So I recently went to see my dentist for one of my check ups. I have always have dental problems my whole life and no matter what I seemed to do to correct them seemed to work. The dentist said the best thing for me to do at this point would for me to have all my teeth pulled and to get dentures put in instead. I even consloted another dentist and he said the same thing. I scared to have this done and even more scared to explain this to my friends and future boyfriends? Help!

They'll do it gradually. They'll have to, the amount of novacaine they'd have to give you to keep you numb long enough to pull every single tooth would probably flat near kill you (I've been through a tooth extraction, recently. One tooth takes 45 minutes or so). So it's not like you're going to leave school one day with your own teeth, and come back the next day with completely different teeth.

My uncle had to have this done. They said something about his saliva being too acidic to accomadate his own teeth. Truthfully, I didn't know until someone told me - I always thought he had nice teeth, then one day my aunt pointed out that they were fake. I was like "So that's why they look so nice!" LOL...

Unless you do sleepovers, you may not ever see the guy when you'd have to take the teeth out anyway.

ETA; I was the mom of the patient, I wasn't the one getting the tooth extracted. Although I have had to have teeth pulled, but it wasn't recently. I think I was 10 or so. My husband has had to have several pulled, for similar reasons to you, just bad genes. It's certainly not for lack of trying.

I would put my mind in the gutter as to why no teeth might be a good thing from a guys perspective but I'll keep my thought to myself.

Honestly there are going to be very few times when someone would notice this.

It's a health issue is it not? Flat out tell them what your dentist said, or you could find a way to make a joke about it.

Yikes, I'm really sorry! That sounds like it's really tough. Have you considered maybe one more consultation? You never know.

As far as your future, don't worry about it. The things that feel awful when they happen do get easier over time. One of my professors had a prosthetic leg because of an accident, and he told us at first he hated the stares and he hated the fact that people thought he was weak, and now it's as natural to him as his left arm. And that's something you can't hide from anyone! Just think that no one will really need to know about your teeth, and honestly, if your friends are worth having, they'll probably think it's kind of wacky in a funny way. If any of my friends had dentures I'd probably ask to see them and ask them lots of questions about it, but I would never think they were less attractive or so weird I couldn't be around them.

My young brother ( 18 ) just had an major amount of dental work done. He was initally supposed to get all of his teeth pulled and was supposed to get dentures. Instead he got half of his teeth pulled and he'll have a bridge and crowns. He has been through the most torturous procedures and endured a few dry sockets then had to have crowns put on his teeth. The only reason he didn't want the the dentures was because of dating. I know tons of twenty-somethings that have false teeth.

I'm going through major oral/maxillofacial issues right now myself, so I've got a lot of first hand experience with this sort of stuff. I will PM you tomorrow when I get off work.

Thanks everyone.Its nice to know that Im not the only one who has had these problems, but its still hard to deal with.

One of my friends was hit by a car and lost all of her top front teeth. She has implants instead. They are beautiful. Would it be possible to get implants instead of dentures that you have to remove every night? I'm not sure of the cost (I'm sure it's not cheap), and I don't know your situation, but if it's possible that might be a much better option as far as dating goes.

If someone can't look past dentures you shouldn't be with them. I am pretty sure that its a good few thousand to get each implant done... and if the issue is with the bone itself it might not be an option.

You could go see a third dentist

What exactly are your problems? Unless all your teeth are rotting I don't know of any dentist who would suggest this.
Are your teeth loose? Have your gums become infected? How often do you go for cleanings. have you had planing and scaling ( a deep cleaning that removes all tartar and plaque)? Do you know how deep the pockets inbetween your gums and your teeth are? Anything less than 7 or 8 and your teeth can very probably saved with a good scaling and then at home flossing program. Have you had root canals? I think you need to give this sort of treatment more thought. I also recommend implants rather than dentures-certainly more expensive but you will have them all your life

I have an implant and it cost me $4100 including the extraction and sedation. Luckily insurance paid 85% - which is why I chose the implant rather than the bridge (which was $2800 not including extraction and sedation).

Implant anchored dentures are also an option - more pricey than full dentures, but less pricey than a full mouth of implants - they just put in some implant posts and your dentures kind of snap onto them I gather.

My Mother-in-law recently had all of her teeth extracted for dentures. They did it all at once under general anesthesia (I can't imagine any dentist doing that amount of work while you're awake). They can pull a tooth every 15-20 min while you're out. I would hope that your general dentist would send you to a dental surgeon.

A few days prior to her extraction she had molds taken of her mouth and sent to the lab. When she woke up from the extraction surgery she had a set of dentures to take home with her - they just had to be adjusted when she recovered and swelling went down. She was too tender to wear them for some time, but it wasn't long.

Honestly, if I didn't know about the whole ordeal I would have no clue about her dentures. They look so good (not too good that they look unnatural though)! She says it only took about two weeks to get used to them as far as chewing and talking goes.

I agree with what the others have said about friends and future boyfriends. Friends may never even have to know, and if a guy cant get past false teeth he may not be worth keeping around anyways!

Before I got my implant I had to wear a partial denture for a month while I waited for insurance to approve the implant (they fought me over it as they only wanted to pay for a bridge initially). I don't think my husband even ever saw it - he always falls asleep before me!

If you can, get a third opinion, but if it ends up that this is your only option try not to worry too much. There are lots of people in the same boat as you (my 22 year old friend has a full set of dentures!) and your friends will like you for you, not whether or not you have to take your teeth out at night.

Implants were talked about. We would rather get them but Im not in the boat to pay that kind of money. Im going to see another dentist just for a third opinion.

Sorry I haven't gotten to PMing you just yet. I've been ridiculously busy. I did want to check in and see what's actually going wrong with your mouth. What is your actual diagnosis?

I'd definitely suggest looking into implants, even if you'd need to take a loan to afford them. They look beautiful! I, myself, will have two (front bottom) shortly. If dentures are unavoidable, don't worry! Many of my patients have dentures and often times I have trouble telling them from real teeth, and it's probable that others will think that they're your real teeth as well.

I've had a lot of problems with my jaws, teeth, gums, etc, and in addition to all of that and how bad I think I look, I've also had to wear braces again as a 22-24 year old. I was very upset when I found out that they were unavoidable. I was also concerned with how men and others would view me because I had just moved 800 miles away to a new city where I knew no one. Honestly, nobody has cared an iota. I've dated, met a whole group of friends, and gone about my life normally, as will you.

Try not to get down about it. Don't let it stop you from doing things, either. Just be you!

Thank you everyone for your advice