I was rolling grandma back into her room today. As I approached the bed, I noticed something sitting on the floor. I thought it was poop. That's what it generally is. But it was a broken molar. As I'm holding it, grandma says a tooth fell out. It took a lot of effort, grandma doesn't like to open her mouth for anyone to look in. I saw that 3 molars in a row are snapped off at the gum line. There doesn't seem to be any inflammation. The color looks normal. They don't appear to be infected. It just appears that her teeth snapped off due to loss of mineral mass.
What to do? Grandma is in her young 100s. She does not like people messing with her mouth. She's a biter. I can't even brush her teeth. She'll bite me or the toothbrush and not let go. I can kind of get her to brush her own teeth. She doesn't do a great job but it's better than nothing.
The point is that I don't even know if it's possible for a surgeon to be able to exam let alone extract her broken teeth. She won't cooperate. Even with an appliance to keep her mouth open, she'll bite down hard and struggle. So it would have to be anesthesia of some sort. It would have to be deep. She's a fighter. In her condition, I'm not sure she would recover.
Even if the teeth could be pulled, she's going to pick at the suture line like she does with every bandage I put on her. It's not going to be pretty. She's a fan of picking wounds back open. Unlike with a skin wound where I can super wrap it to deter that, I can't do anything about stitches in her mouth.
So I'm leaning towards letting them be. It's not unheard of that the stubs will erupt and end up being a chewing surface or erupt out all the way on their own and fall out.
What have people's experiences been with broken teeth in the elderly? To extract or not, that is the question.
The fact is this is almost certainly, given there are THREE, going to have to be done under sedation in hospital or good office setting. The sutures will be quite hidden but rinses will be necessary. The sedation is mild and while that is certainly no guarantee of anything, it helps.
It is possible that an xray can be done. That is a simple bite down on this, and sounds as though Grandma is good at biting down.
You need to pass this past your Dentist, ask for Oral Surgeon to speak with, and pass it past him. You gave perfect description of grandma.
So just to say, left all alone, you are risking an infection that can quickly go systemic and kill. It is the reason I so resent that we do not do dental care for folks who cannot afford it in this country. It is risking their very lives.
Good luck. Let us know what they say.
My father had a tooth or two that broke off. His dentist referred him not to an oral surgeon, but an endodontist. They're required to have more training, and handled the extraction not only in a very professional manner but compassionately as well.
She will probably need to have light sedation in order to get this done. If she were a 'brusher' this still might have happened, our bodies simply wear out.
Don't just let it slide, she could be harboring a lot of nasty germs in those teeth--what you CAN see and what you CAN'T make a big difference.
Good Luck with that.
Good luck!