I need an affordable suggestion to help my mother. She is 85 years old. Last week I took her to her dentist to get a filling. This week, she just had two teeth fall out. She is very embarassed and I want to find something that would help me replace these teeth that will not break the bank. She doesn’t have a lot of money and my family is struggling as well. What is the best way to go about helping her?
Brenda
Dear Brenda,
I want to make sure I understand what you wrote. If your mother’s teeth just unexpectedly fell out, that is an indication of advanced gum disease. Has her dentist mentioned any of this to her? If she was in for a filling last week I’d be shocked if he didn’t recognize the condition her gums were in.
The first thing to do is get her teeth and gums evaluated. Go to a different dentist to do this. If it is as bad as it sounds then her teeth are likely all loose and about to come out. Under normal circumstances, I would recommend bone grafting and some form of dental implants, either an implant supported denture or a fixed implant denture. However, neither of those options are affordable. If she were younger, I would encourage you to find a way to afford at least an implant supported denture, sometimes called a snap on denture. This is in order to protect her from facial collapse. At her age, that is not as much of an issue.
Your affordable option for her would be dentures. If all her teeth are cmoing out, just get full dentures. Any affordable dentist can do those. If she still has some truly viable teeth, then you can get her a Cu-Sil partial denture. This has holes that will allow her healthy teeth to stay put. If they fall out, then it is easy to close that spot up with another false tooth.
I am glad your mother has you to look after her.
This blog is brought to you by Enfield Dentist Dr. William Cummiskey.
