Has anyone had one done?
I lost my front teeth many years ago to a tautliner curtain strap on a very windy day and have had a bridge fitted ever since.
Yesterday while enjoying a delicious bit of pork crackling there was a crack and the bridge came out.
I've visited the dentist this morning and apparently it has snapped the tooth off that it was attached to.
The option is to have a post fitted and then to have the original bridge re-fitted or to have the remainder removed and have an upper denture.
Now, I admit as far as the Dentist is concerned, I'm a coward so has anyone had this done and if so what was it like, please?
The hour-long appointment is worrying in itself.
Pat
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Not a problem if you get good pain relief and Classic FM on headphones. I find the best pain relief dulls the worst of the pain and ensures you don't care about the remainder. :-)
Last edited by: Old Navy on Mon 8 Oct 18 at 13:26
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It shouldn't involve any pain whichever you you. The hour is because the remainder of the tooth will need to be profiled (no different to having a filling) the post glued in and presumably an impression made.
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Let me put it this way.
You will get less pain from your dental work than from Brexit.
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>> You will get less pain from your dental work than from Brexit.
>>
let's keep brexit in the brexit topic and stop stirring where there is nothing to stir
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Thanks for making that point commerdriver.
Pat
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Strange thing for me to dive in out of the blue and answer I guess but...
I have two of these posts at different times Pat for just the same reason. The gum injection will mean you have no more pain than a standard filling but if you feel pain at any point just ask for a top up. What you will get is the feeling of them drilling a bit deeper than normal but stay calm as this feeling isn't pain.
Yep the hour will include faffing about... it's not an hour of drilling! In fact you'll get breaks as they move through different parts of the procedure.
However apprehensive you feel that hour is worth it to keep the bridge rather than move to a denture until it becomes the only option perhaps sometime in the future.
Last edited by: Fenlander on Mon 8 Oct 18 at 16:07
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Thanks so much for that Fenlander.
I have finally found a Dentist I can trust at Newborough practice and when I rang this morning she is taking time out and a Locum is filling in, but he seemed nice.
I have made the appointment for October 17th which is the first they could get me in to and then I need to leave it for over a week for the bridge to be re-fitted.
So, I'm now trying to work out if I can face a room full of lorry drivers each weekend in October without any front teeth to earn the money to pay the dentists bill:)
Really do appreciate that info, thanks again, I really don't want dentures.
Pat
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You're welcome. Appreciate the social/work dilemma. I have a 4 tooth bridge at the top front and when I knocked that off breaking one of the attachment teeth... hence the need for the post... I felt pretty self-conscious.
My appointments were a little different in spacing in that I was seen next day and he did the prep work then to my amazement temp glued the old bridge back on which lasted for the two weeks until the final fitting. He did advise no wire stripping with it though.
Last edited by: Fenlander on Mon 8 Oct 18 at 18:13
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To be fair to them they did offer an appointment tomorrow afternoon at 4.30pm to have the post work done and the bridge fitted next Monday but I asked for time to consider the options and the cost.
I prefer to feel that it's my decision and not be backed into a corner!
I shall just explain that I'm having trouble saying any word that begins with an 'F', but if they make me laugh I shall send them all home I think:)
Ian has just got home and told me has booked the day off so he can come with me and stop me doing a runner!
Pat
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Is this being done privately or is it an NHS dentist? Makes a difference to cost.
Might be cheaper to travel abroad to get it sorted!
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I should have added hope you get it sorted with minimum pain as soon as possible. I'd hope lorry drivers showed some compassion if you have to do some training without the bridge in place. They are professionals.
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>>They are professionals.
Wouldn't you expect/hope most, of not all, people to show compassion. Why would it be difference because they are or are not professionals?
Or am I just missing something?
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...I think they'd be looking round at each other wondering which driver had demolished the bridge.....
;-)
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"However apprehensive you feel that hour is worth it to keep the bridge rather than move to a denture until it becomes the only option perhaps sometime in the future."
I would concur with that. My bridge experience started with a post-crown at the age of 16 after damaging a front tooth when I fell off my bike. Some 10 years later, the root fractured and I had to have a 3-tooth bridge; then one of the stumps fractured, so it became a 4-tooth bridge; then another stump fractured so it became a pin-at-one-end/stump at the other bridge. Then, 2 years ago, the stump failed and the pin snapped ....... and that was the end of the road.
My options were partial denture or implants - and the dentist didn't like the idea of implants into a slender part of the jaw that could easily be fractured by too much strain from the implanted teeth.
