To be so upset over losing a tooth?

[Gruffalosandbuffalos]

I lost a back molar years ago when surgery to remove a sideways impacted wisdom tooth damaged it. I had all 4 wisdoms removed due to them being impacted as well as this molar.

I have just been told I now need to lose another back molar on the opposite side due to decay. The tooth needed filling months ago but I am breastfeeding and so they wouldn’t do a mercury filling. The drilling and use of temporary glass ionomer fillings has weakened the tooth (it was already half filled) and so I’ve now been told it’s unrepairable and needs extracting.

I’m really upset as I’m only in my 30’s and feel like if I’ve lost 2 back teeth already I’m going to end up with none left as I get older. The one I need extracting now is the second to back one and so will leave a gap. Of my remaining teeth 3 will have fillings in them.

Does anyone have any friendly words to make me feel better about it?

I feel your pain, I was early 30’s when failed root canal meant I lost my front tooth. No way could I afford an implant. The bridge is very good and means I can smile with confidence BUT I know I’ve lost my tooth and I hate it

My bridge is attached to one tooth and was NHS.

I’m really upset as I’m only in my 30’s and feel like if I’ve lost 2 back teeth already

I never grew all of mine. I only have 23 teeth and one of those is a milk tooth! I’m 42!

I’ve no pre-molars or wisdom teeth. 1 molar had to have root canal and a crown. Another had an inlay. My dentist and I have a pact to do everything we can to keep the teeth I have in tact!

Sounds like you still have more teeth than me.

My dentist doesn't like doing bridges because you effectively damage a healthy tooth.
I've a missing molar and was very upset about it, but it really isn't noticeable.

I understand your upset. I cried like a child when I was told four of my teeth were damaged beyond repair after a fall.

They were always on shaky ground anyway - thanks to an ex - and had been repaired a few times.

I went down the (admittedly expensive) implant route. It was the best thing I did.

Cant they do a post and crown? I have one where there was literally nothing left of it above the gum line and they cemented a post into the root and a crown onto the post. It's getting on 20 years now and showing no sign of failing.

I am wary of a bridge because of the need to damage the two teeth either side to support it. It it were a visible tooth I would 100% do it but I’m not sure it’s worth the sacrifice for a back one?

I agree. Hence I did not get a bridge for my gap.

YANBU to feel distressed about this, especially if you already find dental work upsetting.

But TBH, what people see of us from the outside is very different to what we feel we look like from the inside. I'm terribly aware of a drastic and irreversible change in my appearance that happened some 15y ago. Yet people have commented on my 'flawless skin'. I have flawless skin? OK

Oh, Numbers, your ex sounds like seriously bad news, so sorry.

G&B, I have lost UR and UL5 over the years. My private dentist (no NHS places within two hours' drive) has been working to stabilise my rickety front tooth with a splint, but when he outlined the possibilities for my matching gaps and I asked him what he would do if it were him, he advised me not to bother!

Thank you @NearlyGranny.

I hope all goes well with your splint.

I've had an upper molar and a wisdom tooth removed and in the next few weeks will be having a further 6 teeth removed (last three wisdom teeth and three further molars) so I will have no wisdom teeth and a gap on each corner. I'm only 23.
It is upsetting and I fear that it will change the layout of my teeth over time. Losing teeth is an upsetting thing, but if they have suggested removal then it must need to be done.
No one will notice that you are missing a molar, only you. There are options such as crowns, dentures, implants etc. Have you discussed how you feel with your dentist/discussed options etc? xx

My DM, who lived into her 90s, was advised by her NHS dentist when we were emigrating to Australia that dentistry was expensive over there, as there was no NHS, and she should have all her teeth removed and dentures fitted free before we left.

She did it. It was 1958 or '59 and I remember sitting waiting outside with DF and siblings in a hired or borrowed car (we didn't have one), and how she mumbled groggily through a mouthful of bloody cottonwool when she got in. 😲

She was 36 years old and had had all but two or three of her own healthy teeth up to that point, despite having grown up in poverty through the Depression.

Nobody expected teeth to last a lifetime in those days. I am determined to hang onto mine!

Yes my grandmother had all her front teeth removed in her 20s. She had no idea why - she was just told it was for the best. My grandad also had most of his teeth removed.

As a child I thought everyone over 50 had false teeth. I'm now over 50 and have had my wisdom teeth and one other tooth removed in total.

OP - sorry, I can imagine why you're upset. I actually do have a crown in the equivalent tooth you're referring to, and if they said it had to be pulled I'd do anything I could to somehow replace it - probably an implant.

I cracked a middle molar and had to have it removed as it was irreparable.

I have a gap. As pp said it’s only noticeable when i smile very widely and you are looking for it. It does feel like i have no teeth on that side sometimes as i only have the premolar, space, last molar, partially erupted wisdom tooth.

I discussed with my dentist- he said it’s fine left, as it isn’t even really cosmetic as you can’t see it, and it won’t make a difference to the function of my teeth. So i’ll leave it.

Funnily enough though now i’m looking for it i notice a lot of people have gaps. Some i’ve known for years and not noticed before.