My teeth are not horribly bad, but could be way better. I was foolish, oh I mean really foolish in my tooth care and dental care choices for many years.

I had bridges put on both sides of my lower molar region -- one in the 70s and one in 1988. The latter one failed about 4 or 5 years later, taking both teeth that supported it with it. So instead of having a molar on either side of a blank space, I had no molars on that side. Beware of bridges...be very ware.

The bridge on the other side, the first one, worked much better but the forward tooth supporting it finally gave up the ghost after 2 root canals and a total of 3 bridges. (about $6 to $7 thousand of questionable investment)

So: I want to put two implants on the good side, the one with a rear molar still and unresorbed bone to support two implants. If that works, I want to do a bone transplant to the other side, which cannot now support two implants because of 12 years of calcium resorption, followed by two implants and a bridge.

I tried two implants on that side in '98 from a dentist who thought he could make it work w/o explaining the drawbacks of too little bone to me. They didn't work. Getting implants is an ordeal, oh man, it is the biggie in my experience as far as dental construction goes, and I'm no virgin in that dept.

Hope this isn't too personal and bloody. Maybe someone will have just the info I want, and maybe some of you younger guys will have pause to consider whether to get a bridge or an implant based on my sad tale.

When I got my bridges, implants had a lot of bugs still to be worked out. Were I facing the same choices now, I would have an implant put into the blank space (next to last molar, both sides), and eschew bridges all together. Two good teeth need to be ground down to support a bridge. Kinda screwy, in a way.

One fellow at the clinic said that a lot of dentists are now thinking that root canals are a waste of time and money -- better to go with an implant and avoid the hassle of the temporary fix of a root canal. Two of my root canals have failed, both with a costly crown or bridge on top of it.

I understand implants are not automatically successful now, but have a high chance of success, as bone seems to agree with the molecular structure of titanium and bonds with it. I have heard of some rejection. This is what concerns me.

Luckily, there is a good teaching clinic in Oakland with bright, young dentist interns supervised by teachers armed with the latest info. Otherwise, the care I've described could easily cost $10 thou plus. At the clinic, I think I can get by for about 30% of that.

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Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

I've had a couple of bridges for a very long time without a hitch. The thing is that you must floss on a daily basis or the bridges will eventually fail. My mother got four dental implants several years ago and has had no problem with them. Anything has to better than a damned denture.

Amen to that. Dentures scare the bejesus out of me. My upper teeth are all pretty good so the implant route has promise.

I probably should have flossed under the bridge more with the floss needles. I flossed everywhere else but was slack on that.

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Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Man, that's like droping 5 G's on an engine rebuild, then never changing the oil...

Didn't say I'd been smart about it....

Still, I think you've been lucky along with responsible. I've had more than one dentist tell me, after looking at my x-rays, that he is uneasy about that much reliance on bridges and crowns. The stump will eventually fall prey to bacteria getting under the crown and gums and bring you grief.

But you are absolutely right: I should have used the floss needles.

DOHHH!!!

I pack a brush and floss at all times now and use them after each meal or snack, being careful not to brush em' like I'm removing barnicles.

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Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

I had the metal plate in my head replaced with Ti 22, now the detectors in the airport don't go off when I pass near them.

John

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President Minuteman Section MBCA
www.mbca.org/minuteman

No personal experience here, however one of the retired agents I know opted for the titanium snaps and snap in teeth. Don't know if the replacement teeth are individually snapped in, or snapped in in sets of upper and lowers. Fairly costly, like in the $15-20K range. He seems to be fairly happy with the results. You do have to have good bone structure though.

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Mike Tangas
'73 280SEL 4.5 (9/72)- RIP
Only 8,173 units built from 5/71 thru 11/72

'02 CLK320 Cabriolet - wifey's mid-life crisis

2012 VW Jetta Sportwagon TDI...at least its a diesel

Non illegitemae carborundum.

I might try the bone graft route on the side of my mouth that sat fallow for too long. They get if from the pelvis, I believe. Oh man, I bet it'll be an ordeal...but, I have only myself to blame. Just hope it doesn't lay me up for too long.

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Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

cmac, I'm in the dental business and what youv'e experienced is some bad dentists.Crowns or bridges should last at least 10 years.These bridges that you've had did not fit very good therefore they leaked, creating tooth decay.Once those bridge abutments fail the bridge will not stay in place. I would not reccomend going to a teaching school for such extensive work. Go to a good oral surgeon (with refferals).
As Far as root canals go it's kind of hard to mess up a root canal. The nerve is removed from the pulp chamber and thats it. If they dont' get all of the nerve then you may still experience pain. Once a crown is placed over a root canal it should last a long time unless again the crown is leaking creating tooth decay under the crown. After you get your teeth restored, practice good oral hygiene.
Remember...Ignore your teeth and they'll go away.