I went for the partial denture in the knowledge that I could change my mind later. The partial-denture is a bit of an inconvenience - e.g. I have to glue it in for choir nights in case it breaks free and bites someone........... but it's so much better than having a large gap.
I understand that bridges have a finite lifespan and that first 3 tooth bridge of mine did rather well to last for 27 years.
Good luck, Pat, it ain't too bad - and it's certainly worth it if it puts off denture-day.
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Thanks, Haywain, mine progressed much like yours and is now a 6-tooth bridge and I suppose I've been pushing my luck with it for some time now as I was told 12 years ago when it was lengthened that this would be the last time and it would be dentures next.
It is private rtj, the NHS refused to go down anything other than the denture route many years ago and my views may be unfounded but I prefer to trust our Dentists both for their skills and hygiene.
Costs work out much the same for dentures anyway and re-using my bridge makes it less than a denture although it does have to be sent to the lab for sandblasting!
I'm sure someone on here could offer that service cheaper?:)
As far as work is concerned, I'm totally confident in getting compassion, and banter which is exactly what I would expect.
For me, it's about my own professional attitude and maintaining that.
With this in mind, I *think* I can swap my October commitments into December and spend October writing a new course for 2019 which is usually a task for the end of the year.
Pat
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May I offer comments from the point of view of a (retired) dentist, sometime orthodontist/oral & max-fac surgeon.
If your fractured tooth was already root filled you will have no pain from the preparation of the tooth, but local anaesthetic would help with preparation at the gum line, and impressions.
If it was not root filled l would want LA for that bit.
It may well be possible to stick the old bridge back temporarily.
Bridge better than partial denture.
A 6 tooth bridge will be under some strain in use-eat carefully!
If the root filled tooth with post fails in the future you would still have the option of an implant, not available on the NHS, and unlikely to be in the future.
Implants in the upper anterior area are probably the most satisfactory, as there is enough supporting bone, unless you have periodontal disease and bone loss as a result.
The area is away from the maxillary sinus,so no risk of an implant going puncturing it-big problems if you do.
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Thanks, Stroudie.
The tooth hadn't been root filled before and he needs to send my old bridge away for sandblasting so I do have to be without.
I did ask if how could send it this week and then do the whole thing, including refitting the old bridge at the same time next week but he said he'd rather not.
Something about giving it a few days to settle down?
Upper anterior is a term I heard yesterday but wasn't sure what he meant. The broken tooth is what I've always known as the eye tooth.
Note to self: Take crackling off and put in bin before carving!
Perhaps I could roll it with a rolling pin to make it .......?
Pat
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A bridge is definitely the way to go, if it can be installed safely. I wore a top denture from ages 16 to 42, when a new dentist suggested a bridge. It had to be gold for some reason and the NHS kicked up a big fuss, arguing that not was not essential. It was however fitted and I have never looked back; the embarrassment and fuss of having to take the denture out and soak it in Steradent solution at night was banished.
But I have often wondered, why gold? The last denture was in stainless steel. Also, no matter how tightly the bridge is fitted against the palate, some food must slip underneath it and rot? It doesn't, but I could never get a clear answer on this point so maybe our dental expert can kindly explain?
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> But I have often wondered, why gold? The last denture was in stainless steel. Also, no matter how tightly the bridge is fitted against the palate, some food must slip underneath it and rot? It doesn't, but I could never get a clear answer on this point so maybe our dental expert can kindly explain?
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I've got a gold bridge, the dentist said it was the best material, no fuss. Just had to have a mould made for the tooth and it all appeared a few weeks later.
To clean it i got given a load of fluffy floss by the dentist and how best to use it.
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I should have explained that the foundation is gold but the teeth are the natural colour.
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I guess funeral directors make a few bob on the side from gold teeth and other body bits do they?
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>> I should have explained that the foundation is gold but the teeth are the natural
>> colour.
>>
Likewise.
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>>Upper anterior is a term I heard yesterday but wasn't sure what he meant
Commonest position terms in medical parlance:
Anterior = front
Posterior = rear (indeed)
Lateral = side (right or left)
Superior = above
Inferior = below
Proximal = nearer the centre of the body
Distal = further from the body
My understanding (which is weak) is that implants from pre-molar to molar teeth carry the greatest risk of being pushed through into the sinuses below your eyes. Incisors and canines/eyeteeth are much less likely.
