Q. I have had problems with my teeth from childhood. I had overcrowded and overlapping large teeth in a small mouth, so when I was aged 10 my dentist removed 2 lower adult teeth stating that the teeth would move to fill in the gaps – they never have, and he fitted me with a brace for my upper teeth. Unfortunately all the brace achieved was to shrink my upper gum and do little to correct the overlapping teeth. I have also always had a problem of my lower teeth touching my upper mouth immediately behind my upper teeth, which over the last 30 or so years has made my mouth very sore and has resulted in uneven wearing down of my lower front teeth. I have never had a good bite – my front teeth just don’t line up to bite cleanly into anything. I have been with my current dentist for 19 years and when I asked her if anything could be done 19 years ago to improve my bite and straighten my teeth she said there was nothing that could be done due to my previous dentist shrinking my upper gum with a badly fitting brace. In 1995 I had my wisdom teeth extracted at the local hospital and suffered 10 years of pain and discomfort before my dentist finally believed me and sent me back to the hospital Dental Consulatant who performed a small procedure on the scar tissue that had become tight, resulting in my very back teeth cutting into my cheek. Then 3 years ago my dentist told me that I had an overbite that was causing me to grind my teeth (the same dentist who a few years earlier had told me I was a mouth breather!) I was referred to the Birmingham dental hospital and fitted with a splint which has helped. The problem is I have a dry mouth and have replacement saliva gel on prescription. The dry mouth is slowly causing my teeth to crumble, small chips keep coming off my front teeth, they are so uneven now. My G.P. says to use chewing gum for my dry mouth yet the dental hospital say I must not and the Consultant at the dental hospital told me to eat only soups, stews and soft food. She told me that teeth are not meant to bite into food such as apples as it causes damage! As far as I was aware front teeth are for biting and back teeth are for chewing. My Mum was a dental nurse so I was brought up to look after my teeth. I feel totally let down by my childhood and current dentist and by the attitude of the Dental Consultant – I did explain to her at the time that I love my food and eat a healthy diet with a lot of fresh raw fruit and veg, she told me that I am not to eat that sort of food as I will have to bite in to it and chew it! (I thought that’s what teeth were for – to bite and chew!) I am not a large person – I have always been very slim and can’t afford to lose weight as it takes me so long to gain weight if I lose any after illness etc. This whole experience has left me miserable and dissillusioned and I have lost weight and I no longer enjoy my food as I have been made to feel so guilty for all the wonderful raw fresh healthy food that I used to eat – I rarely eat it now, as my enjoyment has gone. I feel stuck between the conflicting advice of my Dentist who is most unhelpful, the Dental Consultant at the hospital who says the NHS has a lack of funds and expects me to eat soup for the rest of my days (I’m only 42) and my G.P. All of them believe themselves to be right and each other to be wrong – it’s me stuck in the middle getting a telling off by one of them for the “incorrect advice” as they believe I have received from the other. My Dentist originally threatened that I would have to have my jaw broken and she did everything in her power to put me off going to the Dental Hospital, she was very rude. The Dental Hospital say my overbite is not sufficiently bad enough to justify braking my jaw (thankfully). Is there any advice that you feel you can give me. I have read about overlays which I didn’t know about until tonight, all along I have said surely something to build my teeth up would help to correct my bite. As it is I feel all I have to look forward to is crumbling teeth and dentures! (As a child I didn’t give big smiles so as to hide my large crooked teeth and as an adult I don’t like people seeing my teeth because one of my front teeth is much shorter (due to my uneven bite and bits that keep breaking off)) I feel like making a complaint against my current Dentist as I discovered that 19 years ago my cousin who was older than me had a brace fitted yet my Dentist refused and said there was nothing she could do. I am an NHS patient. I am thoroughly fed up and miserable with the whole thing (hence my long letter)and have put up with a lot of ridicule over the years from some very cruel children at school and cruel adults even now. 2 years ago I felt almost suicidal as no one (G.P. and Dentist) was listening about my sore and dry mouth and problems with my bite. Any advice that you feel you may be able to give about what I can do and what the NHS may be able to do to help will be very gratefully received. (Since the NHS changes to dentistry my dentist does not seem to want to do anything even for other patients I know! She refuses to replace or alter the partial denture that my Mum has that no longer fits! I had asked my Dentist about filing down my front teeth to improve my bite to make it more level so that I can at least enjoy eating an apple without my longer tooth getting in the way! She of course said no) Many thanks in advance and sorry it’s so long, I am just so frustrated and sore and uncomfortable.

A. the advice you seem happiest with is the Dental Hospital consultant. As an existing patient you may be able to get transfrred to the teaching hospital for all your care. once in the system you have a better chance of resolving the bigger issues. good luck Rob

Dr Rob Tennet
St Johns Dental Practice
www.e-dentalpractice.co.uk
Tel: 0121 643 0610
18 Bennett’s Hill
Birmingham B2 5QJ