I feel old suddenly!

Thanks Maggie It didn't go at all according to plan. DiL had only gone for a replacement filling, the dentist seemed quiet happy about the self draining abscess underneath! But we hope all is well now and I won't talk about it on this thread!!

Ouch. I hope all is well now, NfkDumpling, and that you all got some sleep.

Hope springs eternal in my hunt for an NHS dentist. I called to enquire at a local practice today. They don't keep a waiting list, but just take on the next new patients to ring whenever existing ones move or pop their clogs. I was advised to give them a ring every week or so. I think it advisable to keep on the good side of a potential dentist, so kept smiling with those pearly whites on display , and did not let on that I felt a bit and at this.

I did notice that the phone was ringing off the hook all the time I was there!

(I'm up at this silly time hoping for a text from DS and DiL as she's in A&E with bleeding gums. A nice dentist took over an hour removing a tooth today which was infected. No antibiotics given. Just sent her on her way. I didn't get the text until they were already there, with three year old in tow. I hope it's not a busy night!)

800?! Bloomin' Eck! I was lucky when I changed that the surgery had just been taken over by My Dentist and had enlarged a bit so was taking NHS. I'd have had to have paid for my crowns anyway as I wasn't in pain. There wasn't enough tooth left for veneers they'd worn down too much - apparently.

(see those stunning gnashers?!). I made a tentative effort to find an NHS dentist the other week, when our practice's insurance scheme's terms & conditions changed (and, surprisingly, not to our advantage). I emailed one that was shown on the NHS site as currently taking on NHS patients and was told that yes, we could join the waiting list, but there were over 800 people on it already...

Oh, perhaps I will just and not

Of course they are, Jalima! I've been checking out the current prices for veneers on my dentist's website and am a bit to see them blithely quoted as from £500 each. But they are now offering a 5 year guarantee. I think I paid under £200 for both, though it seemed a big investment at the time. The two teeth underneath them are horrible!

She is very good otherwise!
Perhaps she thinks I'm being too vain. Or that my teeth aren't worth saving

Perhaps without NHS backup, private dentists rely more on reputation and she daren't risk as much?

Well, she is private so I don't know why she is hesitant! she could charge me a fortune

Great Mazza and definitely see your old dentist Jalima. I fear it's too easy to just say no to us wot's not in the first bloom of youth and beauty.

Thanks Maggiemaybe
I may go back to my old dentist who said it was possible, the new one is lovely but says it is not possible - perhaps she isn't confident enough to do them.

I remember the difference it made to Gordon Brown that is actually with my mouth shut

Just a quick update. Went back this morning and had the bridge put back in. My ears are ringing with his dire prognostications about "it could come out tomorrow" and "no guarantees" but I think he knows what he's talking about and has fixed it well. I also extracted (!!) from him a promise that I could have a temporary denture for the six months it will take to heal after the extractions as he thought I'd live with a gap then as well. He can't promise apparently that I can definitely have an implant, we'll have to see how I heal but he says there are plenty of options. I feel whole again and much more human, isn't it silly how these little things affect us! My H grumpily said "can't see any difference" but I can! Thank you ALL once again for giving me perspective and cheering me up last week, I was definitely down. Love and best wishes to all x

NfkDumpling and Jamila, I decided to have two front tooth veneers done, even though I was told that there was no guarantee at all that they would even last six months, but that I could hope for about five years. That was 30 years ago and they're still going strong! The best money I ever spent! No doubt they'll drop off by the end of the week now that I've dared crow about them....

I don't square up without complaint - or face the future with optimism! I grouse with the best of them - then think what the hell, I can't take it with me and spend the £65 for a temporary fixing. Then moan about that!

Well said Riverwalk I would love to be one of those women who walk around 'bald and proud'. I admire them but I am not brave enough.

Your dentist seems unsympathetic and pessimistic, Mazza, yes I would go back and ask him to fix the bridge temporarily, waste of money or not. He should be able to ensure it will stay in long enough for the lengtht of your holiday at least!

We're all allowed a little self-pity, particularly about something that affects our self-esteem. Not everyone can be a Pollyanna when their hair & teeth are falling out!

It's probably too late now as you're off on holiday this week but I would have insisted on the day on some sort of temporary measure to cover the gap.

Here I am again with my 'well if it makes you feel any better' As I said I am about to embark on a new set of dentures and for once in my life I am not going to go for the old NHS plastic ones. I am having a specially made set which are going to cost me over £2000!! I feel bad spending so much but I have to start feeling better about myself. Fortunately my DH is very supportive and knows the struggles I have had with teeth and hair. Do whatever you need to do to make yourself feel better mazza

I'd have it put back in because I know how much it is troubling you and just hope that it stays put. It would be worth £65 to make you feel happier - stop 'stewing over it' and DO IT'!!

Good Luck with whatever you choose to do

I'm debating with myself about what to do today. The dentist would probably cement it back in if I pushed it and paid him £65! But his advice the other day was not to, as it may come out again the next day or the next week again but also (a) because it was throwing money away and (b) because it has to come out the day after I come back from holiday for the extractions and Sod's law, it'll be well stuck in there! So I keep stewing it over. I wish I'd just made him put it back last Wednesday so I wouldn't have had these last five days without it now. My H accepts the loss of the £65 with resignation. What do you think?

mazza if I had missing teeth, no matter how temporary, I'd be whinging and wailing also. Are you going to see about getting something temporary to tide you over?

Don't be ashamed, mazza. Everyone has a bit of a wail and a whine, whether they mention it on here or not. It's only natural.
As long as you can pick yourself up afterwards and carry on, you'll be all right.

I do try to count my blessings and boy, I've realised how many I've got now. We are all different with different shortcomings and medical problems. I can't believe how many of you struggle on with much bigger, many and varied problems and none of you are whingers, at least not on here! You all seem to square up to whatever faces (and not faze) you without complaint and look forward with optimism. I feel ashamed, really, that I whinged, cried and wailed about my missing teeth, thin hair and all the rest last week. I will try to be more positive and cheerful and accept my advancing years (ugh!) and just get on with it.

oh mazz245, I know just how you feel...for me the thinning hair was the most difficult to deal with, but I told myself that there's always people out there feeling so much worse...
It's a harsh thing to deal with, everything you've faced this week, but you are a fabulous woman!! pick yourself up, get out to grab some new outfits for your holiday, & remind yourself of all you've achieved...you are who you are..cherish the moments that have made you 'you'then go and enjoy that holiday!!...chin up mazza.