"If I'd known I was going to live this long.....

[giddyup]

I would have taken better care of my teeth". Not my quote, but it's appropriate. I'm 78 now and have 20 teeth left out of the 32 I would have if I'd looked after them better. Fortunately most of those are in the front top and bottom, but not much left in the way of molars. My father did insist on me cleaning my teeth when I was young, but it was a pretty perfunctory clean with what was a dog-eared toothbrush, no Oral B's or floss in those days. I did start to look after them ore as I got older, but still ended up with a mouth full of fillings.

  That drove me to having many crowned when I first came to Pattaya 11 years ago, however, the ones that I had crowned are most of the ones I've lost. Unbeknownst to me decay can still get under a crown and rot away the tooth without you being aware of it. Whether this was because of a bad dentist who fitted the crowns, or just what happens, I really don't know, but it looks like it might entail dentures at some time in the future, something I always dreaded.

[bkk6060]

I have taken great care of my teeth all my life.  Brushing numerous times a day and flossing.

Believe it or not my Dentist told me weak or bad tooth problems can be hereditary.

My results in my 60's has been 9 crowns, 4 implants, numerous root canals cannot even remember several fillings and a bridge.

One time I took a bite of Chocolate chip ice cream and cracked a tooth on a chip.

As I have always gotten everything fixed my teeth are straight and fairly white so it looks good.  But, I have spent a fortune over the years getting it all fixed.

[farang51]

Implants may be a better solution than dentures. I had tooth decay because of medicine; lost eight teeth the same way you describe. I got implants 20 years ago, and they work perfectly, although they are more expensive than dentures.

[giddyup]

16 minutes ago, farang51 said:

Implants may be a better solution than dentures. I had tooth decay because of medicine; lost eight teeth the same way you describe. I got implants 20 years ago, and they work perfectly, although they are more expensive than dentures.

I think the cost of implants I need to replace 12 teeth may be prohibitive, and there may be more to come out yet.

[giddyup]

18 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

I have taken great care of my teeth all my life.  Brushing numerous times a day and flossing.

Believe it or not my Dentist told me weak or bad tooth problems can be hereditary.

My results in my 60's has been 9 crowns, 4 implants, numerous root canals cannot even remember several fillings and a bridge.

One time I took a bite of Chocolate chip ice cream and cracked a tooth on a chip.

As I have always gotten everything fixed my teeth are straight and fairly white so it looks good.  But, I have spent a fortune over the years getting it all fixed.

I don't know how old you are, but floss wasn't around when I was young and there wasn't the same importance placed on dental care. I knew guys in their early 20's that had full dentures.

[BritManToo]

I've never really bothered, 1 root canal when my gum was exploding 10 years back ....... didn't bother to cap it.

65 now, suspect my teeth will last longer than me.

Edited October 29, 2020 by BritManToo

[windas]

Hi Friends

 

I'm now on my third implant waiting for the crown to go on top.

I'm 74 and i've spent many thousands of pounds on my teeth over the last 50+ years. Only have 17 real teeth left, two bridges, the rest root canaled and crowned.

As the molars break I now have implants. With the exchange rate so poor it is now not much more money to have the work done in the UK as it's very competitive.

I've found that Bangkok dentists at a good surgery are better than the UK for fillings and crowns. Most of them seem to have been trained in the UK. 

I've come to the conclusion through experience  that most UK private dentists are only interested in how large they can make the cost in the shortest time, rather than how good a job can be done.

 

Happy crunching.

 

[bkk6060]

4 hours ago, giddyup said:

I don't know how old you are, but floss wasn't around when I was young and there wasn't the same importance placed on dental care. I knew guys in their early 20's that had full dentures.

Floss was not commercially available until 1882, when the Codman and Shurtleft company started producing unwaxed silk floss. In 1898, the Johnson & Johnson Corporation received the first patent for dental floss that was made from the same silk material used by doctors for silk stitches.

 

Uh, OK.  I am less then 122 years old.

Teeth care is usually it is one of the responsible parent cleanliness advice like telling their kids to wash their bed sheets and underpants.

Not sure where you grew up but floss and proper dental care were around and encouraged since I was a kid.

Edited October 29, 2020 by bkk6060

[ballpoint]

Immediately thought of this...

