How many natural teeth do you still have?

[Pio1980]

I had three of my wisdom teeth pulled. Most of the other have been capped. I don't know what the full complement is, so I voted "more than 30". Someone let me know if I'm wrong about that.

32, normally. "Wisdom" teeth are reserve molars, but frequently develop malopposed, impacted in nonfunctional positioning, which can cause problems for themselves and adjacent molars. The modern human mouth can typically accomedate 28 normal teeth, with the last four "wisdom" molars being excess to space available.

 

[spicer]

I'm just returning from the dentist having some gum issues. By the way -

How old are you and how many natural teeth do you still have?

Okay - let'f get my very firft AK poll ftarted...

55/29

Don't hate me... ... I am 71 and have all my teeth and have no fillings, no dental work of any kind except an occasional cleaning.

 

[Ballylongford]

Don't hate me... ... I am 71 and have all my teeth and have no fillings, no dental work of any kind except an occasional cleaning.

Curious to know where you grew up.
A dentist once told me that there are places in the US where there are naturally occurring high fluoride levels in the water, ( he referenced Colorado), and he had patients who had grown up in such an area, had never seen a dentist before him, and had never had cavities at all, apparently due to the fluoride.

 

[Ballylongford]

How many natural teeth?

My own, or other peoples' ?

 

[spicer]

Curious to know where you grew up.
A dentist once told me that there are places in the US where there are naturally occurring high fluoride levels in the water, ( he referenced Colorado), and he had patients who had grown up in such an area, had never seen a dentist before him, and had never had cavities at all, apparently due to the fluoride.

I wouldn't at all agree about the fluoride but that is another conversation that would probably result in a closed thread, know the Colorado 'studies' which are the poster child for fluoride proponents.... I avoid fluoride. I grew up an Army brat... lifer's son... and mostly lived on military bases around the world and various states of the U. S. Blessed with good teeth to begin for sure but mostly good health habits and diet, not so much what one eats but what one tends to avoid. My brother two years older has the usual fillings, a crown or two, a couple extractions... he is successful, good grades in school, etc. ... yet our approach to lifestyle and diet are much different. I haven't seen a doctor for over forty years, he has regular check ups and follows doctor recommended protocols, has a few prescriptions... blood pressure, some other kind of blood related medicine, is 'pre' diabetic, he is and has been quite active... is 74 or 75 years of age.

 

[klamsoss]

34/28. I had the usual 4 extracted.
Lots of metal in there, but now crowns.

 

[darin g]

I have dentures for my uppers and my lowers are all there except 2. I love the perfect teeth look but hate dentures. I miss my real teeth. Im 52 btw. I wish like hell I had taken better care of my teeth.

 

[Catmanboo]

Just had 2 yanked today. Rear-most lower left molar & second one from that on lefthe side. Hard sourdough pretzels played hell with 'em. Dammit, I love those things, but had to quit when I spit out a tooth fragment. So I'm down 3 on the count. Military got 4 wisdom teeth long ago, not counting those.

 

[MarantzDantz]

42 and I have all 33. I have an additional lateral incisor which always makes my dentists want to take pictures of my mouth.

I HATE dentists for doing that.

 

[beat_truck]

I am ready to turn 37, and my teeth are about shot. Part of it is due to bad genetics, and like most people, I could have taken care of them better. My mom said her teeth were pretty bad by the time she was my age, too. I have always had problems with them. The front ones grew in crooked and crowded, and those started rotting at the gum line when I was barely 20. Now, a few of those are broken off, and a few weeks ago, a back one fell out when I was brushing them.

The last time I was at the dentist, they wanted to pull a bunch of them and fit a partial on the top. They are going bad so fast that at the rate they are going, by the time I'd get used to the partial, the rest would be shot.

After I get the work done and we get moved and settled in our new house, I will probably be ready to say screw it, have them all pulled, and have dentures fitted.

 

[djwhy60]

The optimum idea is to have all your natural teeth all your life. But for some..no matter the reason...this is not a reality. I had great, straight teeth....then some shoddy, experimental dentistry in the military reduced my teeth to not so many. By the time I retired, I had no molars at all. Over the following years I used my front teeth to chew, which they were not designed to do. Wore most of them down to nubs. Last year I decided enough was enough. Full dentures, top and bottom. Does it have its downside..of course. BUT was one of the best decisions I have made for me in a long time.

 

[alteclipsch]

I played hockey as a kid in the fifties.

 

[JamesML]

A friend of mine I've known since the 60s complained to me the other day that he had tooth ache.
I asked him which one was it. He opened his mouth and pointed to his one remaining front tooth. In fact
it was his only tooth. And he said 'It's this one'.
True

 

[rcs16]

I have all but the wisdoms and one they pulled as a kid to make room for over crowding on the top. I have a few crowns too. Last year at the dental appointment for a cleaning, the hygienist said my top front teeth were fractured, well my bottoms were crashing into the tops and caused the fractures, so now at 61+ I have braces, damn expensive, we're looking at $6K CDN. I laugh, I worked all my life to save up, now I can afford them braces Of course it did not happen when I worked and had insurance to help out. The folks could not afford or spend $ on braces for me, so the younger sister who had it worse than me at the time got the braces and I was SOL.

 

[Semanon]

I keep all mine in a box. Tooth Fairy has bee tardy for the past few decades, but hope reigns eternal.

 

[dly66]

55 still have all 32 no cavities yet. The one half pint wisdom tooth (one did not come in full size) obviously got chipped due to accidentally biting down on a cherry pit last year. No pain so no dentist visit, just feel the rough spot with my tongue. But the gums have some sizable recession.

Toothaches has always meant time to pull out the dental floss and go to work. A few days flossing and toothaches quickly went away. Something irritated the gums between some teeth.

 

[soundmig]

I'm 61 (almost 62) and have all of them, no crowns, bridges, etc. I had a few extracted when I was young because my mouth was too small for my largish teeth and wore braces (orthodontics) for a couple of years. So, I had a good chance of keeping my teeth barring any accidents. I've not had a cavity in about 20 years now!

 

[bobsvinyl]

70/ not sure of the exact number of teeth left. I have a few crowns and a three tooth permanent bridge. Wisdom teeth taken out when I was in high school.

 

[JoeShimandle]

Only had 3 wisdom teeth and all were pulled. A few years back lost an upper molar due to under the gun line cavity between the teeth. Aging causes natural gum recession and troughs between the teeth were food gets packed in. A floss sting can't reach into those spaces.

Now I use a water pick and it cleans out those between teeth troughs. Would have saved that tooth. I highly recommend using a water pick age 50 and older. Be amazed how much more it cleans that flossing misses.