My mom lost almost all her teeth during Covid. She is 95, confined to a wheelchair and has probably 8 teeth left.
I don’t know if we could even get her into a dental surgeons chair but if we did she would need to have the rest of her teeth pulled and the get fitted for dentures.
She is so embarrassed about her current semi-toothless smile (poor Mom).
I worry that she could wind up in a worse place if she is toothless and finds dentures uncomfortable. Kinda between a rock and a hard place. Advice?
People can develop the ability to eat without teeth quite well: both my father and grandmother preferred going without dentures most of the time. I'm concerned about the impact of the pulling and how long it would take to for your mom to heal though after getting teeth pulled at her age. I would get input from her doctors and any specialists before going forward.
Getting used to a top denture is VERY difficult; it takes 6 weeks of a LOT of pain and constant visits to the dentist so he can file down the plastic on the denture (where it rubs on the gums) for a better fit. Where it rubs, it creates sores that are killer. So it's very very hard to eat anything but pudding and yogurt for 6 weeks.
If she needs both and upper and a lower denture, that's like a true nightmare b/c the bottom denture moves around a lot.
Even the top denture never fits quite right. So it's a constant battle to find the right amount of denture cream that will work to keep the damn thing in place. Too little and it falls out. Too much and it's seeping down the back of your throat and making a mess. Powder doesn't create enough of a cushion. Powder AND cream is best, most of the time, but not for everyone.
Needless to say, dentures are a true nightmare to get used to for an average person, never mind a 95 y/o woman who may have cognizance issues, who may lose them, break them, and God knows what else. Just the trips to the dentist's office for fittings ALONE would be enough of a reason to nix the entire idea. My mother only has a few teeth left in her mouth, and she is VERY vain at 94, but there is no way we're doing ANY unnecessary dental work in her mouth these days. The last fiasco was the mobile dentist coming into her Memory Care to do a 'surgical extraction' of a WISDOM TOOTH (I kid you not) and it cost $1000 after it was all said & done! Just today she again told me how she lost a 'little tiny baby tooth' while she was eating, meaning she lost a PIECE of the remaining molar in her mouth, and I said 'gee that's unfortunate mom.' Until & unless she's in pain and complaining, I will not be calling the mobile dentist back again.
Leave your mom alone with her 8 teeth and encourage her to get used to eating soft foods, that's my recommendation. I wouldn't wish a denture on my worst enemy!
Good luck!
Gosh, this is hard!
My dad pulls his teeth out throughout the day approximately 50 times. And... he can never figure out how to put them back in... so we put them back in... 2 minutes later.. they are back out... rinse... repeat
By the time I could arrange for new hearing aid (no response from previous provider, had to locate another), she was in that habit of taking it out all the time. Kinda like a toddler, when there's something "new" to inspect. She also had a bad habit of wrapping it in a tissue or a napkin, so most likely the first one that went MIA in about 2 months was tossed. They refused to help with the replacement cost (only $400, they came with a loss warranty.) So, from then on, any time she took it out, they would take it away. Result was most of the time she wasn't wearing it, which defeats the purpose! I had already decided not to replace it if they lost the second one (she only wore one, both were fitted for the same ear.) She was about 95-6 when this happened, with start of noticeable dementia at about age 90-1.
A hearing aid is much more useful than dentures, since diet can be modified. Certainly there can be vanity involved (some question that - it DOES matter to some!), but given age, dementia and other issues, along with the pain and necessary treatment post extraction, I would say skip it. My mother never had dentures, but lealonnie1's detailed comment would be a clincher for me!
oral care is SUPPOSED to be done daily in a facility and hopefully it is done daily at home. Oral care after extracting the teeth she has, open wounds in the mouth will be difficult and painful.
Will she be bothered by the wounds. Will she try picking at her mouth?
She will probably have to have a general or possibly twilight anesthesia and it may take her months to recover from that.
All these factors was a driving force behind my decision to not have dental work done for my husband. Not to mention I could not get my Husband to be compliant with the dentist.