 

[farang51]

4 hours ago, giddyup said:

I think the cost of implants I need to replace 12 teeth may be prohibitive, and there may be more to come out yet.

It is possible to make a bridge if the teeth are situated next to each other. That would make it somewhat less expensive.

[RichardColeman]

4 hours ago, farang51 said:

Implants may be a better solution than dentures.

Like to point out that as you age - and especially if you are a smoker or on some medication - the bone density of your jaw could diminish. I have a small denture as I have been told my jaw may not take implants.

 

Best thing in my life now, is finding the right woman that loves me, will take care of me until I die and who really could not give a hoot if I have a denture or not !

[AlexRich]

7 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

Like to point out that as you age - and especially if you are a smoker or on some medication - the bone density of your jaw could diminish. I have a small denture as I have been told my jaw may not take implants.

 

Best thing in my life now, is finding the right woman that loves me, will take care of me until I die and who really could not give a hoot if I have a denture or not !

That is correct. But it is possible to insert bone into the thinner density area. I know someone who had bone extracted from the hip and put in the lower jawline in order to accommodate implants. It worked out very well, but was not cheap. Many thousands of pounds for that work. 

[bwpage3]

It is not just teeth, but general overall health.

 

Can you imagine living in Thailand for 10 or 20 years longer than you ever expected or planned for?

 

Retire with a set financial amount and then learn 10 years later, with all the rising costs, it is not enough.

 

No way to predict the next 10 to 20 years in Thailand.

 

 

[Lacessit]

I just wish I had been born in a generation where fluoridation of water supply was an accepted practice, that way I would have avoided shelling out enough to buy at least one dentist a Mercedes. Ever noticed how many of them drive that marque?

I've always had cavity prone teeth, mouthful of fillings, three implants and a partial denture in Thailand. I still remember being in a dental chair at Ram Hospital in Chiang Mai for a total of 36 hours.

My former wife had the same problem, same generation.

We fed our son fluoride drops as a baby. He has had two fillings in his entire life, 47 yo. Contrary to the claims of the anti-fluoride wingnuts, he's smarter than I am.

 

[Paiman]

My teeth visible for others are luckily still OK.

 

The molar / pre molar teeth have seen better days. I hate going to a dentist and only go once the pain is unbearable.

 

Soups and Smoothies are on the Menu for me.

[Boomer6969]

5 hours ago, giddyup said:

I would have taken better care of my teeth". Not my quote, but it's appropriate. I'm 78 now and have 20 teeth left out of the 32 I would have if I'd looked after them better. Fortunately most of those are in the front top and bottom, but not much left in the way of molars. My father did insist on me cleaning my teeth when I was young, but it was a pretty perfunctory clean with what was a dog-eared toothbrush, no Oral B's or floss in those days. I did start to look after them ore as I got older, but still ended up with a mouth full of fillings.

  That drove me to having many crowned when I first came to Pattaya 11 years ago, however, the ones that I had crowned are most of the ones I've lost. Unbeknownst to me decay can still get under a crown and rot away the tooth without you being aware of it. Whether this was because of a bad dentist who fitted the crowns, or just what happens, I really don't know, but it looks like it might entail dentures at some time in the future, something I always dreaded.

Lucky you Mate. 

[Susco]

I had very bad teeth from teenage, so bad that the local dentist became a good friend.

 

At the age of thirty I removed the whole lot

[mr mr]

have not worried about my teeth since that night i tried to be a tough guy out in front of the bar. other than that i thought i would die in my 30's - 43 now and surprised i am still here. 

[Lacessit]

8 hours ago, mr mr said:

have not worried about my teeth since that night i tried to be a tough guy out in front of the bar. other than that i thought i would die in my 30's - 43 now and surprised i am still here. 

You surprise me, I thought all tough guy posters on TV were ex-SAS or Delta Force.

[mr mr]

1 hour ago, Lacessit said:

You surprise me, I thought all tough guy posters on TV were ex-SAS or Delta Force.

i'm a lover not a fighter. never actually struck another human in anger in my life.

 

technically i am ex-JTF2 but i can't tell anyone. 

Edited October 29, 2020 by mr mr
sp

[simon43]

My teeth have been pretty good until Covid-19.  A filling came out and then the rest of the tooth broke away.  There is no decent dentist in Laos - I need to go to my dentist in Thailand.  So now I have a hole, but luckily not visible and no pain.

