The tooth, the whole tooth, and nothing but the tooth
By @edent
· health teeth · 7 comments · 400 words · read ~234 times.
You know that ice-breaker game "Two Truths And A Lie"? When I'm forced into some mandatory office fun, I always say...
- I've sat in the seat of a space shuttle.
- I still have two of my baby teeth.
- I used to be a voice-over artist.
Well, one of those truths is about to come crashing down.
When I was younger, I had two of my adult teeth removed. They were coming out at such a crazy angle that they couldn't be tackled with braces. So they were surgically yanked out. I was a teenager at the time and was told that, with care, my remaining baby gnashers would probably last another decade or so - if I remembered to floss.
Three decades on, and I thought the chompers were doing relatively well. Sure, they looked a little worn and stubby - but they had certainly exceeded their manufacturer's guarantee. My lovely dentist had been prodding at them for the last few years with increasing worry. But reassured me they were doing better than expected.
And then, one morning, one of the teeth suffered a catastrophic structural integrity failure.
WARNING Image of dental horror follows!
Aiii! Luckily it didn't hurt - although it did rip into my lip a bit. But it was clear this tooth needed something more drastic than extra-strength Colgate.
The dentist has whittled down the remaining fang to be a bit less stabby. Now I have to decide what I want to happen to the remainder of my tusks.
I've previously wondered about high-tech dental implants - but it looks like there's nothing available. No NFC, light up, Internet-of-Teeth for me!
So I guess I'm going under the gas once again. These old ivories are destined for the scrap-heap. Titanium implants with glow in the dark colour-matched crowns, I guess. I'm not sure I want to travel abroad to get the procedure done. It may be cheaper, but there's less recompense if things go wrong.
If you've have dental implants in the UK, and want to hit me up with strategic info, please use the comment box.
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I’ve had three implants done by Dr Alan Sidi in London, to good effect (and one previously in the US). Keep in mind it’s a very long process, around 6 months. You’ll need a referral from your dentist, who will finish the work of installing the crown that screws into the implant.
Dad says:
Mum had hers done at Darwood and Tanner in Wimpole Street. They did an amazing job and aftercare was brilliant
Wherever you go, ask for details of the specific implant and/or for them to add this to your records.
I recently had a 12yo implant changed to a bridge. Called my old dentist where it was done and they couldn’t find any details so my current implant specialist had to do some guesswork.
Which was fine and he sorted everything no problem, but it might have made life easier if more of the details were written down somewhere.
My implant has a little logo that shows up on x-rays. It’s a smiley face which is kind of amusing
I had titanium implants done about 20 years ago. They've lasted well, but the bone underneath them hasn't. You need to be proactive with your dental hygiene once you get them done, otherwise you'll face them being yanked out and having a bone graft done, like what I is. Ouch (£ and pain).
PJ Evans says:
I've got 4 implants. As other have said here, you're commiting to really looking after them as it's all too easy to get bone loss and infections. That said, I had mine 7 years, all is well and I'm really glad I had them done. Mine were done by Hub Dental in Milton Keynes. Expensive, but - like sushi - not the sort of thing you want to skimp on.
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