Advice about crowns or false teeth needed

[buckingfrolicks]

I gave up smoking 5 years ago but replaced one addiction with another - and now chew about 40 pieces of nicotine gum a day, from morning to night. So I've really damaged my teeth they are worn down smooth and very painful. Two are wobbly, at the back. I go to the dentist every six months, last time he said I'd be losing the wobbly one soon.

I think I'm going to be looking at losing some more though (please don't bother telling me to quit the gum, I know I need to, but it is every bit as bad an addiction as smoking if not worse, as i can chew everywhere all the time, when at least with fags you couldn't smoke eg at work, in the bath, at the cinema...)

What's the difference between crowns and false teeth? which are better? Pros and cons?

I'd be very grateful to hear about your experiences

I had crowns years ago to straighten out crooked front teeth. They were in for about 13 years before one came off after biting hard one day. My original dentist had long moved on and I got variable treatments subsequently as they seemed to weaken as I got older. Then one dentist pulled on a crown insisting it was already loose yet had a job budging it. She kindly damagedcthe root it was attached to so I had to have a denture. Horrible things that you have to take out at night and for certain medical procedures. Far better to have crowns that you clean as ordinary teeth.
Ever since my dentist scraped away plaque (there wasn't much of it)a couple of times my teeth have got looser and more sensitive. This sits with what others have said about losing their teeth after plaque removal.
Isn't it time the dental profession look again at the "benefit" to the patient of removing plaque?
I've come to the conclusion that plaque is actually protective of the gum/tooth junction and that keeping it clean is what should be managed. Nice little earner for the dental industry though is plaque removal etc!
If I had the means I'd have implants.

hmmm I have erosion grooves at bottom of my teeth which I think must have been caused by plaque buildup. Not good.

I dunno about false teeth, but a crown goes on top of your real tooth & a good crown may last you for life.

Teeth are a pain, though, and cost a fortune no matter what you do. Huge sympathies!!