If you are a regular reader of this blog you’ve probably heard me talk about my troubles with my crappy British teeth.
In a nutshell, I was born without 4 of my adult teeth. {I have one bridge, 1 empty space {where a baby tooth was removed 5 years ago and 2 baby teeth that are ready to fall out any day now}.
My parents paid for orthodontic braces while I was in high school but soon after I got married at the ripe old age of 21, I stopped wearing my retainer. Because really, who wants to to be married and wearing a retainer to bed every night? It’s not exactly romantic.
As a result of not wearing my retainer, my teeth went back to being crooked.
Then, last year, I decided I didn’t want to walk around with my crappy, crooked teeth anymore and so I finally decided to do something about it. I set up a consultation with my kids orthodontist. But as the appointment date neared, I started freaking out about having adult braces. Sure, I could get clear braces, but I’d still be like 40 years old and wearing braces. For 2 -3 years! I just couldn’t do it.
So cancelled the appointment, called my dentist, took the easy way out and got invisalign. Neither adult braces or invisalign was covered by insurance and the invisalign was cheaper {and a little cooler in my opinion} so I went for it.
Yada, Yada, Yada, everything worked out great, and I am on my last set of invisalign retainers.
Which brings me to yesterday. I went to the oral surgeon to see about replacing my missing adult teeth. It was a 2 hour appointment. And at the end of it I only had two questions.
1. Will I get hassled going through airport security because I’ll have titanium in my mouth?
2. Does that really say I can’t drink tea for 7 days prior to surgery? Are you freakin’ kidding me?
Teeth or tea. This is going to be a hard decision.
~Mavis
desirae says
My son is missing his two front bottom adult teeth and he is 7. Do you mind me asking which ones you’re missing. We’re afraid how it will look and affect his willingness to smile once his adult teeth come in around them, since they’re front and center to his smile.
I want to get invisalign too!
Mavis Butterfield says
See where that hole is in the photo? Mine are missing in the same spots on both the upper and bottom {halfway between the front and back of my mouth}. My brother was actually missing his two front lower teeth. He had them replace with some sort of bridge when he was in his late teens. Before that I think he had a retainer that held two teeth that he wore 24/7.
Kristen says
I have 2 “permanent” baby teeth – the upper canines. I’m 33 and they are still there… My new dentist was pretty amazed. She thinks they’ll probably be there for quite a while longer. So there is hope!!
Mavis Butterfield says
Good Luck! I hope you keep them as long as you can. 🙂
Cathy says
Maybe you can find a workaround with the tea. Ask your dentist if you can drink it through a straw! 🙂
Also, I can TOTALLY empathize with you. I just finished a two part root canal on an infected tooth (Ouch and MAJOR OUCH!) plus, I need three fillings. Three?!? Shocked since my dentist regularly tells me I have the cleanest teeth of his patients. I guess some things are just unavoidable.
After all of this is finished, I think my credit card company may send me a thank you letter.
Mavis Butterfield says
Apparently tea is a natural blood thinner. Who knew? I probably have the thinnest blood on the planet.
Jeffrey says
Knowing all too well about lousy teeth from the get go, I’ve spent many a pretty penny trying to keep my smile. I’m about to look into implants to replace teeth that were lost in an accident and have heard I should look at about three grand a tooth. What have you experienced price wise and is your insurance covering any of the cost? Mine won’t stating the reason being is the procedure is cosmetic.
Mavis Butterfield says
Your price is about right. Dental insurance should pay for extractions and xrays and something else that I can’t think of off the top of my head.
Christian says
My mom went through something similar, but had to have her top two canines replaced. Apparently, at that time (don’ t know if it’s true now) patients had to get the titanium implant, and then wait a bit (week or so) before getting the teeth. Needless to say, “Fang” became her nickname…which we all thought was hilarious (her, well, not so much).
As for the tea, it’s interesting that coffee is not on that list. How awful for you! At least it’s only for a week. Stay strong!
Mavis Butterfield says
Actually because I am a special case, I won’t get teeth for about 6-8 months after they put in the rods. I forgot {or blocked} that part. So yes, I’ll be walking around with fangs too. I guess I’ll be a vampire this year for Halloween. Ha! 😉
Ali says
Two of my baby teeth (on the bottom) never had adult teeth under them. My bro has the same situation on the bottom, and two missing on top. My dentist told me they believe it’s genetic. Sigh.
Jennifer says
Oh – I don’t know if I could give up tea for 7 days…I might just pick tea over teeth! I love the straw idea – perhaps that will work for you if approved by your dentist. Good luck with all this teeth business!
Crystal says
I have the exact opposite problem! I have too many teeth! I lost all of my teeth as a child like normal. Then in high school I lost all but my 4 front teeth a second time! And somehow I now have one extra tooth. I eventually will have to get the extra tooth removed and get braces or invisalign. My teeth are nice and clean and healthy now. So, until my dentist forces me to get the extra tooth removed, it is staying in place!
KC Jones says
I also have two missing teeth on my bottom, never grew in. I think I remember hearing my mother saying that it was the exact two spots that her father had too. Genetics, lovely.
When I went to the dentist, they said my insurance wouldn’t cover it because it was cogenital. Lovely. Besides that, it kinda freaks me out the thought of your jaw possibly rejecting the implant and that they actually drill into your jaw bone. Whew.
KC Jones says
Also wanted to say, I think you have a great smile. I would not have guessed you had “British teeth” from your photos.