[Tracyb]

17 hours ago, giddyup said:

I think the cost of implants I need to replace 12 teeth may be prohibitive, and there may be more to come out yet.

Perhaps consider implant retained dentures.  The placement of a few implants in strategic locations are used to hold your dentures in place.  They have designs that will allow you to remove the dentures for cleaning and then “click” them back into place.  A better solution than using paste to hold them in place!  Whatever route you choose...I wish you the best.

[Lacessit]

1 hour ago, simon43 said:

My teeth have been pretty good until Covid-19.  A filling came out and then the rest of the tooth broke away.  There is no decent dentist in Laos - I need to go to my dentist in Thailand.  So now I have a hole, but luckily not visible and no pain.

If you can find a herbal store there, see if it has some clove oil. Or try Lazada. Excellent anesthetic for when pain does kick in, ask Dustin Hoffman.

[NoshowJones]

2 hours ago, mr mr said:

i'm a lover not a fighter. never actually struck another human in anger in my life.

 

technically i am ex-JTF2 but i can't tell anyone. 

I bet you got bullied at school.

[Thailand]

Living longer than your savings/reducing income is a bigger problem.

Even with the best planning circumstances can change quickly.

 

Dentist, only go when absolutely necessary, most of my teeth are originals.

[bunnydrops]

17 hours ago, giddyup said:

I think the cost of implants I need to replace 12 teeth may be prohibitive, and there may be more to come out yet.

They have a method now where you can have a whole set of upper or lower teeth on four implants. 73 lost one tooth, 3 fillings. The dentist said I had extremely hard teeth.

[giddyup]

13 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

 

Uh, OK.  I am less then 122 years old.

Teeth care is usually it is one of the responsible parent cleanliness advice like telling their kids to wash their bed sheets and underpants.

Not sure where you grew up but floss and proper dental care were around and encouraged since I was a kid.

Then you must have grown up in the US, it certainly wasn't common practice in rural Australia, and the Brits didn't exactly have a reputation for tooth care, and I never saw floss in the 60's, so it may have been available, but commonly used, I doubt it. If the parents didn't practice tooth care they are hardly going to teach their kids to look after their teeth.

[giddyup]

13 hours ago, Lacessit said:

I just wish I had been born in a generation where fluoridation of water supply was an accepted practice, that way I would have avoided shelling out enough to buy at least one dentist a Mercedes. Ever noticed how many of them drive that marque?

I've always had cavity prone teeth, mouthful of fillings, three implants and a partial denture in Thailand. I still remember being in a dental chair at Ram Hospital in Chiang Mai for a total of 36 hours.

My former wife had the same problem, same generation.

We fed our son fluoride drops as a baby. He has had two fillings in his entire life, 47 yo. Contrary to the claims of the anti-fluoride wingnuts, he's smarter than I am.

 

My Thai partner is 56, never had a filling and has perfect teeth, doubt if she grew up with fluoride in the water. I think it's more to do with the sugary drinks, biscuits and cakes etc that the west gives their children.

[bkk6060]

7 minutes ago, giddyup said:

Then you must have grown up in the US, it certainly wasn't common practice in rural Australia, and the Brits didn't exactly have a reputation for tooth care, and I never saw floss in the 60's, so it may have been available, but commonly used, I doubt it. If the parents didn't practice tooth care they are hardly going to teach their kids to look after their teeth.

No issues hell, I could be in your situation several years down the line.

 

Yes, the original extraction of the remaining teeth/bone is the probably the worse part I have been told.

But once it all heals and you get proper dentures you should be fine.

So, good luck with it

[mrwebb8825]

Don't plan on ever letting someone stick a piece of my A%$$ in my mouth just to hold a fake tooth in place. That said, had 33 teeth grow in so fast they had to pull 1 out from behind the front top teeth. All 4 wisdoms came out at the same time as they were growing into the bone and jaw instead of straight up. Been getting the mercury filled ones taken out as they hurt w/o replacements. Dropped my top denture plate on the floor and it broke in 2 so now only click in the left side as that's the side that was plugging the hole. Got about 4 more steel capped, mercury filled left to go but they don't hurt yet as they've been root canaled. Still eat everything I want, just takes a little more chewing.

To answer the OP's question - I would have committed suicide but now I've got a good wife to think about so need to hang around a bit longer so she'll get more money for me.