Well,.... It's a Senior's Place, Ain't It?

Too bad my parents tried so very hard to preserve my teeth when I was a kid. Like Pixie Sticks, I could only have them for Halloween. Straws full of artificial color and deliciously tooth boring sugar...Upper denture and the bottom teeth ain't perfect. Then again I know a gentleman who was a dentist poster boy. He brushed, flossed and water picked obsessively...full dentures anyway.
 
Imp, maybe you were asking Dame Warrigal, but I don't believe in using Fluoride. We use Toms of Maine toothpaste that is Fluoride free. (Not all Toms is Fluoride free but the one I buy is) Our well is salty so we purchase bottled water and it doesn't have fluoride in it.

Our old, small-town type dentist advocated using baking soda on a wetted toothbrush. I did for awhile, but the taste is definitely yucky! Never before, after all these years, did it occur to me, and just did: tooth decay is mainly caused by acid secreted by mouth bacteria as they digest sugar. Baking soda, Sodium Bicarbonate, is basic in Ph and neutralizes acid! The old guy may have been onto something, 70 years ago! imp
 
Teeth on my Dad's side of the family were likely about average. He had a partial "bridge" (?) in front after about age 50 or so. Still, his kid brother, my Uncle Jim, died in his early 80s and had never seen a dentist in his entire life, and had not a single cavity, ever! I learned this from him the last time I saw him, travelled back to Wisconsin from Phoenix in '93 for that purpose. We had several days of reminiscing together. Wonderful guy! He died a couple of years later. imp
 
*Hello? Hitman? "Never mind my last call the ole fart is paying up!"

I have a large coffee mug that says "Old Fart" on it that I had at the office back in prehistory. I thought it was funny ( and accurate ), but our office manager thought it was inappropriate.
 
I've still got all my teeth except the wisdom teeth. My dentist with his usual sense of humor assures me they will bury me with my teeth (guess that works for cremation, too). I only have 3 fillings, and that's all.
 
Thus, you believe in fluoridation? The common "Conspiracy Theory" here is that the millions of tons of mining tailings heaped up throw enormous amounts of toxic elements into the air, among them, fluorides. No argument about the dust blowing off them, I've seen it! So, the idea was, according to the "theorists", to rework tailings, remove fluorides, poisonous substances though they are, and gradually "feed" them to the public.

What do you think of that? imp
Fluoride is added to the water supplies all over Australia with the exception of Queensland which remains the backward state, Actually, I'll have to check - even the banana bender state may have caught up.

The difference in the teeth of Australian children is the proof of this particular pudding.
 
Butterfly I am SO jealous! My grandfather was like that...at 96 he still had his own choppers. That he appreciated peanut brittle and every other candy known to man makes it all the more incredible.
 
I believe in fluoride also. My son has one filling. He received that at the age of thirty one.

Shal, and Warrigal: I do not mean to imply fluoridation does not help maintain children's teeth, that fact has been proven. What concerns me about the stuff is it's toxicity. And the fact that it is being "forced" upon both young and old who consume the water containing it. It's presence does not help adult teeth; therefore, adults should not be using it. To avoid it, requires alternate water supply. I believe fluoride should be administered only to children on a continuing basis, by their parents. imp
 
Sodium chloride is toxic too but not in small doses. It can elevate blood pressure and cause heart attacks if too much is consumed yet most processed food is full of it. I imagine that sodium iodide is also toxic if too much is ingested but lack of it is harmful to health. Adults can tolerate the low levels of sodium fluoride that is added to the water. After all, it occurs naturally in some water supplies. In those cases adding more would not be a good idea but in Australia fluoride is a very scarce trace mineral. It is probably because our continent is very old and our soils are well leached of soluble fluorides.
 
I have all my natural teeth....lots of crowns and some cosmetic work. I take care of them.

A close friend and also 2 relatives had implants and they cost a fortune. But crowns are also very expensive.

My crowns were only $1,200 a piece which was not bad at all. This was over ten years ago. Implants were about $5,000, but may be less now, plus most dental establishments offer payment options so if you need a new "tooth" it should be affordable. Lol, I remember when going to the dentitst was as affordable as going to the doctor. How things have changed !
 
My crowns were only $1,200 a piece which was not bad at all. This was over ten years ago. Implants were about $5,000, but may be less now, plus most dental establishments offer payment options so if you need a new "tooth" it should be affordable. Lol, I remember when going to the dentitst was as affordable as going to the doctor. How things have changed !

My total for upper and lower dentures (plus sedition surgery for extractions) was $8400...
 
My total for upper and lower dentures (plus sedition surgery for extractions) was $8400...

That was about what I paid... I had to have a three plates made.. a temporary.. or immediate upper denture.. and then a permanent upper and lower. I already had a bottom plate for a few years before I had the top done.
 

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