The yellowish stuff is the same that was there from day 1 which you said will fall out in little pieces and not to be alarmed. It has but there is still a little left in the socket. Less each day and the OS said it would be another few weeks before I see pink gum again. My regular dentist looked at it and said this is normal and today I saw my periodontist today about something else and she said it would take a few more weeks. The palate still hurts, I guess I am a slow healer. The other extraction site is less red. The team I go to want me to not panic and just do one thing at a time but it just seems like everything is falling apart. Old root canals that have some pathology that may need redoing, another darn gum swelling today on tooth 18 that had to be curretted and may mean opening up to look at a cracked root and perhaps another extraction. I am really stressed as this hasn't happened in years when I was not so worried about things. I was about 32 when most of my RCs and crowns were done.

Thank you for telling me I am handling this well because I feel like this is permeating my life and I am extremely distressed and that's why i keep writing. I may get an endo consultation because what you say is true...why get a bridge or even this flipper when another tooth may have to come out and it won't be useful anymore. The money...this has killed me. I live in a metropolitan area where dental work is really expensive. I have time before I decide on an implant ot fixed bridge for #11 so by then, I should have the total picture. Thanks so much again.

Hi Sandy,

One comment that you made that I would like to remark on. Here is what you wrote...... <<I may get an endo consultation because what you say is true...why get a bridge or even this flipper when another tooth may have to come out and it won't be useful anymore.>>

I must clarify my opinion of which I have stated here and elsewhere many times. IMO, it is never, never a good idea to get a root canal nor is it wise to retreat a tooth with a root canal. ALL root canaled teeth are infected because the microscopic canals are not accessible, they cannot be cleaned out. Therefore the root canaled tooth will always harbor infectious bacteria irrelevant of how well a root canal procedure is performed. In addition to this anatomical fact, a persons immune system plays a big role in how this infected tooth will affect their overall health.

If you have a removable partial denture, teeth can usually be added to it without having to make a whole new one. The idea when making a partial denture for a patient who still has some questionable teeth is to make it so it can accomodate additional teeth as the questionable ones are removed. This is all part of the "long term" treatment planning that I spoke to you about earlier when I suggested that you get a diagnosis of what all your dental problems are before you get any further dental restorations or bridges done.

The flipper that you currently have may or may not be adaptable to adding teeth because it may have been fabricated to just accomodate #11 and #2. This is another reason why it is important for patients to have a complete diagnosis of their dental problems so they don't waste money on doing bits and pieces of dentistry only to find out that it could have been done alot less expensively in the long run.

Permanently cemented bridges cannot accomodate any additional loss of teeth. They would have to be remade entirely.

From what you are now describing....... it sounds like you have ongoing periodontal disease and old root canaled teeth. As you are finging out, this combination will eventually end up in tooth loss. This is due to the infectious nature of the periodontal disease and the infected root canaled teeth. One condition feeds off of the other and there is no way to get rid of one if the other one is still present. Again, I think you are experiencing this exact scenerio at this time as you are dealing with one swelling after another in areas of root canaled teeth. Curretting the area of these infected swollen gum pockets is typically done in conventional dentistry, but it is basically a waste of money and there is no long term benefit to doing this procedure. The pocket will become overloaded again because the infection is coming from the tooth. The oral problem with this constant reccurance is the bone level deteriorates more and more every time. The sytemic problem with these infections is the bacteria not only lives under the gum tissue, it travels through your bloodstream. This is why I repeat myself here and elsewhere for people to seriously consider removing their infected teeth............

I am giving you the information straight....... not holding back and not pulling any punches. I know it is not what you want to hear and I know it is overwhelming. I wish I knew of a better way to say it all. But you deserve to be told the truth and you deserve to know what your dental issues are so you can make an informed decision as to what is in your best interest and not keep pouring more and more money into dentistry that will not only be short lived, but will also have negative affects on your overall well being.

You need a diagnosis of all of your dental issues and you need treatment options both short and long term AND then you decide which path you are most comfortable taking. Your dental team "probably" wants to do what they think will make you happy...... so you have to make yourself clear if you are willing to continue on this path of patching up here and there and redoing dentistry here and there...... or you prefer to get your mouth healthy by getting rid of the infections in a shorter amount of time.

Please don't let this information upset you. You are trying to do the right thing, you just need to know what the problems are so you can make a plan to deal with them.

We're always here..........~'.'~

Bryanna