Tooth Loss and Decay

Hello ALL! It has been a looong time since I have been on here, a looong time. I am now 8 years(?) post op. I have maintained my weight loss, YAY!!! BUT, I am losing all of my teeth, NAY!!! I have always had weak teeth, bad enamel, constant trips to the dentist to maintain a healthy smile. I started with one tooth every six months, needing a root canal. Obviously it is very expensive for dental. So I had to wait a little more time in-between each fix. Which caused bacteria that decayed other teeth. Pretty soon I couldn't even keep up with how fast they were decaying. I went through a devastatingly stressful time, and although I already had TMJ, I began grinding even harder. Grinding so hard I was breaking my teeth. I had/have a mouth guard, but if I forgot one night, I would grind so hard my jaw would be stiff and teeth sore. Then this last year we had some serious issues with my son, and my teeth took a backseat to those issues. Finally to fix my issues, it ballooned up to $10k to fix the problems. And there was no way that was possible at that time.

As of today, they are not saveable :( I have to have them all removed. The dentist said he has never seen such rapid decay, in anyone besides a meth addict. which I am absolutely NOT lol. Then I started doing some research and reading that in some WLS patients, something changes in your saliva that has bacteria and causes rapid tooth decay. Because of the trials my family has gone through, and my age(younger than most patients who lose their teeth) he is doing a full set of implants for free. So at least I am not getting dentures at this point. Its embarrassing even writing this post, let alone posting it. I don't tell anyone, I have just become a hermit until I wait for them to be fixed. I finally confided in my cousin(who also had WLS) and she told me that a couple of girls on her WLS support page, were going through the same thing:/ I am a lot further out than most of everyone who still posts on here. And my issues didn't start until the last couple years. Buy I had to throw it out there to see if anyone else has gone through this. Thanks in advance!

hi there....

I have had the same issues and have had nearly 20K in dental to try to fix and eventually remove and replace my teeth.

I can relate about the shame of not wanting anyone to know.  it is very embarrassing and to hear, "don't worry about it, people will like you for you" from someone that has ALL of their teeth is frustrating...  UGH!!!

I now only have 6 teeth left.  I have a full plate on top and a partial on bottom.  had my last tooth pulled 10 months ago and 5 months prior to that, my remaining teeth were OK. 

my dentist's thought is that I have suffered from SEVERE dry mouth since my WLS that has contributed to my tooth loss.

Absolutely!

I have had many complications with acid. Bleeding ulcer that irrupted thru stool, then vomiting huge blood clots for 2 days. A lot of bile vomiting, acid in the back of my throat. Then tmj and they are breaking in my sleep, then on toast. Mine started at 8 years out. It started with 1 tooth, then all of my enamel.

See, yet another complication.

My sister was vegan for a year and she also had some problems with her teeth. Her teeth started deteriorating because of the lack of calcium in her body. She didn't eat meat, eggs, cheese and that was the problem. She even lost a tooth. After that, she realized she needed to eat cheese and drink milk. We found an Implant dentist in Eastlake OH and the dentist helped her a lot, he assisted her in achieving and maintaining the highest level of dental health and wellness thru total body wellness. This approach to dentistry includes all aspects of a healthy lifestyle and a holistic whole-body approach to well-being.