Q. My mother is in her 60s, over the last 12 months she has had abscess after abscess which have required teeth to be extracted to the point where she only has about 3 left. What are the possible reasons for this? Her dentist seems quite happy removing her teeth and not looking for an underlying cause. He is also not doing anything about replacements and she is now finding eating very difficult and the few teeth that are left are causing great discomfort to her bare gums. Please help,