so ashamed of teeth!

I have lost a tooth from my dentures and need to leave the denture at the dentist for 24hours......not sure which is worse...toothless or teethless....so I know exactly where you are. I will do it for sure next week and think of you while I am 'gummy'!

The enamel wore off my front teeth when I was 17 & I had first crowns then a denture as the crowns wouldn't stay put. The roof of my mouth is very shallow so the denture had to be held in place with wire loops, which was fine initially but pushed the gums back, so I got gum disease and lost the remaining top teeth when I was in my forties (I'm 67 now).

Because of the shallow roof there was always a problem with them moving when I tried to chew and eventually, when they became available, I had implants - they cost a small fortune but I was working then and had no dependents. Things were wonderful for a few years but last year the implants, which had been giving problems, finally failed.

For various reasons I have had to wait nearly a year (with no top teeth) to have the implants taken out, now I have a 3 month wait before I can be fitted with a denture - which I know will probably not stay in place anyway!

The message of this is, don't worry about how you look - no-one except your close friends and family will notice anyway - just be thankful it's only for a day! As you will gather from all these supportive posts, lots of people - more than you would guess - have false teeth by the time they are in their sixties so there's no need to be embarrassed. The worst thing really is not being able to chew - I could murder for steak and salad and a jacket baked potato!

My dentist takes the impressions at 9am, they are picked by someone from the laboratory at 9.30. Then fitted at a 4pm appointment.

Anyone with ill fitting or uncomfortable dentures needs to get right back to their dentist. The problem is for the dentist and the laboratory to sort, and to keep sorting until they get it right. I have returned on occasion and my dentist made it comfortable in moments.

Yes, I agree with Katyk. I was not encouraged to look after my teeth as a child. Consequently, I had a lot of them extracted when I was a young girl. I felt terribly embarrassed when going through puberty, and to this day (I am 70) I still feel embarrassed about my teeth and don't disclose to anyone that I have a partial plate, some crowns and a few of my own. Whereas long ago it was acceptable to have dentures, now it seems to be frowned on. Only my immediate family know. Having to have most of my teeth out at such a young age has left me with low self esteem all throughout my life and I will never forgive my stepmother for failing me.

I'm not even 60 but have lost about half a dozen teeth due to smoking . I had a denture for a while, for the two front teeth, but couldn't stand it so got implants. Then when I needed implants for my rear lower molars I didn't have enough bone left, so they had to reposition the nerve on the outside of the jaw bone to allow them to drill the posts into what was left.
I still get a numb chin from that (3 years ago), but at least it stopped me smoking. However all the money I used to spend on fags now goes on implants!
I brought up DD to always brush her teeth twice a day (which I never did as a child) and she's never had so much as a filling in her life. Unfortunately she's not passing on this good habit to DGS, so I have to hover over him when he comes to stay to try and instil it in him.

Bless you ll for your replies/advice, I feel so much more normal for realising that lots of you have similar troubles. For years I have been looking at other peoples gnashers with envy!
Regarding the day after denture this is because the missing teeth will be going on the partial denture I already have. My dentist wants me to wait six months for new dentures because of natural shrinkage. The deed is being done on weds, I will tell you how it goes,
Once again thank you gnsnetters.

Victoria08 - I also have low self esteem due to having my teeth removed as a child. I have found it hard to forgive my mother for letting a mad dentist take all of my teeth out when in fact there were only a few at the front that were rotten. Times were different then and my mother was a downtrodden woman married to a violent man. She would never have questioned a dentist/doctor or anyone in authority. I try to forgive her but it's hard. A few years ago I lost my hair too so that didn't help the self esteem. Doubly cruel but this is my life and I have to get on with it. Good luck fillygumbo.

Oh you poor love. All the best with the treatment. Mr brother in law had to have his teeth out when he was about 40. He'd been terrified of the dentist and only went when he was suffering extreme pain. That's all in the past - he has amazing dentures and looks years younger both from the point of view of his wonderful dentures which look so natural and the fact that he doesn't EVER have to go through all that again. I note some folks have said that NHS dentures are OK, but he had NHS dentures to start with and then paid for private dentures and the outcome is fantastic. I think lots of people do eventually go for the private option - if you can afford it - not cheap however. Anyway, just thinking of you and sending good vibes for your speedy recovery.

What a time to be reading this thread - I have a dental check-up in less than an hour!!! I am lucky enough not to have needed dentures - yet - but I didn't realise how yellow my teeth had become until my three granddaughters wanted to know why they weren't as white as theirs! They made up for it as when I said "because I'm an old lady and I've had them longer than you've had yours" - they replied "you're not old Nanny"!!!! Bless them!

I do empathise with you fillygumbo as over the years I've lost most of my teeth and what's so annoying is that I have always looked after them and, because my mum lost her teeth quite young, she made me go to the dentist which I think is part of the problem. When we were young dentists didn't get paid unless they did work and I think I've had teeth removed and filled that would never have happened these days. DH, on the other hand, never went to the dentist or cleaned his teeth much as a child and has all his teeth. As Teetime says '.. some people got lucky and some people didn't'. I think there are more people around with dentures than you think it's just something you don't broadcast. Once you get your new dentures I'm sure you will look better and, hopefully, you will feel much more confident.

