There are other answers to this question if you enter "pulling teeth in the elderly" in the search icon above (magnifying glass).
Or, try this:
"Do we pull and fill cavities or leave the man in peace?", title of thread. Answer: 90 year old's teeth are decaying but there is no pain, infection or abscess. X-rays show that if he had a healthy mouth, he would need 3 teeth pulled and 5 fillings (below the gum line) Doctor suggested we leave my father enjoy his teeth as long as he can. She suggested taking him to the dentist monthly for a cleaning, getting antibiotic rinse, fluoride rinse, water pik, and electric toothbrush."
So, one reason would be to leave the man in peace.
Brittle bones and teeth could break more during an extraction. Heart problems and infection could be other problems. Anesthesia could cause real problems.
Teeth broken off at the gum line would require oral surgery to repair. All of the problems Send listed are very valid points for doing nothing other oral hygiene.
As long as I wouldn’t be in pain, whoever is taking care of me, (if I have the misfortune to live til 95), had better not mess with me. Leave me as I am so I can try to enjoy the last few moments of my short life span and die peacefully.
The mouth is a gateway for infection to the whole body. An extraction of this nature (below the gumline) leaves a huge hole. It may never heal up, and food and stuff will be near to impossible to clean. Then you likely COULD have pain.
If there is no pain, then just keep his mouth clean and brush the teeth he does have and watch for abscesses and such.
Sometimes in elder care we forget to brush the teeth, but it is imperative that good oral hygiene is carried out.
My dad had 2 teeth left of his uppers, the rest were broken at the gum line and he didn't have any pain.
We had to go to an oral surgeon and have them surgically removed. They used a local and he was completely done in 1.5 hours. He started feeling better almost immediately after. He has CHF and his teeth kept a low grade infection going all the time.
I trust my dentist and I knew that he would not suggest anything that would have put my dad at risk. I had a talk with him before he saw my dad so he knew the reality of his dental problems.
If you can get your dad to rinse with listerine this will help and if he could really slosh it around even better. I would water it down some so it's not to hot for him to do a good job.
It would be hard to pull a tooth on a gumline. They rarely will do a crown with something like this. To "pull" this tooth would mean surgery because there is really no tooth to pull. Since its not bothering him at this point, let it go. Just have him checked on every six months.
in the search icon above (magnifying glass).
Or, try this:
"Do we pull and fill cavities or leave the man in peace?", title of thread.
Answer:
90 year old's teeth are decaying but there is no pain, infection or abscess. X-rays show that if he had a healthy mouth, he would need 3 teeth pulled and 5 fillings (below the gum line)
Doctor suggested we leave my father enjoy his teeth as long as he can. She suggested taking him to the dentist monthly for a cleaning, getting antibiotic rinse, fluoride rinse, water pik, and electric toothbrush."
So, one reason would be to leave the man in peace.
Brittle bones and teeth could break more during an extraction.
Heart problems and infection could be other problems.
Anesthesia could cause real problems.
As they say in Alanon, “How important IS it?”
Just my 2 pesos.
If there is no pain, then just keep his mouth clean and brush the teeth he does have and watch for abscesses and such.
Sometimes in elder care we forget to brush the teeth, but it is imperative that good oral hygiene is carried out.
We had to go to an oral surgeon and have them surgically removed. They used a local and he was completely done in 1.5 hours. He started feeling better almost immediately after. He has CHF and his teeth kept a low grade infection going all the time.
I trust my dentist and I knew that he would not suggest anything that would have put my dad at risk. I had a talk with him before he saw my dad so he knew the reality of his dental problems.
If you can get your dad to rinse with listerine this will help and if he could really slosh it around even better. I would water it down some so it's not to hot for him to do a good job.