Sunday Dental Thread: Implants vs. Realism

[PCIntern]

- Edited out the first para...since it will undoubtedly be misinterpreted -

When I took Organic Chemistry in the early 1970's we had a brilliant prof - the fellow told the class, if you get a better grade on the final than you did on the hour exams AND the final, I'll throw out the hour exam grades and give you the Final Exam grade only. So when many students screwed up the hour tests, they shrugged it off, saying, "I'll get an A on the final and an A for the course!"

Easier said than done of course...the final was much harder than the hour exams and there were many tears...and retaking of the course over the summer for a fair number, (not including yours truly, who actually DID manage to do better...I was always good at cumulative exams...but I digress.

This logic is what is being used today by people who are not taking care of their teeth properly and, worse, by their dentists. "Just get these out and get implants" is the refrain. Got 60 thousand dollars? Got real good health, with no diabetes in the family? Do you smoke? Will you ever need chemotherapy or have you ever taken drugs such as Boniva for calcium? Have trouble answering these questions?

Here's another: what if the implants fail? IT happens you know...not everyone can tolerate their placement and even if the implants work, can you afford to have the case remade for, say another 25000 dollars in 10-15 years? Is your 401k consisting primarily of Powerball tickets?

The long and the short of it is: take care of this set of teeth which you have, it's the only real one you'll EVER have. Prosthetics DO NOT REPLACE TEETH. They replace NO TEETH. Big difference. Don't believe me...as Clint Eastwood once famously asked: Do you feel lucky?

Of course, since this is a political board, we must draw the analogy to politics: anyone who thinks that McCain is preferable to Obama because he or she wanted Hillary so badly is just making the wrong decision fro the wrong reasons and is going a very long way to prove a point. We heard this before with Naderites...how did that work out for everyone. My sense is that if you can consider voting for a Republican like McCain or any one of the hundreds of clones of Bush in politics, you are on the wrong Board, and you're just fooling yourself, or in a way even worse, trying to fool us. We have to keep loyal to our teeth and our Party, and substitutes are just not going to be as functional, as economical, or as natural.

By the way, I have read a few threads about how fake McCain's teeth look. I happen to think he looks rather well in the dental department for fellow who has been through what he has been through and short of St. Ronnie's beautiful Full Upper Denture (accompanied by Sevareid-esque scraggly lower incisors), his dental condition looks pretty good. I would look elsewhere if you need to criticize him for health issues...but that's for another thread another time.

[eleny]

1. Thanks, I think.

Btw, I floss.

[PCIntern]

2. You get the brass figlagee with bronze oak-leaf palm!

As Jean Shepherd used to say!!!

:hi:

[eleny]

5. I used to love listening to JS!

He was on the radio late night in New York before John Nebel's talk show. The late greats!

[PCIntern]

6. Lemme tell you what I did...

You can get literally hundreds of his shows..on ebay there's a host of sellers with mp3's...there was a netjuke site but it wasn't working a couple weeks ago...but...

I bought the discs, put them on the computer, bought an mp3 player and rechargeable AAA batteries and moved them onto the player and listen to the shows via one earphone all night...if I wake up, I just start listening and fall right back to sleep like I used to in the old days...except this time I can re-listen to the show. YOU NEVER GET TIRED OF THE SHOWS...I have about 1250 of them and by the time I cycle, I hear the old ones like they're new.

The BEST!!!

[eleny]

10. I'm crazy about the radio and the old time shows

I have to find Jean's programs.

There's even web sites where you can listen to old time radio for free. But I have a number of the dvd's, too, that I got from ebay for various shows. They're great for taking on camping trips. You're right about never getting tired of them. Gildersleeve has always been a favorite.

It's a curious thing but recently I've been wanting to get back into them again after not listening for some time. Seems like with having such strong candidates and then Obama doing so well I'm starting to be able to focus better on things I always enjoyed but haven't lately. This administration affected me more than it should. It feels good to be getting back into my groove.

And I'm such a radio geek. Fall asleep with the pillow speaker on the pillow every night! Hubby tells me that once in a while he gets worried at night by "little sounds" until he realizes it's just my flat pillow speaker that fell away off the pillow. :D

[monmouth]

12. I love the oldies also.. Some good stations..

www.wnar-am.com and www.live365.com are two great stations for the old shows.

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. To be honest, I worry about losing my teeth. My gums are disappearing fast. *worry worry*

But as to your patient.. that was kinda funny, really. LOL

[PCIntern]

4. I took it out...

people are really sensitive around here and are in no mood for stories like that. I don't regret the story, but this is no longer the place for anything like that...unfortunately.

[davsand]

7. I have had more than one elderly person tell me they wish they'd taken more care of their teeth.

Seriously, if you talk to very many older people you will hear it fairly often.

I am a complete dental-phobe and I was really worried about my daughter turning out the same way. I insisted that she go to a pediatric dentist from the get-go in the hope she would be happier with somebody that specializes in kids. I am happy to report that while she does not see the Dentist as being as much fun as a trip to the mall, she is still ok about going in for her 6 month visits.

She is 11 and she flosses daily and has now begun using one of the rotating electric toothbrushes to max out on cleaning. We are watching her very closely because she may actually escape the need for any orthodontic work. Her dentist remains optimistic and I am crossing my fingers.

What amazes hell out of me, however, is the number of kids who do not see a dentist--EVER. This is not especially a poverty stricken area, and I am serious when I say that barring the annual visit from the public health dental people some of her classmates do not ever see a dentist. These parents mostly have nice cars and big houses yet they can't muster enough to take care of those kids? I doubt it. I think it is a lot about parents that do not understand the health implications of dental issues.




Laura

[PCIntern]

8. You have very good Dental I.Q. as we call it...

kids do go to pedodontists where I am...we can always tell someone who's been b/c he or she is an excellent adult patient.

Keep up the good work.

On edit: in the film Peggy Sue Got Married, that's what her grandfather says when she finally gets to see him again "I wish I'd taken better care of my teeth." She was looking for real wisdom and got that...funny.

[PCIntern]

9. Gotta go to bed to get up at 4:15 AM

to dig holes and then fill them...

[elocs]

11. I've had the same dentist for over 30 years now--not long out of school when I started.

I had a lot of work done early after not having seen a dentist in 10 years. In my 20s he put in a couple of permanent bridges in both lower back sides, but very little since. His wife has cleaned my teeth off and on for many of those years (she teaches teeth cleaning techniques to dental hygienists). She cleaned my teeth last year and comment on how healthy my gums were and told me that if I lived to be 100 that I would never have gum disease (I am now 55). I hadn't the heart to tell her and didn't--I never floss.