Teeth! I can remember my old Granddad cuddling my baby girl who was teething and in pain.

"They're trouble when they come and trouble when they go" he said to her.

Isn't that the truth?

Hope it all goes well for you Fillygumbo.I Have no problems with my teeth,
Which is just luck really, but do have other health issues, so we all have something one way or another.Nothing to be ashamed about at all.

Soon be over and done with now fillygumbo and you will be able to munch away to your heart's content. No more of the dreaded toothache, ever.

That new way of doing the impressions sounds great. Hope it becomes widely available before my last two useable chewers give up the struggle. Like johanna, that's the bit I dread.

I was in my mid-forties when the Aussie dentist gave his prognosis...
"It's a bloody disaster area, mate" he said. At that time I was a musician, among other things playing saxophones, clarinet etc. There was no way I could continue sans choppers... (Mind you, if I had been able to carry on I would probably still be in debt today, whereas 'the day job' with its regular money saw me straightened out in a matter of a few years - swings, roundabouts... )

I live at peace with my dentures, thanks to Fixodent...

I love your posts Feetlebaum

Feetle

My mum used her false teeth as a rattle. She used to sort of click them in her mouth when I was a baby.

One day, so the story goes, I grabbed them out of her mouth.

She had all her teeth taken out at 21 because of psoriasis. It must have been traumatic for her.

I'm in the middle of an exhausting and expensive round of dental treatment to save the teeth I have.

One of the worst things about it (among many) is the way you now have to lay so far down in the chair. It's to save the dentists' having back pain apparently but it makes me feel quite ill.

@Falconbird - I sympathise with your poor mother... but for some reason your story reminds me of Goon Show, in which the wonderful Valentine Dyall, as Doctor Longdongler, was hitting old folks on the head with a rubber mallet, and catching their dentures in a bucket... For why, says you? Well, he was then painting the gnashers black and giving them to the cabaret turn at the Café Filthmuck, for whom he had certain moist feelings, to use as - castanets! ¡Olé!

well oops I got it completely wrong, arrived at the dentist today all worked up ready to have the teeth out, I thought it was an hour appointment so sent my dh away to supermarket for coffee, anway I had misunderstood and today was taking impressions which took about 10 mins so the long appt is tomorrow. I am now realizing I have no need at all to feel sorry for myself ... still do a bit though.

My DH's grandmother lived to be 97. She always used to make a point of telling everyone that she still had her own teeth until she sneezed one day and the top set shot out

filly hope it all goes well for you tomorrow. Teeth can be a trial! Also can just be luck rather than quality of care. You cannot be ashamed of something that you have not caused!

My mum was fastidious about her dental care/check ups and ended up with bridges/dentures whereas my dad just brushed his teeth 2 x a day and never had any problem!

My DD1 has poor enamel allegedly caused by having an antibiotic for an ear infection when her teeth were developing! Or maybe she just takes after her grandmother! I drank gallons of milk when pregnant! DD2 has excellent teeth! She & I are like my dad.

I was so ashamed of my teeth as my gums were receding and they looked like tombstones! I smoked too so they were yellow. I now have full dentures top and bottom and can smile again, of course I chose the whitest shade
The top teeth are great and fit like a glove due to a full plate but the bottom ones are a different matter....After having the last 7 teeth removed from the bottom I got an infection called dry socket, I can't even describe the pain but toothache doesn't come close, it took 6 months to be able to wear the teeth which are not a good fit as I still had some of my own teeth when I had the fitting so the next set should be much better...I hope so anyway. I knew my confidence was knocked when I had my own teeth in and I am so much happier now with dentures, I can smile again :D
I hope all goes well with whatever you decide to do about it but I recommend gaining your smile again as you will feel so much better.

I used to be a smoker and that caused one of my front teeth to loosen and move - it kind of twisted in the socket and stuck out at the front. Looked awful. No pain, but I was so self-conscious, couldn't smile with my lips apart and so on. So I took the plunge in my early fifties and went to the dentist. I'd never been very good at looking after my teeth, always phobic about dentists.
Also, during two pregnancies with only 5 months between them, my teeth really suffered and I lost 6 of them. In those days dentists received a standard payment per tooth, regardless of the treatment, so it was obviously more cost effective for them to remove the tooth than to fill it.
So, trip to the dentist to have front tooth looked at resulted in it and one other bad tooth near the front being removed and a partial denture being fitted. The dentist suggested I have 2 additional teeth added to the denture to deal with other gaps in my smile. I am now 65 and have had this denture for around 11 years with no problems. Very few people know about it, only close family. It is an NHS denture, fits very well and looks very natural.
It really is not the worst thing in the world and we shouldn't have to feel ashamed of it. I do hope your experience has been a lot less traumatic than you feared, fg