Teeth

Teeth

lambsone • Oct 27, 2024

I seem to have a propensity for picking partners that are missing major teeth in front of their mouths. My last three partners that I belonged to or thought I belonged to at the cage, had this issue.

I have four missing teeth myself but they are molars and far enough back that the gaps don't show when I smile. I don't smile widely, not from lack of teeth, but from the fact that my upper lip melts into my nose and looks ugly when I do.

But potential partners, at least the ones I've run across seem not to care about their own dental health. It makes me wonder what else they are uncaring about. How can they be trusted to care adequately for any partner if they don't care about their own self?

Do they lack the money to keep their teeth in repair? Some have mumbled to the point that I have to repeatedly ask them to restate their comment. Are they embarassed and trying to hide their condition? Do they simply not care that their teeth are missing? Do they think it will have a more dramatic affect on their partner if they are missing teeth? How do they eat? I'm trying to think of different scenarios for why these aren't repaired.

So what do you think? Have you run across this phenomenon? If you are one of these people or know of one, can you give some perspective on it? Are you turned off by a potential partner with missing teeth (or maybe decayed teeth also), or can you look beyond it and focus on other aspects that you do like?

What say you?

Sincorrigible​(sub female) • Oct 27, 2024

Excellent hygiene is essential to me. I have been put off on physically meeting someone by body odour, evident lack of care about hygiene.

So rotting teeth /resultant halitosis would be a definite no.

Missing teeth. Hmm. Dentures are an option, and usually much cheaper than implants. So I think I'd wonder why they didn't care enough to maintain their appearance in that way? Like you say, if oral hygiene and maintenance isn't something the individual cares about, I'd wonder what else they didn't really care about either. Smelly bits are really kinda gross.

Now I've got Lady Gaga running around my head.... Thanks for that. Although preferable to the 2007 film coming to mind. 😉

Miki​(masochist female) • Oct 27, 2024

I've been very fortunate to not have had any major dental problems over the years, but as time marches on, it becomes more of a challenge for everyone.

I am also quite fortunate to have comprehensive dental insurance through my employer. Not everyone is so lucky.

Also, missing teeth versus advanced tooth decay are two different animals.

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Even though dentures, partials, crowns, etc. are appreciably less expansive than implants, they're not "cheap", and "affordable" is a very subjective term with no meaningful value. As the old saw goes, (as adjusted to comply with the times) "One person's trash is another one's treasure".

Tooth decay and shit breath are one thing, but missing teeth? Well, if a chopper-challenged person doesn't score a passing grade on one's "Outward Appearance" meter, they're certainly is free to move on and keep looking.

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Conversely, Anyone who lavishes a great deal of time, effort, and money on their looks could very well be investing in the only thing they got going for them. Beauty is, after all, only skin deep.

Bunnie • Oct 28, 2024

I dated an alcoholic/addict who had lost most of his teeth. It didn’t bother me tbh. He brushed his (remaining) teeth regularly and didn’t have smelly breath… his lifestyle choices had simply created irreparable damage. The only thing that saddened me with it all was that it was a really sore point for his self-esteem… he rarely smiled or laughed and he was very self-conscious of it.
When he finally got his teeth fixed it was so beautiful… he had a wonderful smile, and smiled and laughed often!

TopekaDom​(dom male) • Oct 28, 2024

I ended up having half my teeth removed due to a mugging incident back in 2007. Got hit in the mouth, fairly hard, with the business end of a gun. When the damage was accessed, 12 teeth had to be removed (plus 4 wisdom teeth, the guy figured might as well since he was already in there). Partial dentures are not cheap, so I get who not everyone elects to get them.

So I guess it is like pretty much everything in the lifestyle, it is up to the people involved.

intenseoldman​(dom male) • Oct 28, 2024

Tooth be told I can't sleep if my teeth are dirty. Not just brush... I have to floss before I get in bed. I make whoever I am with floss, too, and I still get on my grown kids case about if I think they are not flossing.

I have a chipped front tooth from my mouth hitting concrete once. It wasn't into the root and I never got it fixed. It just became part of my personality.

I am adamant about keeping them clean though. When I signed up for medicare, I missed signing up for a dental plan. As fate would have it, I met a dentist from Mexico who was visiting my town in AZ. (I'm close to the border.) She said she'd clean my teeth for forty bucks. She's the best dentist I ever had. I have taken my young friends who don't have dental plans to Mexico to see her and they all love her.
When enrollment opens, she'll take my insurance, too, so I'm keeping her.

There are great dentists in Mexico, and you can get work done for less than half what it costs here. If you need something you can't afford, you should look into Mexico.

Good dental hygiene is more than just good for your teeth; it affects your over-all health. Mine are not beautiful, but I still got 'em, and I enjoy biting, so I chews to take care of them best I can.

NoClvrNickname​(sub female) • Oct 28, 2024

Besides a (lack of) hygiene, some sort of accident/injury, etc, another possibility may be a history of substance abuse. "Meth mouth" is a phrase that exists for a reason. Again - NOT suggesting that all, or even most, people without teeth have SUD, but...

lambsone • Oct 28, 2024

@Miki
"Anyone who lavishes a great deal of time, effort, and money on their looks could very well be investing in the only thing they got going for them."

I nearly peed my pants when I read this.

lambsone • Oct 28, 2024

@NoClvrNickname

Still it's a viable option.

lambsone • Oct 28, 2024

@TopekaDom

WOW! I was quoted over $4000 for 2 crowns and a bridge recently. Absolutely ridiculous. The insurance paying nothing but the dentist wanted to charge what the insurance would allow .... gold digger that he was. I told him that I would check with my hospital dental cost. I am on financial assistance with them.