Bedridden mother w/dental issues
Hello. I care for my 89 year old mother who has severe Alzheimer's and has been bedridden since falling and breaking her hip in February of last year. She has visiting hospice nurses twice a week, and (by the grace of God) is doing well, overall for her circumstances.
My Mom has a full upper partial, which had previously been held on by two teeth, both since broken off, and now hangs loose in her mouth. By the grace of God, she is still able to eat and has a good appetite.
Her bottom teeth have been rotting for the last year or so. I noticed them just prior to her fall (Feb. 2024), and she had an appointment to see the dentist the day after her fall — an appointment we had to cancel as she was in the hospital, and has subsequently been bedridden.
I brush them the best I can (she doesn't cooperate) three times a day (but w/o toothpaste, as she can't spit in bed).
Over the past few months, her rotted bottom teeth have been breaking off, and she looks as if she was hit in the face with a sledge hammer with a row of jagged, broken, mostly missing lower teeth.
Just today I noticed something askew. She has a solitary tooth with broken (mostly missing) teeth on either side of it. It is leaning (tilted) way forward.
The way it's bent, it won't likely break off like the others, but the way it's leaning, I don't see how it's not going to come out of the socket entirely -- which would be a nightmare, as she'd be bleeding, and I'd have no way to stop it.
With her Alzheimer's she has no understanding and can't follow directions, and I wouldn't know what to do. I can't believe there are zero options for dental care for persons with Alzheimer's who are bedridden. Like the hospital which didn't feed her at all for the nine days she was a patient, it's clear that the medical community (if not every part of our culture) doesn't care about people with Alzheimer's.
I know there's no human resolution to this, and I'm only writing this out of desperation, but it's a shame there is nothing humanly possible to help her. I've reached out to everyone I can locally, every agency, everything available. There is no human help. None.
God help my mother, because no one else can. :(
Comments
-
so sorry you are going through this. Some on this forum found mobile dentists who make house visits. What does hospice say? Dental problems are common in dementia patients. It’s terrible that they don’t get dental care.
0 -
My DH is in a nursing home and needs dental care. They had a visiting dentist come and check his teeth. She said he needed to go to an oral surgeon before she could make a denture. Of course he can't get to an oral surgeon so we are stuck doing nothing.
0 -
I feel your pain. Luckily my dad’s MC has a mobile dentist that we’ve been able to utilize. He’s at a great RCF and I assumed they were helping him brush but then I found out they really weren’t consistently and were of the opinion his teeth would just eventually fall out anyway. I ended up hiring a private caregiver for him part time for different reasons but am keeping her partially because she takes him to the bathroom twice a day to brush his teeth.
ITA that the resources available to us are inadequate. Don’t even get me started on the “care” the elderly receive in hospitals. Even the mail my dad was receiving was predatory in nature. It’s really sickening how the elderly are treated and I don’t even want to think about what happens to those who have no family or advocate.
You might want to look into the availability of a mobile dentist in your area. I’m so sorry you’re going through this. Just know you’re doing the best that you can.0 -
I've looked into mobile dentists. The nearest are in cities 120 miles away.
0
Commonly Used Abbreviations
DH = Dear Husband
DW= Dear Wife, Darling Wife
LO = Loved One
ES = Early Stage
EO = Early Onset
FTD = Frontotemporal Dementia
VD = Vascular Dementia
MC = Memory Care
AL = Assisted Living
POA = Power of Attorney
Read more
Categories
- All Categories
- 699 Living With Alzheimer's or Dementia
- 403 I Am Living With Alzheimer's or Other Dementia
- 296 I Am Living With Younger Onset Alzheimer's
- 19K Supporting Someone Living with Dementia
- 5.9K I Am a Caregiver (General Topics)
- 9.3K Caring For a Spouse or Partner
- 3.4K Caring for a Parent
- 248 Caring Long Distance
- 207 Supporting Those Who Have Lost Someone
- 13 Discusiones en Español
- 1 Vivir con Alzheimer u Otra Demencia
- 1 Vivo con Alzheimer u Otra Demencia
- Vivo con Alzheimer de Inicio Más Joven
- 12 Prestación de Cuidado
- 3 Soy Cuidador (Temas Generales)
- 8 Cuidar de un Padre
- 23 ALZConnected Resources
- View Discussions For People Living with Dementia
- View Discussions for Caregivers
- Discusiones en Español
- Browse All Discussions
- Dementia Resources
- 8 Account Assistance
- 15 Help