*is your mom actually embarrassed or is she picking up on your feelings?
and another side note if you add up all the posts and comments about dentures that get lost, tossed out, misplaced, stolen both at home and in facilities I wonder if dentures are worth the trouble. As well as properly putting them in and caring for them daily. And they have to be put in daily so they continue to fit correctly
He would not consider dentures. I have not seen him in person since October 2019, but I imagine he has lost more teeth since then. He eats softer foods, canned meat, frozen veggies and soups. Bananas, not apples and oranges, he can still manage pears.
If the existing teeth are sound, they might not have to go. I see partial dentures of all sorts.
It may be that there really isn't any such species in your state as a dentist who does outreach, home assessments, community or home-based appointments - but if you haven't checked, do check. There are some services we never knew existed until we couldn't go out, and our county's peripatetic dental service was one of the best.
Start with your mother's own dentist, though, and ask. If they don't do this perhaps they'll know who does.
I was able to get her in with her old dentist in a nearby town. He was with her for 10 minutes, ground off a couple edges. Done. He was horrified that this dental mill wanted to put her through oral surgery and dentures.
Mom died a few months later. I’m so glad I didn’t let them put her through that process. She would have spent the last month of her life in misery.
He had the extractions with no problems, and wore a "healing " lower denture for 9 months. He was able to eat meat, chicken, bacon, ribs, without issue. He now has his new top and bottom dentures and is happy with them. The only issue is he gets confused about when to put them in and when to take them out. But since he's confused about night and day anyway, its no big deal.
Even at 95, she can benefit from dentures if she doesn't have other issues that would prevent her from sitting in the chair or having dental work done. When you take her for the check up to find out why all the teeth fell out, both of you can discuss with the dentist. A good dentist should be able to fit her well with dentures, but dentist is best person to evaluate.
By the way, my mom is 97 and still has all of her own teeth! Dentists still find that remarkable. Her mom still had all her own teeth at 102! They both always took good care and went to dentists regularly. All my siblings are the same - lots of dental visits over the years.
I couldn't take my mother to a dentist. She is dual incontinent and taking her anywhere would cause confusion. I found a mobile dentist! Great...not. her Delta dental doesn't cover mobile dentist. I was told most dental insurance doesn't. I asked them to check her tooth and if needed antibiotics asap. She had 3 abscess. They came back with a *Dental plan* to remove all of her teeth and fit her for dentures for 15,000.
I said no, remove the abscessed teeth and make sure she had antibiotics and anything she may need for pain. She could never have implants because her bone is like swiss cheese.
I can't imagine putting an elderly person through the pain and then months of waiting for their mouth to heal before having dentures fitted ☹
Hopefully my story helps you with your decision what ever that may be. I feel for you. This caregiving stuff isn't for sissy's. Xo
Even going to an unfamiliar dentist can be detrimental. MANY years ago, while at their place in FL for the winter, mom went to some dentist down there. No idea what the issue was or why she didn't question anything or get another opinion (she did NOT have dementia back then and usually didn't jump to get things done that were recommended!) They pulled at least FOUR teeth. She often talked about getting implants or something, but never followed through. By the time dementia was starting, she hadn't seen anyone in a while, so I took her to my dentist for a cleaning and exam, right down the road from where she lived then. Between hearing and early dementia, they kept coming to me to ask questions (I was getting work done at the same time.) Turns out she had cavity under one crown - they have to remove the crown, fix the tooth and make a new crown. She couldn't quite get it. Funny thing is when the bill came she was horrified! Never mind that she insisted they just poked around and didn't clean her teeth - I know they did, she would just forget. Her extra insurance provided a very small amount for dental, so in her thinking she's paying a lot of money for nothing! Next time I told the hygienist to take pictures. She tells me I did plenty poking around, she'll know. Nope. The door to the office wasn't even closed when she announced they did nothing!
