When talking about making the choice to get dentures – complete dentures, meaning all of the remaining teeth need to be removed – it’s not uncommon that we’ll meet someone who hasn’t been to the dentist in 10 years or has struggled with tooth pain their whole life. Due to cost and fear and insurance and multiple other factors, they have neglected what they know needs to be done. Unfortunately at some point, people then want to get something done. I hear all the time that they’re embarrassed. I use an example of a friend of mine who wanted to join a gym, but she wanted to lose some weight before she joined. It’s the same thing about going to the dentist. We’re professionals. We’re not going to lecture you. We’re going to take you from where you are, find out what you want, and try to get you to where you want to be.
For somebody who has had a life-long problem with pain in their teeth and they spend money and things continue to break, they’re going to say, “I can’t wait ’til all my teeth are gone and I have dentures because I’ll never have another toothache!” What we’re first going to do is evaluate all the teeth and find out if there are a couple of good teeth that we can save and use that as a partial denture. In those other cases, we do find after reviewing that the best treatment for this particular patient is to have the remaining of their teeth removed and have a denture made.
We like to work people through that process individually with x-rays. We’ll give them the pluses and the minuses, and then, of course, ultimately it’s their decision. It’s our pleasure to help them make that transition into dentures.
Dr. Anthony Bielkie is the founder of Stoneridge Dental where patients can find all dental services under one roof and where the team of staff are welcoming and dedicated to making your dental visit a very pleasant part of your day. To learn more about Stoneridge Dental, visit www.stoneridgedental.com or call (586) 739-6400 in Shelby Township or (586) 771-3440 in St. Clair Shores or (586) 412-7100 in Clinton Township.