You won't like it. The donor site will bother you for years.

I've had more dental work than I care to admit. I also ignored taking care of my teeth for many years when I was younger. Now I'm also paying the price-- and it's high!

I have a bridge in the front of my mouth. It's five teeth wide and is secured to the outermost real teeth. No problems yet, after about three years, but I've been good about flossing above the bridge too.

As far as root canals go, I've had several. There is always a chance that you'll need to get a root canal a second or third time for the same tooth. The root has so many little branches that it's imppossible to get them all the intitial time, so any one of them can become re-infected. That's happened to me twice. The final time for one tooth resulted in such a bad infection, that I lost the tooth and have a slightly visible hole in my gum. It was pretty damn painful. The dentist shot me 18 times with novacaine and it still hurt like hell. (My mom is an aenesthisist (sp?) and has strictly advised me never to have a dentist put me under; they simply don't have enough training.) Luckily you only notice a small hole in my gum if you know it's there, but I'd rather have my gum back!

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Current:
2014 VW Tiguan SEL 4Motion 43,000 miles.

2016 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport (wife's).

Past:
2006 Jetta TDI 135,970 miles. Sold Nov. '13.
1995 E-320 Special Edition. 220,200 miles. Sold Sept. '07.
1987 190-E 16 valve. 153,000 miles. Sold Feb. '06.
1980 300-D 225,000 miles. Donated to the National Kidney Foundation.
1980 240-D manual, 297,500 miles. Totaled by inattentive driver.

My Fiance works here. There is lots of great information on implats, bone grafts and surgery for you.

www.titaniumimplant.com

Her boss is one of the best in the business. other oral surgeons come to him to learn from all over the world.

It is in Los Angeles, but, he is the guy to go to if you need implants, bone grafts, etc done to fix your teeth up.

It doesn't hurt to give them a call and maybe go in for an exam to see what can be done or needs to be done to get you right. Feel free to IM me or e-mail me if you want.

I too spent many years neglecting my teeth, and have since shaped up. Now I am wearing braces for the next 1.5 years, and it sucks, but at least my bite will be proper. while the braces are on, I will also be getting an implant done through my Fiances work.

I have had 2 root canals in my life. one was done by some guy when I was seventeen, and later on a few years later, the root cracked and the tooth had to be extracted. The guy who did it had made the root too thin. I had another root canal on another tooth a few years later by another endodontist, and havent had an issue with it in over 10 years, and even on my dental exams from my periodontist, my girlfriends boss, and my orthodontist, have said that it was a very good root canal. If I ever needed another one, I would probably go back to the same guy who did my second rooth canal. He did Ronald Reagan and bush over the years, and many people who know of him has said he is very good, but not cheap, but I would rather pay more and know it would be god than pay less just to save some money and maybe have issues later.

Alon

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'92 300CE - Sold
2004 C240 - 744 - C7 Wheels - Android Radio
2002 C320 - 816 - Sport Wagon

I've had a titanium implant for about five years now (molar) and have had no problems. It is definately the way to go. You will have to be sure to keep the area cleaned and flossed. I also needed additional bone - and you do have options there. In my case I had them mix some synthetic bone with some bone from the roof of my mouth. It's worked well and is holding stong.

Oh man, excellent responses. Thanks and more thanks.
Yep, the bridge that went bad had some leakage and I didn't respond to it fast enough. It worked lose from the back tooth and snapped the front one off.

Damn, I hear you on the teaching school stuff, it is a bit worrisome. I hear that if the drilling into the bone is botched, you have permanent novacaine face in that area. I guess I should come up with the money, I can't afford major disaster in my mouth.

Thank God I finally got it together with better hygiene. I even made my own portable brush cause the ones on the market are too cheap and flimsy. I swear I could market an improved version of the one I made but I hear that to get a product on the market costs around $100 K. Who knows, I have a few ideas on that one.

Oh hell, now you've got me worried. I wonder if the roof of the mouth bone mentioned here would be better?

Hmmm, I'll have to ask about that.

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Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

It had nothing to do with my mouth, but I did have a bone graft at one time. The donor site was my hip, and it bothered me to some extent for more than ten years.