Oh, I can so relate to obsessions. My mother has serial obsession. She gets faulty linking of cause and effect. If she gets strange feelings in a finger, it was caused by something she handled. So that thing and everything like it must be cleaned. If she feels dizzy or lightheaded, it must be the floor needs fixing. If her teeth get food or stains in them, she must need a harder toothbrush. Pretty soon she'll be wanted a steel brush to clean her teeth. God bless her, she can't help it. But God help me, I'm going nuts. If it wasn't getting so cold, I might pitch a tent out back and hide out.
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My Mom who is 86 also is fixated with her teeth. We have been to two dentists, the geriatric doctor and she even told her heart doctor about it. She is now living in a personal care home and last night she was to the point of a breakdown about her teeth. She says that no one believes her, things are flying out of her mouth, down her throat, and she is choking. It is horrible to see what the brain does to a person suffering with dementia. My father had it for 4 years,passed away last year and now my Mom.
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My mother is 92 and has advanced dementia. She too is fixated on her teeth. It began with the last 3 crowns she had replaced. She says she now has too many teeth even though half of them are missing. She wants all her teeth removed. She really needs to get her teeth cleaned because she has an infection, but she won't go to the dentist because she says the teeth in her mouth do not belong to her. What can I do?
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What is this obsession with teeth. My mom did the same thing, nag, nag, nag, dentist appointment after dentist appointment. She had a bridge and then got an infection and it turned out she got the whole top row taken out. I was aghast! This was years ago and she has since passed, but the dentist agreed to it as it would cut down on infections. I don't remember the nitty gritty other than I think something else could have been arranged other than pull out all of her front teeth and get a dental plate which opened up a whole other Pandora's box. But THIS is what she wanted and absolutely could not be persuaded otherwise - so there you go. I love my mom and even at the relatively young age of 60 COULD NOT weather 6 years of this again. I'm so hoping husband stays out of dementia territory.
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Swishing with wine and/or coffee? Besides staining the teeth, those liquids are acidic. It may make his teeth more sensitive as he is probably wearing away the enamel. See if you can get him to swish with Act Rinse. It has fluoride in it and makes teeth stronger against cavities. Let your dentist know what he is doing. Cavities between the teeth are only seen with Xrays. I know it is difficult to change their habits. Maybe if you say the dentist wants you to use this( Act) for swishing. I too am a caregiver and really I am learning as I go, so I know it is difficult.
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My mother-in-law, who is 83 and blind was fixated on her toenails. She was convinced that they were curling under and growing down into her toes. We had to "cut" the toenails every day or two to make her happy. But, of course, she would forget that we had cut them by the next day, and insist that they were growing down into her toes once again. This continued for about a month and then she simply forgot about it all. Sometimes these fixations fix themselves.
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