Young adult lost all her teeth!

dieselhead

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1169764/NHS-scandal-I-dentist--Now-aged-21-Ive-teeth-removed.html

I know we have a few dentists and dental nurses on here and would be interested to hear your views on this story. I found it quite shocking, but also have a hard time believing that she couldn't have saved her teeth by looking after them.

I don't have a NHS dentist but I do have an excellent private one, and I too am a student, but it is just one of those things I have to budget for.

My dentist has told me that so long as I brush my teeth twice a day with an electric brush he doesn't forsee any problems. So why did this girl loose all her teeth so young??????

annie2005

She had a gum disease according to the paper I read. This could be related to the genetic one that runs in my family. Nothing to do with hygiene in that case. Just bad genes. Several members of my family have had all their teeth removed because they could not stand the agony any longer. You will note that it mentions that she might never be able to have false teeth because the gums might not heal enough. That is down to the flesh of the gums being very fragile down to continual inflammation. It's not always treatable sadly.

Toothsmith

dieselhead wrote: »

So why did this girl loose all her teeth so young??????

Because she didn't brush them.

It takes a fair bit of neglect to lose teeth that young in that quantity.

I notice that her hair, make up and clothes all looked very nice, so she obviously has some money to spend on herself. Just didn't think dentistry was that important until it was too late.

Toothsmith

annie2005 wrote: »

She had a gum disease according to the paper I read. This could be related to the genetic one that runs in my family. Nothing to do with hygiene in that case. Just bad genes.

Even people with genetic predisposition to gum problems would have to work very hard at neglecting things to loose them all by 21.

Even with the genetic cases, clean teeth can still last for many many more years than plaquey ones.

annie2005

Toothsmith wrote: »

Even people with genetic predisposition to gum problems would have to work very hard at neglecting things to loose them all by 21.

Even with the genetic cases, clean teeth can still last for many many more years than plaquey ones.

Not denying that clean teeth can last a lot longer than uncared for ones. But when you are in a state of continual agony you want every last one of them gone, gone and gone. I spent years begging my dentists to pull teeth and them not listening because they believed that they knew what was best for me. Then finally I had a dentist who actually listened and looked at my whole medical history. My health has never been better.

Instead of 8 pain killers a day nearly every day within two weeks of the last of the teeth going I was pain killer free. My mouth only didn't heal in one bit where it turned out there was a bit of root lingering. Once it had been removed for the first time in years there was not a bit of pain in my whole mouth.

If you have basically sound teeth and gums then it's probably impossible to understand the misery of not being listened too. Even when you are in tears with the pain. Years of not being able to sleep only because of the pain. Of being always on and off antibiotics because there was yet another round of infection.

Out of interest, Toothsmith, do you know why her mouth might not heal enough for dentures? I have heard about this from family members but always wondered what the medical explanation was?

chazsucks

It really isn't that hard to find a dentist. If you're teeth were THAT bad in the first place you WOULD find a dentist no matter what (unless you didn't care).
Anyone who can afford new clothes, makeup etc can easily save up to afford to go to a private dentist, even if it took a long time

anewman

She eventually found an NHS dentist who did the sums. The NHS dentist earned £x per tooth removed so removed them all

Oh ok that's me being cynical, but I'm sure it wouldn't be the first time that unnecessary dental work was carried out.

suki1964

Ive no sympathy for her. I have gum disease, have had since my teens and Im now 44. I have lost 5 teeth so far. I can no longer afford the fancy treatments the private sector offered me but with me cleaning them twice daily, using an electric soft brush, interdental brushes and flossing (where I can), seeing a Dentist twice yearly for a check up and a once yearly clean Im keeping the teeth in my head.

So if I can hold on to mine that long, the only reason shes lost hers is from her own neglect

jugglebug

anewman wrote: »

She eventually found an NHS dentist who did the sums. The NHS dentist earned £x per tooth removed so removed them all

Oh ok that's me being cynical, but I'm sure it wouldn't be the first time that unnecessary dental work was carried out.

NHS dentists do not get paid per tooth (In england and wales that is)
They get paid per course of treatment, and so to get paid per tooth would have to extract 1 every 3 months.
Check up and prevention = Band 1 fee
Simple treatment such as an extraction (or 32 extractions) = Band 2 fee
More complex treatment such as denture or crown(s) = Band 3 fee.

Therefore if you need 1 tooth out you pay the same (and the dentist receives the same funding) as someone who has all their teeth out.

jugglebug

annie2005 wrote: »

Out of interest, Toothsmith, do you know why her mouth might not heal enough for dentures? I have heard about this from family members but always wondered what the medical explanation was?

I would imagine it is more to do with the amount of bone she must have lost during the gum disease.
The teeth get loose because bone is destroyed, this wont regenerate up to the level it once was, as the body has no teeth for it it support any more.
The residual bone ridge left behind will therefore leave little surface area for the dentures to sit on. Particularly in the lower that tends to get very narrow and sharp. The upper jaw has the hard roof of the mouth to help out where the lower doesn't of course
I am also guessing it is slightly poor reporting on the part of the journalist, paraphasing what the patient had been told. I suspect the dentists have been trying to get across to her how difficult it is to get used to dentures, particularly in this situation. Rather than saying she may never have them.
Essentially Dentures are a compromise. I once heard someone far cleverer than me describe them as the alternative to "No teeth" NOT an alternative to "real teeth".

Toothsmith

jugglebug wrote: »

I would imagine it is more to do with the amount of bone she must have lost during the gum disease.
The teeth get loose because bone is destroyed, this wont regenerate up to the level it once was, as the body has no teeth for it it support any more.
The residual bone ridge left behind will therefore leave little surface area for the dentures to sit on. Particularly in the lower that tends to get very narrow and sharp. The upper jaw has the hard roof of the mouth to help out where the lower doesn't of course
I am also guessing it is slightly poor reporting on the part of the journalist, paraphasing what the patient had been told. I suspect the dentists have been trying to get across to her how difficult it is to get used to dentures, particularly in this situation. Rather than saying she may never have them.
Essentially Dentures are a compromise. I once heard someone far cleverer than me describe them as the alternative to "No teeth" NOT an alternative to "real teeth".

Couldn't have put it better myself!