dental work,should i wait,??

[Kit-c]

Hi all,,,
Seems for the last 5 years or so,since my Hep-c has been really rearing it's ugly head,my teeth have gone to pot,,filling falling out,taking half the tooth with it,,cavities,,small chips falling out,?

and now two old caps(top Front),I had done years ago,,smart 19 year old,drunk,and skipping down a frozen,iccy side walk with my girl friend,,splat,there went my perfect smile---

anyways now my caps are starting to slip,Dentest says they need implants,,I guess it takes about 8 months for your gums to heal
over the steal pegs,,,bla..bla,,bla,,
big procedure,.,.,.,.,.,

So I was wondering,,,with my tx starting soon(Now I hope),,
should I put this off or get started ,.,.???
I just always feel like my Life is on Hold,.,
Know what I mean jelly-beans--------

see ya,,,,Gale,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,,..kit-

[nygirl7]

Do NOT wait.  

Your teeth will get much worse from the Interferon - whatever cavities and things you have now will be root canals by the time you are done with treatment.  It eats them alive.

Do all the work you can right away before treatment if you can.

I wish to God I had finished all of mine but I didn't...and now I'm paying for it big time.

[Kit-c]

Hi all,,
its late here,so I will want to reread these tommoro,,
good stuff to think about,and O-hawk I have a friend who lives in phuket,
I spent about three months there and in Bankok,,,So thanks I might give this fellow a call,.,

the 2 front teeth have caps on them,and the wee little stubs under,both
root canneled,the caps now have a small split inbetween the teeth,and are
kinda wiggely,,Dentist says the stubs under are just not stong enough anymore,as they are about 25 years old-
and then I wanted to get matching veneers 2,or3,on either side----

But I am going to look this over again tommorro,,,,
I think you guys are the best,,
Thanks,,thanks,,thanks,.,.,.,.,
Gale.........................................kit-

[Forseegood]

wow, good info from you! so you just had to redo your crowns? How many? Most all my teeth are crowned, yikes!  I'm thinking the whole root and tooth would come out! Glad to hear that didn't happen to you....Redoing the crowns is bad enough though, jeesh, they are charging a lot of those, one can pretty much take most people's dental coverage for one year, what a joke...Maybe I should look into seperate dental insurance beforehand? Wonder if you can even do that, when youre partly covered for dental by your major insurance?... I'll certainly take your advice about the flouride varnish, I hope I don't crave carbs all the time, but I hear that you just eat what you can, for most people anyway.,...then I have veneers on the front uppers (yeah, I'm vain) hopefully those won't chip off...

also, my dentist says that he has a special "mouth moisturizer" for people on chemo? you prob know about that...I do like Biotene, go through bottles of it...thanks so much for your input...

[orphanedhawk]

I had a bridge crack before leaving Thailand last June . My dentist in Bangkok talked me into an implant . He told me I needed at least 3 monthes for the gums to heal but could wait up until 1 and a half years before getting the tooth attached. In the meantime I had a temporary bridge. I thought, I'd come home, do tx and finish the dental work after tx. Well, the bridge started bothering me,underneath it was bleeding and hard to clean. I decided to return to Bangkok and have my dental work finished.   I can't tell you how glad I am that I did. My teeth haven't bothered me. But the whole procedure takes time. And only you can choose what to do and when.
  BTW: I don't have insurance. When I checked the prices of finishing the implant at home, it was cheaper for me to fly to Bangkok and have it done there plus I got to eat sticky rice and mango, my favorite.  If your interested just ask, and I'll pass on my dentist's contact info.

[Forseegood]

wanted to say, course everyone is different, but I have a permanent bridge and it doesn't bother me as long as I keep it flossed, etc...course, not everyone wants to be that determined about flossing, the dentist told me that I should consider that before I got the bridge...you gotta keep it super clean...just my two cents..

[dmhrdh]

I'm a dental hygienist.  When you say your crowns have "slipped" what exactly do you mean?  Are the teeth mobile?  If they are, you need to get that taken care of.  Most likely there may be an infection...the teeth or the gums.  You have to get rid of the source of the infection.  If there is an infection I would definitely have it taken care of before starting any kind of treatment.
Treatment takes a big toll on your teeth.  I know from personal experience.  As a hygienist I have great oral hygiene.  I had a lot of cavities as a child but haven't had one for over 30 years. After only 4 months of treatment I developed several cavities under crowns.  I can only attribute that to my dry mouth and craving for carbs during treatment.  I've had it all taken care of but will be much more careful next time I treat with my carbs!!!!
If you have any kind of infection, please have that taken care of first.  
After that, the decision between an implant or a fixed bridge is a personal decision.  They each have their pro's and con's.  Just a couple things to keep in mind.....Implants are definitely more involved than a bridge.  If you decide to go with implants, I would only go to a specialist/oral surgeon.  You want someone who knows what they're doing if you decide to go that route.