We recently moved my 82 year old mother across the country to live with us. We didn’t realize how bad things were, even though we skyped with her every week. We purchased a house that had an extra room for her and moved her in. The other day one of her teeth fell out. I’ve scheduled a dental appointment for her, but today another one fell out. Have you heard of this? We’ve spent all of our money on this house and my mother has even less money. Can you give me an idea of what we’re looking at? Because she is a new patient, our appointment is still a few weeks out.
Belinda
Dear Belinda,
First, I will say that I am glad your mother has you. It is wonderful that you are willing to take care of her. If your mother’s teeth are just falling out, then she is in the advanced stages of periodontal disease. It is very likely that the remainder of her teeth are not far behind these two.
Under normal circumstances, I would suggest dental implant retained dentures. However, these are very expensive. While they do prevent facial collapse, given your mother’s advanced age I don’t believe that will be something you will have to plan for or worry about.
In her circumstance, your most affordable option would be to get her completely removable dentures. This is something any dentist can do. If the advanced periodontal disease turns out to be accurate, given the financial situation, I suggest you just go to an affordable dentist to have her treatment done. As long as the denture fits well, that is all she will need.
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