Teeth issues - multiple molars removed

[Greengrassdog]

Hello.
I’m 32, and until 2 years ago had a completely clean bill of dental health.

2 years ago, my left middle molar got cracked. Root canal failed and it was extracted. Hasn’t bothered me since, can’t really see it, so have just left it.

Went for routine check up in December, and despite having no symptoms, xray identified several issues;

• left partially impacted wisdom tooth is causing a huge cavity in left back molar. It is questionable whether the back molar can be saved.
• right molar 1 and 2 are both decayed at the point they meet.

Dentist has suggested the following:

• left wisdom tooth removal, and attempt filling at the back of third wisdom tooth - advised the prognosis for this tooth is bad.
• Right molar one should be a simple filling, but molar two needs root canal and crown (and warned that this might not save the tooth). Think this will cost approx £750 - NHS thankfully

So I’m now potentially going to have lost:

• left wisdom tooth and two back molars
• right middle molar

I’m not hugely worried from a cosmetic point of view, and I’m willing to accept the risk of other teeth moving over time - but what does worry me on the left side is whether my jaw is going to massively recede from the loss of 3 teeth.

Implants are very out of budget, but I might be able to to stretch to one on the left side if it would preserve the jaw. But if 1 isn’t enough then I don’t want to waste that money obviously.

Also don’t know if partial dentures have a role to play here? (😞)

Dentist says my brushing is fine and the left side isn’t my fault it’s the wisdom tooth, and the right side was due to poor flossing.

So my question is:

• Has anyone lost that many bottom teeth together, and if so what did you do, and how did it turn out?

Alternatively, if any dental professionals could give any insights I would be hugely grateful. Part of me thinks that I should just have the left back molar removed if it’s likely to die anyway and keep the wisdom tooth for my jaw structure…

thank you!

Decay is not due to not flossing , it’s down to diet . If you have more than three sugar/starch attacks a day you will get decay .

what you eat or drink at meal times, doesn’t matter but every sip or bite of something sugary or starchy inbetween meals attacks your teeth for an hour afterwards even if you brush your teeth straight afterwards . So look at what you are eating and drinking inbetween meals and use a fluoride containing toothpaste .

partial dentures are a nightmare to wear and if your habits are such that you get decay the food packing around dentures will make it more likely that you get decay or gum disease around the remaining teeth. Partial dentures can also accelerate bone loss but they do stop opposing teeth from over erupting (coming down too much) . Very few dentists would recommend partial denture to replace only a few teeth as it will require a massive adjustment from you to get used to them .

One implant will not make a difference with bone recession and for most people you will not see a difference from loosing these molars .

The main thing is to make changes in diet inbetween meals to avoid loosing more teeth or needing more treatment .

@Lollygaggle thank you very much - that’s really helpful. I will reflect on the advice about diet.

So I don’t need to be mortally worried about losing a wisdom and two bottom molars all together in terms of my facial structure?

No , in terms of facial structure muscles have a much bigger part to play .

The other thing to bear in mind is no dentistry lasts forever so even if you paid to have one implant placed that will need maintainance and parts replaced over the years which you will need to budget for .

Early 30s is young to have major interventions which will need replacing three or more times during your lifetime. Changing habits to maintain your own teeth which have the potential to last you for life without treatment if you control diet and cleaning is much cheaper and more sustainable .