Were she younger and without dementia, sure. But at 95 with dementia? My mother's thing was hearing aid. The one she moved in with finally went through the laundry (over time she would put it in less often, even forgetting she wore one, even though she'd relied on them for over 40 years!) After that, she would be taking it out, wrapping it in tissue or napkin, as she used to do, and finally one went AWOL, likely tossed with trash at meal time. The remaining one (both fit to one ear, she only wore one) they kept taking away from her when she'd take it out. This resulted in it being out more than in, if in at all! Since we were locked out, I couldn't check to see if she was wearing it. Great to keep it safe, but it is USELESS if she isn't wearing it!
Seriously, given what others have described (there are some positive ones), esp lealonnie1's comment, I would have to recommend skipping the extractions and dentures. I DO know that vanity can remain, even with dementia. There was a woman in mom's place that dressed like she was going to a fancy place, every day! It's what she was used to, so she continued. Many of the ladies still had their hair "done." So, there can be self awareness, and I feel bad for your mother, since she can still understand she has lost all those teeth and is reluctant to smile. If she didn't have dementia, I'd remind her how cute babies are when they first smile and laugh, all toothless!
I know many people with full upper and lower dentures that are delighted with them. When they're made properly and fit properly there isn't problems.
It's a terrible experience for a person to have teeth problems or lose them altogether. Eating is no longer a pleasure or even possible many times, for people with such a condition. Everyone deserves to be able to chew food regardless of their age. That should be a human right.
My father at the age of 87 had all his crowns redone because he needed to. Sure that's pretty old and most people that age usually don't bother. At that age he was still bowling perfect 300 score and golfing a full course a couple times a week.
If she's still competent to make that choice herself then she should be allowed to. Bring her for a consultation with the dentist and explain what the process will be for getting her dentures.
It's about quality of life. Why should your mom have to live the rest of her life eating mush and soft foods because she can't chew anything else? Even if she only gets one day of use out of her dentures at her age, it will be a very good day indeed.
If mom is still competent and can make this decision, then it's her right to make it.
My dad wore upper and lower dentures since he was in his 30’s with no issues. Then when he lost some weight they didn’t fit as well. This was when he was 97. Like a dummy I held out hope that he would tolerate new ones. But no!! He would not wear them because they hurt and it basically changed his bite enough that he couldn’t get used to them. So he went back to his old ones. Fast forward 2 years, he lost his lower at LTC when they threw it away with his dining tray. And then his upper became very loose from continued weight loss. By then he was 98. So we took him to a specialist to get the upper relined for a better fit. Dad had dementia and was an awful patient! Then once he got back to the NH he ripped out the temporary reline and ruined all that work. After that my sister and I said NO MORE dentures or dental visits.
I can’t speak for how your mom will tolerate it but she is awfully old to try to get used to dentures. It takes many visits for adjustments to get them to where that don’t rub sore spots and for the patient to eventually toughen up the gum tissues like a callous. With dementia, She will have it even harder. Quite likely she will refuse to wear them. They are expensive and I would hate for you to have $3000 bookends like we had with my dad's new dentures.
The dentist who said it would not be an issue has likely never dealt with someone with dementia and the aftermath as well as the stress this will place on you.
Don't put your mom thru the pain of removing them. I had dry socket and I rated it right up there with child birth. Also some of the stitches came loose and I thought I was going to choke to death when they hung in my throat one night.
It might be possible to get a bridge if some of the teeth are in the right place to hold it.
My 87-year-old mother with dementia was scammed into financing $30,000 for dental implants. Money she didn't have. (Beware: a "good credit report" can mean your parent paid the minimum on their credits cards all their life. They don't check income!!) Scammers know that the elderly often have bad teeth and they target them. Grr. Special spot in hell.
How "with it" is your mom? Do you think she would be able to handle dentures or a flipper of sorts? I have heard people complain constantly about dentures and how they rub or hurt and have to be adjusted constantly. My grandmother said that they even changed the taste of food for her. Can you have an in depth conversation about all of these things with mom? If not, maybe you should just leave it be...?