What are the consequences of having all your teeth pulled in your late teens? My youngest son is not yet 20, but he has been a drug addict for years. He is currently clean, and working hard to stay that way, but all the years of abuse have taken a heavy toll and his health in almost every regard. One of my main concerns right now is his teeth.
They are simply ruined. He is only able to chew with the teeth at the front of his mouth, and even that causes him a lot of pain. Many of the teeth are half rotted out, and several are missing. Almost none of them look healthy enough to save.
I took him to see a dentist as part of a free health care promo at the clinic where he gets treatment for the drugs, and he said that we should just pull all his teeth and fit him for dentures. They set up an appointment in 3 months for him to go in and get the whole thing done in one afternoon. My son seems resigned to this, but I don’t think it sounds totally right.
Isn’t that a lot to have done in one afternoon? And won’t he be too sore for them to fit dentures? I took my Grandpa in once, years ago, for a fitting, and they put all this goop on his gums. Won’t that get in the open sockets and cause him pain, and risk infection? This all seems really like he is being shuffled through as quickly as possible.
Are they any other options?
Thanks.
Lucy in Flagstaff
Dear Lucy,
This is not a good treatment plan. If your son has all his teeth removed before he is even 20, he will be a dental cripple by the time he turns 4o. The jaw bone deteriorates at the site of a lost tooth, so imagine what happens when ALL the teeth are gone. In time, the bones of the jaws become so thin and fragile that dentures are not an option.
Get a second opinion. If even some of your son’s teeth can be saved, they can be used to anchor dentures, and will slow the bone loss in his jaw. Search the internet for “affordable dental implants” or “mini dental implants”. If none of the teeth can truly be saved, he better start saving for dental implants. Even a few will dramatically slow the bone deterioration that is so necessary to avoid.
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