Last edited by: Lygonos on Tue 9 Oct 18 at 16:04
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Coincidentally, (ha ha) we are just this moment back from our dentist, who we trust and have a long association with.
For £55 he has just told Mrs C the toothache she has means that two lower rear teeth ought to come out. That will be £180 for the extractions.
Then her options, apparently, are
Leave a gap and live with it.
Have a denture. About £200-£250
Have implants. £5000.
Nobody said anything about a bridge, whatever that might be.
Do we need to ask him about bridges? And are those figures ballpark right?
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>>Nobody said anything about a bridge, whatever that might be.
THIS is a bridge. It spans (or should) an upper canine to a pre molar. It was fitted as long ago as Haywain's, maybe even longer. I've had it refitted a few times but it doesn't last long. I'm a tad worried that it'll come out at night when I'm zzzzzzzzzzzz and choke me TBH.
I have some 'proper' glass ionomer luting cement to DIY it but, I'm not too bothered about it really, I could afford to have it redone, but I WILL NOT pay to have it done privately when I have paid in to the NHS for 50 years.
www.flickr.com/photos/43576259@N04/43392131580/in/datetaken-public/
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Now that's where we differ Dog, I have relied on NHS dentists so many times in the past when I've had a raging toothache and without fail they have served me well.
I didn't have the funds to have an option but thankfully now I have, and I'm happy to be able to leave our overworked and underfunded NHS to those others who are in the position I was in then.
Pat
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Private dentistry is a rip orf IMO .. £5000 for two implants, you gotta be having a giraffe.
I could do with a couple of implants, but at that price I'll carry on liquidising my bacon & eggs thanks.
:)
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>> Private dentistry is a rip orf IMO .. £5000 for two implants, you gotta be
>> having a giraffe.
You could of course go to Europe and get it cheaper, but hurry you wont be able to after Brexit.
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>>You could of course go to Europe and get it cheaper
But, but, wot if it goes rong and y'all got to keep going back to Poland??
Brexit (haha!) doncha know, tis a stitch up and it aint gonna happen, apart from BRINO.
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>> You could of course go to Europe and get it cheaper, but hurry you wont
>> be able to after Brexit.
My last Civil Service manager had extensive work done in Hungary. Still cheaper than UK even after flights and apartment. His wife and daughter got several breaks in Budapest.
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An ex colleague went to Spain for cheaper dental work. All was fine for about six months. A problem then arose and the UK dentists said that while it was all done perfectly well, the Spanish had used some sort of technique or materials we don't use. So he had to go back to Spain for the fix.
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>> Nobody said anything about a bridge, whatever that might be.
>>
From past experience, I understand that a bridge needs to span one or two gaps - you can't have an over-hanging unsupported bridge.
Also to attach a bridge means sacrificing the surface integrity of what might be a sound tooth - you can't just glue the bridge to a tooth, the tooth has to be machined to form a support. So if at some later date the bridge proves unsuitable, you no longer have an unspoiled tooth.
You should clean underneath bridges. There is special dental floss with a rigid section at one end so you can poke it through the gap and then hold each end to slide it sideways along the gap.
Also from experience, teeth aren't fixed rigidly, the roots wander about a bit. They will settle down by a few months after any work, but even then will try to move a fraction. If connected via a bridge the teeth can't move, so you can get that pain as when a bit of apple skin gets wedged - constant sideways force on a tooth is painful.
I've always had temporary plastic bridges for up to 6 months before fitting the proper ones to try to minimise this.
Ideally I suppose there would be cushioned mountings, as I understand with implants.
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Thanks for the info, Cliff. I'll pass that on to the patient.
No thanks to Dog for the photo though, which appeared on my screen at the same moment my tea appeared on my plate. Still, I suppose if it had been ten minutes later my tea would have reappeared on my plate.
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There is another less-invasive type of dental bridge available apparently but, they are only suitable for people who have small gaps near the front of their mouth and can’t be used if there is damage to the surrounding teeth plus, they are generally more expensive than a 'normal' bridge.
www.athens-dental.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/marylandbridge_3.jpg
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A winged bridge is the name in the UK. Mines a version of that, very neat and tidy.
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Well, you were absolutely right Fenlander!
A lot of the hour was spent sitting up and trying to talk to them with a frozen mouth while they made a temporary bridge for me to wear until the old one is back from the lab.
The worst of the work is done now so at least I can breathe a sigh of relief:)
....and smile again!
Pat
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Dental Posts - Old Navy
