25k on Dental Work. Thats no joke!

[SKR]Phoenix · 17 Mar 2006 at 00:43

I need to get this off my chest (sorry if you find this boring).

I have serious gum disease. In fact 80% of people have it and not realise it until it's too late or later in life. I have this problem at the age of 26.

Now you may all be thinking that I didn't look after my teeth, but thats far from the "tooth", ho ho ho, yeah it's not funny for me either!!!!

For me to have this, is a genetic fault. I can't do anything about it, I can't cure it. I look after my teeth like any other. Even with 3 monthly checkups, this would still happen. I now face surgery because of this! Ok, from what I gather, I can control this to not get any worse, but that still leaves a hell of a lot of treatment.

I am facing bone and tissue grafting because of this. IF those are successfull, I am looking at dental implants (which may not be a cure). If all that treatment is successful, then I may have 20-40 years of good teeth. If not, I dunno what......

IF you are a smoker, you will get this later on in life, thats a fact. Go on, give up now, lol

I know people have worse problems than this, but at the moment, it feels like life is absolute crap! This thing is controlling my life and I don't know what to do. Ok, I can carry on like normal and things are ok, a few hours at a time. However, when I am alone, this is all I think about. Can you imagine loosing all of your teeth? Thats a real prospect for me. Even though there's some kind of restoration, it all depends on this and that as to if it will work. It's all uncertain and very un-predictable.....

Sorry to bore you, but this is a major thing to me. Anyone else been through similar?

EDIT: Oh and 25k on treatment is not a joke! Thats realistically what it will cost, even then it's uncertain. 25k, what can you do with that eh? Spend it on my teeth? or let my missus have the house she always wanted? To think, spent 10k (with a loan) on a car back in Aug. Could have used that for some of my work!

Depressed? Damn straight I am!

ElRazur · 17 Mar 2006 at 00:46

Man, i feel you, hopefully you will get it sorted. You can get it treated under NHS isnt?

Heads to the bathroom for a mouthwash!

[SKR]Phoenix · 17 Mar 2006 at 00:53

ElRazur said:
Man, i feel you, hopefully you will get it sorted. You can get it treated under NHS isnt?

Heads to the bathroom for a mouthwash!

If you had this, mouthwash and bushing 10 times a day wouldn't fix it mate. Thats just how it is and accepting it has been the hardest thing in my life.

My Missus has MS. Now it's not advaced or anthing, she has small-ish problems once in a while that steroids do sort out. She now has regular injections (weekly) to control it. It won't get worse. I know she has something far more serious than I do, but I still feel that this a major thing to me.

Oh and the NHS won't cover implants (although the best solution) because Dentures are good enough of a fix. What a load of ****! Yeah, when you are in your sixty's thats fine, but this is not my fault and at the age of 26, I shouldn't have this. It's a no go though......

meh!

ElRazur · 17 Mar 2006 at 00:58

[SKR]Phoenix said:
!

I apologize if im been insensitive, i was kidding about the bathroom bit. I see where you are coming from and i can imagine how hard it is for you. How you gonna afford the medical bill then?

[SKR]Phoenix · 17 Mar 2006 at 01:04

ElRazur said:
I apologize if im been insensitive, i was kidding about the bathroom bit. I see where you are coming from and i can imagine how hard it is for you. How you gonna afford the medical bill then?

Oh don't be daft! It's my problem and I don't want people worried about what to say. In fact, yeah, I recommend good dental health and mouthwash will help an awfull lot.

I don't know how I will afford this yet. I am working on it and at the end of the day, I will have to have it done. Maybe I'll win the lottery!

It does make me mad though! Why doesn't the NHS cover this? I know neglect of your teeth means you should pay, but even if I never looked after mine, the dentist recons this would never happen. So whats the difference between this and any other NHS treatment? sigh......

EDIT: Never had a filling or other work done in my life, despite regular checkups.

Mr Joshua · 17 Mar 2006 at 01:07

I'm not in your position so I don't know how you feel but I have thought about situations like this before regarding my own teeth. I suppose getting dentures isn't the end of the world, my dad had problems with his teeth when he was about your age and had to get them (going back 40 years here).

I don't know what I would do, 25K seems like a lot of money to spend on (I don't mean you any offence by this) vanity.

Beansprout · 17 Mar 2006 at 01:17

Mr Joshua said:
I don't know what I would do, 25K seems like a lot of money to spend on (I don't mean you any offence by this) vanity.

It's hardly vanity at 26 :eek:

[SKR]Phoenix · 17 Mar 2006 at 01:18

Mr Joshua said:
I'm not in your position so I don't know how you feel but I have thought about situations like this before regarding my own teeth. I suppose getting dentures isn't the end of the world, my dad had problems with his teeth when he was about your age and had to get them (going back 40 years here).

I don't know what I would do, 25K seems like a lot of money to spend on (I don't mean you any offence by this) vanity.

I appreciate your post. I would like to point out that back in the day (when your Dad was my age, it was natural to pull teeth and supply dentures. There's nothing wrong with that.

The main issue is that no dentist would do that these days if it was an option. However, even if the dentist is a NHS clinic, they don't get paid anywhere near what it costs to do the work. You end up with sub-standard work.

Also, when you have all teeth extracted, your gums and bone receed. This means that (for me) in 20 years, the bone and gums are virtually gone. This means your dentures "float" about. They aren't the ideal fit anymore and never will be.

This is why, bone and tissue graft are so important, especially at my age. If I had this at 40 and had 20 years before "floating" that I really wouldn't be so worried.

[SKR]Phoenix · 17 Mar 2006 at 01:25

Beansprout said:
It's hardly vanity at 26

My teeth were never ace, but they did function!

Now they don't and I face this treatment (if I can afford it!). It's not vanity, it's functionality. I couldn't care less what they look like.

On another note, I "may" have to have bone graft from my thigh. So that means going into hospital to have it done. Don't think thats NHS treatment though! I would have to pay the hospital staff AND the Dentist to be in the same room and do the treatment at the same time. :rolleyes:

Mr Joshua · 17 Mar 2006 at 01:29

[SKR]Phoenix said:
Also, when you have all teeth extracted, your gums and bone receed. This means that (for me) in 20 years, the bone and gums are virtually gone. This means your dentures "float" about. They aren't the ideal fit anymore and never will be.

This is why, bone and tissue graft are so important, especially at my age. If I had this at 40 and had 20 years before "floating" that I really wouldn't be so worried.

I never realised that, thanks for explaining.