Dental work for 94 year old. Any suggestions?

I had a front upper tooth come out, and the dentist bonded it to the one next door, which lasted a couple of years, and then the other tooth got loose. Then I had a flipper, which also helped stabilize the other teeth.

OK, her dentist calls it a "Composite split bridge". It's made of composite material. He only does it on older patients. Like I said, it's worked very well for my mom. We're both thrilled with the results! I asked if another dentist would know what that meant, and his receptionist wasn't sure. So I hope you can find someone who could do that for your mom.

OK, on Monday, I will try to find out how he works the magic! :)

Blannie, yes! Please see if you can find out the name of the procedure. Sounds like that would work for her!

I have had my 94-year old mom lose two different teeth - both broke off at the gum line. One was in the font and I was NOT going to let her go through the rest of her life without that tooth! Her FABULOUS dentist has made her each "fake" tooth in the span of 90 minutes that aren't crowns or bridges. I'm not sure how he does it, but he builds a fake tooth up and then hardens it. I'm amazed that he's able to do it. They look great.

I think on the most recent one (one tooth away from her front tooth), he used the tooth next to it like a "flying buttress" and somehow connected the fake tooth to that one. So it can be done. It was about $400 in the Chicago suburban area. She's had both fake teeth for from 1-3 years and they're holding up fine. He's a miracle worker! If you want me to find out the process, let me know and I'll call his office to see what you'd call it.

Another thing your mom could try is called a "flipper". If she can handle dentures, she could probably handle a flipper. It's kind of like a retainer with a fake tooth attached. My mom had one of those but lost it (probably threw it out in a napkin). That's when we had the first fake tooth built by another dentist. I've had a flipper before I paid for a partial and am getting another one for a tooth I have to have pulled. They're around $200 or so, I believe.

If your mother is otherwise in good health and is mentally able to tolerate all the physical aspects of 'breaking in' a new dental installation - because it's a hard, uncomfortable slog at the best of times, not a quick fix - and assuming she can, objectively speaking, afford the money (though which of us enjoys spending enormous quantities of it on bloomin' dentists?) - then I'd encourage her to spend her money on her care and get her teeth sorted out. Comfort and enjoyment of speaking, eating and drinking are a big deal in quality of life terms, worth plenty. Of course it's extremely irritating to have "wasted" all that money on the crowns, but if they've got to go, they've got to go. No use regretting what seemed like a good idea at the time.

Though if I had even the slightest suspicion that her dentist was thinking "ker-chinggggg!!!" I'd probably be looking for a second opinion, too.

The problem is the two teeth on either side are in too poor condition to support it.

I think the dentist can make a partial plate with just one tooth but I'm not sure. My dad had a plate on the bottom and it only had one tooth on it.