrinkled neck, especially as I feel 15 yrs old in my head.
Go and enjoy your holiday, despite what you think, no-one will notice the gap or thinning hair, they are probably too busy worrying about their appearance!

Mazza245, I don't think it's the 'getting older' thing that is mainly worrying you, but your dental problems. If you are going away next week, can't you find a different dentist who will do a job on your teeth? Even if it's temporary, it would make you feel better to have had something done before your holiday. I know just how awful it makes you feel when something goes wrong on the face. I have just spent months, waiting for an appointment with a dermatologist, to have a terrible skin tag removed from my cheek. It was demoralising, and I really sympathise with you. I hope you feel better soon. Tomorrow is another day! (And the sun might be shining).

One advantage of being very short-sighted! I take my glasses off to have my hair washed and don't put them on until it's completely finished. All this time I look ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS! I am lucky to have thick hair with hardly any grey - thanks to my mother. But she gave me her thick legs as well ?.
I am feeling down about the fact my heart has decided to beat irregularly permanently and I've had to start stronger diuretics, but as others on here have said, compared with other people's problems I should be thankful. I think, though, we all can do with a little howl at times. I do hope you feel a bit more cheerful now mazza. Enjoy the sunshine this weekend and hopefully you'll sort out your teeth well enough to enjoy your holiday xx

And don't dust mirrors - ever!

Polo necks are the answer . Veils over mirrors like a Victorian mourning or at least never look in a mirror with contacts in. Always walk tall. Try not to dither. And sod the terrorists.

My hairdresser thinks I'm crazy as I just can't look straight ahead into the mirror and make it hard for her to get the sides even . She wasted her time showing me the back too as I never look .

shw Such a tragedy in London. But are you suggesting that Gransnet should come to a halt.
Or alternatively proceed entirely on the subject of the tragedy?

OP -- I got two roots removed last month. It was just like an ordinary extraction. My partial denture went back in right away.

Also, someone up thread mentioned a temporary partial denture. This is a good idea. My dentist when making mine took the impression at 9am and I was back in the chair at 3.30pm having it fitted. This was on the NHS and it was £130.
I kept my previous partial denture as a back up in case of emergency. If using it I would have one tooth missing, but better this than the alternative. It goes on holiday with me.

mazza, I would find a new dentist! There's no way he should be so unsympathetic about how you feel about the gap. My own lovely dentist says he would never let a patient leave the surgery without some form of temporary 'cover-up' if nothing permanent can be done on the day.

Oh thanks, sarahellenwitney, I know worse things happen at sea etc and we all have bags of sympathy for the troubles in London but I really don't think I need a telling off on top of everything else! Most of the posts on here are about personal problems of one sort or another, aren't they, so I thought I might get away without someone doing a guilt trip like yours! Why does someone always have to do this? Thank you so much to all the rest of you for the lovely messages which have comforted me.

Are you in London sarahellenwhitney?. I regularly walk over Westminster Bridge and my son works nearby. He's there today as always and I understand that the tourists and workers are out in the same numbers getting on with life. We talked about it, sorrowed and were horrified but what are we to do but carry on. We can't turn the clock back. Are we supposed to talk about nothing but?

angelabwrote
'I've always thought teeth were a major design fault in the human race!'
We weren't expected to last so long - we've worn them out from overuse!
I've just received a copy of a report from the cardiologist I saw on Tuesday:"Her main risk is age and dislipidemia " whatever that is, probably a tendency to form cholesterol.
It was the age bit that got me!

Sarahellenwhitney Yes its bloody awful what happened in London, but does that that mean that life stops.