Sakura says
My daughter, whose 20, has the same problem. She has a couple of baby teeth still and a couple of spaces in the back that have no adult teeth to fill them. I also paid for braces for her in high school and she decided wearing her retainer wasn’t worth the hassle. She doesn’t have crappy british teeth but has my dads crappy teeth. You can’t see her missing teeth, and her teeth are just a little crooked.
crlzmmr says
Years ago I was at the pound considering adopting an adult dog that had a double set of teeth.
( I had ideas about naming it “Sharky” and being on the beach yelling, “Shark! Shark!” )
I decided against adopting it because Vet expenses are bad enough for a dog with normal teeth.
Becky says
I have an implant and have not had any issues at airport security. Lol. I am one of the supposed very few that has had issues with my implant. It has been a long process that involved cadaver bone that didn’t take, stitching it all back up to heal and trying a year later. I am about 4 months in to the 2nd try and it is going well. I have horrible luck with my teeth and have spent thousands over the years. So frustrating! Hoping you are one of the majority where all goes smoothly.
Courtney says
Oh, Mavis. What yucky luck. My parents paid thousands of dollars to get my sister’s teeth straightened. Then she got five of them knocked out in a car accident in May of 2011. She had have her jaw reconstructed so she just had her posts put in a few months ago. It wasn’t that bad for her, even with all the facial trauma she had. She is still wearing a “flipper” I’m not sure when she’ll get her implants crowned, but it will probably be the same 6-8 month waiting period. Her little posts don’t look that bad, but maybe I’m just desensitized by now. Could you get a flipper? My sister’s fits fine over her posts.
(in case you’ve never heard of a flipper, I never had until my sister got one.)
http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/oral-care/procedures/flipper-teeth.htm
Mia B says
I’ve been where you are! My mom (53) and I (32) each still have baby teeth in two places with no adult teeth waiting in the wings. Hers are still hanging tough so I’m hopeful mine will last. Somehow the hygienist always can tell which are the baby teeth, although they look exactly the same to me. I also had high school orthodontia, then never wore (or never received, perhaps, in the military we moved and switched dentists a lot) a retainer, so when I was in my mid-20s I did Invisalign Express to bring my teeth back in line. I also had an undersized adult tooth on one side that I got crowned after I finished the Invisalign – the dentist was using the extra space around that tooth to help give everything else enough room.
FWIW, After the Invisalign, you need to wear a retainer – shaped pretty much just like your final Invisalign set – to maintain. The dentist offered me two choices – Vivera (which was a 3 month retainer that they send you a new one every quarter for a year, then you re-up) and some other kind that was a little more expensive but made of a heavier plastic. I chose the heavier plastic and am happy to say that several years later it’s going strong – a good investment I think. I brush it each time I use it and drop it in denture cleaner for the day, once every week. I wore it nightly for a year, and now wear it a few nights a week. Teeth still straight!
Oh, and on the implant – DH has two because he had a childhood bike accident that knocked out several teeth. As an adult, his bridge was way past its prime and he was afraid it would come loose suddenly one day, so he chose the implant. I recommend you find a dentist that has done it before and look at photos! I think DH was a “practice” patient for his dentist and the implant does not look as natural as the bridge did. The tooth shape is a little weird, kinda square.
And for the months you are waiting for your post to heal in to the bone, before you get your permanent tooth attached, you should have a temporary tooth on the post to hide the metal fang. No biting with the temp tooth – so no apples! And I recently heard a rough post is supposed to hold the permanent tooth in better than the smooth posts they used to use. My stepdad had his implant fall out, and is going to go to a bridge since he started smoking again and that makes the implant less sturdy.
OK, that’s more than you ever wanted to know about my family’s dentistry. Good luck!
Lovay says
I have two implants that are going on nine years and have had no problems with them. The procedure itself went very smooth and the medication I was given ahead of time certainly took care of the stress. I remembered nothing from the time I walked into the dentist office till I arrived home a couple hours later, with a black eye ~ no less. Apparently, in the bathroom unassisted I banged my head on the wash basin. Beware the medication makes you a little tipsy!
Suzanne says
This is so ironic that you posted this today. I just got full on metal braces on Wedneday (they told me invisalign was $8-10,000)and am trying to get used to them. I am 32 by the way and it is supposed to help with me grinding my molars down. I guess I should feel fortunate now that I hear some insurance won’t cover adult brace. Mine covered just less than half.
I was hoping you were getting braces too and we could go through this together.
Patti says
I also have 2 missing bottom molars. I have a small jaw and had eye teeth fangs when I was younger. The dentist pulled the molars above the missing to give me some extra space, but I still needed braces. My cousin and niece are also missing the same teeth. My husband had 2 implants done about 5 years ago. It was expensive, time consuming and not very comfortable, but better than going toothless, imo. He recently lost a back molar and at this time is so disgusted with his teeth and dentist, he prefers to go without!
anne says
My DD will be getting 3 implants and at least one bone graft soon. Has anyone had the bone graft and can share what that’s like?
Kathy says
Mavis, earlier this year, it became clear to me that for medical reasons, I had to give up coffee totally, like forever. So I just want to tell you that you can do it…you can go for one week without tea! I had to give up tea as well, but I don’t miss that as much as I miss coffee. This is interesting stuff. We were just told recently that our youngest son has a baby tooth with no adult tooth waiting in the wing. Never even knew that was a possibility until now!
Mavis Butterfield says
I think part of it is that I just like drinking something warm. All.Day.Long. Warm water just seems weird. I know if I could break the caffeine habit and switch to warm it would be better for me. Might even calm me down a bit too. 🙂
barb says
my best friend is British and so is my mom and my oldest daughter was born without the same tooth as both of them – what is up with British teeth?? She is in the middle of the implant – just had the screw placed. I will say, I had titanium screws placed instead of having my tubes tied and it’s not caused me any problem in the airport! ; )