Tooth problem

philipsmom

My mom has stopped brushing her teeth and the caregivers aren't doing it either. She now has a bad tooth that can either be pulled OR take off the bridge that is is under, pull it and have a new bridge (covered by insurance). The latter would take two hours. I don't know if she would sit and cooperate that long. You can't just leave in the middle of a procedure. On the other hand, I don't know if she would drive everybody crazy complaining about the hole/missing tooth in her mouth (back). Anybody have any experience or thoughts?

towhee

Could she not have the tooth pulled and then wait to she how she does?

MN Chickadee

How far along in the dementia disease is she? We went with the hole in the mouth under similar circumstances so my mom was missing two teeth. She lost a bridge when she was stage 6 Alzheimer's and there was no way she was going to tolerate the dental work. She got used to the mouth feel and it wasn't a problem, other than she looked a little zany. By then she was already needing help cutting foods into small pieces and sometimes even a modified diet (a chewy piece of meat for example wouldn't have worked anyway.)

mommyandme (m&m)

My mom had some trouble with her teeth too. Some kind of product she had made for her top front teeth began to finally erode. She was left with snaggleteeth and also looked zany. Had to have a couple removed which is another story. She loved to smile, I’d cringe silently. If she understood completely she may have been devastated as she was a bit vain in her life. She lived minus a few front teeth and it wasn’t terrible. I would never have done restorative work for her. The extractions were hard enough.

The decision may rest on where your LO is with this messed up disease. I hope you find the solution that is best for you both.