Broken Bridge :-/

wardy87

Hi,
3 years ago I had a dental bridge put it, the anchor is one of my front teeth, and the one to the side is floating, it isn’t attached to anything.... it’s been fine since I had it done, but earlier I was eating a Haribo sweet and the 2 ‘teeth’ came loose, they were just stuck on by my gum a bit, I had to take it all out and now i’m left with a massive gap (2 teeth wide) in the front of my mouth...... I already suffer with anxiety and depression so i’ve been crying all evening, it’s also making me talk funny and i’ve not been able to eat properly......

As it’s Saturday evening, i’m having to wait until Monday morning to see if they have an emergency slot available....

I had the work done as a private treatment as it was cosmetic, my front tooth had done dark and the one next had grew at a funny angle, so this is why the treatment was done.

The crowns are still fine on the outside, the inside obviously has cement and whatever else it is... to be honest i’m not sure if I had a post put in previously :-/ or whether they just rounded down the dark front tooth and used that, but inside the crown looks like a few different things (going by the colours).

As it’s affecting my speech and eating, would this be done as a NHS treatment now? Band 3 i’m guessing?

As i’m not sure what the reason actually is as to why its broken off, i’m guessing a Xray would be done to check the front tooth....

If the tooth is still ok, would they simply drill out the tooth/post if there is one, and drill out the crap inside the crown, and then put a new post in and attach the current crown to it?

Anyone else had this happen to them? and if so... what did you have done?

I don’t claim any benefits at all, i’m 32, I care for my mother and help with my sister daily but not actually down as anything, I do freelance work to get money which is another reason it’s upset me as I don’t really have the money available now because of the Christmas presents i’ve recently bought... so again, just a bit upset and wondering what can be done and what it would come under etc.

Thanks.

Toothsmith

Ring up on Monday and get in to see them. It's impossible to tell without seeing it what will be able to be done,

It might cement back on quite easily, or it might be that the supporting tooth has broken, and so some alternative might need to be discussed to replace both teeth.

Some temporary arrangement should be able to be sorted out quite quickly though, if it is more complicated, and this temporary arrangement could easily be able to last until you have saved up a bit.

wardy87

Hi, thank you for the reply...

There isn’t much of a tooth left behind now in my mouth, just a small jagged bit left, the rest is above the gum line, so i’m not sure how anything can be cemented back on as it is :-/

It’s really getting to me, non stop being upset about it, and now having to go all day today with it, i’ve not left my bedroom since it happened, and i’ve been unable to eat, i’m going to just have meal replacement milkshakes today.....

Thing is.. my dentist who I had recently (who is really good), only works on Fridays, so i’ll have to see one of the other dentists tomorrow, who I seen briefly before and they’re very hard to understand and also seem quite rude, which is making me even more upset, and then there is the cost whch again I dont have!

I was hoping they could drill out the remainder in the crown tomorrow and drill out the remainder of my tooth and put a post in, that way there would be something for the crown to attach to, but i’m not sure what they’ll do and it’s just making me over think, as it all snapped for a reason afterall!

wardy87

Well I did take photos and tried to put them on here but it says as a new user I can't put links, so i'm unsure on how else I can show the images which is annoying.

Toothsmith

I can't judge anything from just photos - and I wouldn't anyway. There is no way you can know whether or not I'm a real dentist, or just a 15yr old with google!!giving specific advice without you in the chair in front of me would be counter productive and useless. It is your own dentist you need to speak to.

But you will have options, and you needn't necessarily have to do anything really expensive immediately.

Be guided by your dentist, and try not to get into a flap!

Toothsmith

Just read your post again. See the other dentists then just to get something done temporarily until you can see your own.

winspiration

Could you use a denture fixative to stick it back on temporarily until you can get to the dentist tomorrow?

I had a bridge which came off a couple of years ago, because one of the teeth it was attached to had died. I had to have that one out, but the dentist was able to split the bridge and just recement the bit at the other end back onto the other tooth, like a crown. I was left with a two tooth gap, but as it's at the upper side of my mouth, it wasn't a problem. My bridge was over 25 years old though - yours seems to have failed relatively quickly.

Obviously it is very upsetting, but as you can't get to the dentist any quicker than tomorrow - perhaps try to focus on something else to try to take your mind off it in the meantime, if you can? I do realise that it's much easier said than done, but winding yourself up about it won't achieve anything more than to really stress yourself out

wardy87

Hey,

It’s my anxiety too, I suffer bad with social anxiety so even going to the dentist is hard for me, I get worked up even just ringing to make appointments, so my anxiety is making me a lot worse.....

I have a 2 tooth gap but one tooth was taken out so thats just gum now, and the dead tooth that the bridge was connected to has snapped, only a small bit is showing below the gum line now, like a small jagged bit, the rest is still in the crown.... so there isnt anything really to ‘attach’ back together, so I basically have a huge gap at the front of my mouth with a small jagged bit of tooth coming out!

I have no clue on why it would snap though, I’ve read of bridges or crowns just coming off but obviously still leaving the anchor bit so it would be easy to attach back on... but cant find anything about the tooth/post actually snapping under the crown..... it was really random.

Toothsmith

I've seen your PM'd photos wardy87

As I said in my previous post - you have options there. I will not be drawn on them though, as the photos do not give me all the info I need.

There will be pros and cons of all the options, and you will have to decide with your dentist's guidance which you feel is best for you at this time, and make a plan for both the immediate way of filling the gap, and what to work towards for the long term.

wardy87

Thank you, i've just got back from the dentist, he basically put some pins in and cemented the crown back on, but it's a lot lower than it was and the one side sticks out more than it did so they actually look fake now where as before they didn't, my front teeth are now at different lengths which is weird looking..... he did say I could go back and have it all redone, meaning a new crown/bridge etc which would be Band 3 on the NHS, i'm not sure why i'd need a new crown/bridge made though? as there wasn't anything wrong with the one I had, why would they need to do all the moulds again and then another 'temp' bridge?, i'm worried the teeth themselves aren't going to look as good as these I have too, as these look exactly like my other teeth (when they were in properly)... i'll see how it goes with these while I save up some money and then go from there I suppose.

Toothsmith

That's good. Glad you got it sorted!