You're attached to your teeth, but are they attached to you?
Probably because I currently see patients in three settings I see a whole lot of different patients from varying socioeconomic backgrounds. The patients who I see in my private practice and who buy into preventive maintenance and good home care do very well and even into their nineties have most of their teeth. The patients I see during my teaching tend to have less money allocated to their dentistry and have mouths that are missing more teeth. Also they are more prone to severe bone loss due to ongoing periodontal disease. It is not terribly uncommon for a patient at one of my days spent teaching to come in with a mouth full of loose teeth that probably should be removed. The other day one such young patient in her thirties came in and had been told by her dentist she needed to have her teeth removed. Sure enough they all were loose without good bone support. Sooner or later her teeth will fall out or get infected. She explained that she was very attached to her teeth and ...