What would you do?

In last week’s column I talked about the trend over the past few years of dentistry taking on a new look. This” new” look is a resurgence back to the days of prevention and maintenance and involves less elective procedures such as cosmetic veneers.
There are still many patients who would like to improve the appearance of their smiles with these elective procedures but are postponing treatment due to the economy. There are also many people who have taken professional dental care completely off their radar for the same reason. This group is in danger of many future dental problems.
I have a hypothetical question to propose. This question assumes you are not missing more than (2) of your natural teeth (not including wisdom teeth) and under the assumption that you are dentally healthy. Here is the question:
If you were offered 1 million dollars to have all of your teeth removed, would you do it?
Obviously this is not realistic but I want you to think about how important your teeth are to you. For that same $1 million, would you give up driving or riding in a car for the rest of your life? Would you give up your bed and resort to sleeping on the floor the rest of your life?
Teeth, cars and beds are things we use all day long. They are an important part of our lives and are often taken for granted. I know there are denture wearers out there who would encourage people to take the million bucks…..but there is no comparison between natural teeth and plastic.
Now, with that million, you could replace the teeth with a number of different options. Typically those options are a denture, an implant-supported denture, or multiple implants with teeth (crowns) attached. If you wanted to come out of this with the most minimal expense, you would be getting a poorly fitting denture the day your teeth were taken out (there is a lot of estimation when all the teeth are present and a denture is being made), months of healing and then a better fitting denture would be made for you.
If you chose the last option and wanted to replace your teeth with implants, you would need to have all your teeth removed, that same poorly fitting denture made, the same months of healing, and then multiple appointments to finish. The total treatment time would be about a year. Of course you would have to pay for this; but you do have the million dollars from having all your teeth removed.
Realistically, no one is going to offer you a million dollars to take all your teeth out. My point is meant to be simple. A healthy mouth is such an important part of life. Think of the discomfort, aggravation, inability to smile confidently, inability to eat properly and enjoy food. The quality of life is undoubtedly better with natural teeth. However, a million dollars is a lot of money. The question definitely made me think.
So, I would love to hear what you would do. I have set up a survey on my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/dentalhealthforlife). Take the survey and I will report back on the findings in a few weeks.
In the meantime, please visit a dentist regularly. Maintenance of dental health is so important. Don’t wait until you have a “problem”, because often times that problem is a sign of many bigger issues. Life is better with teeth!