Marry a dentist? 
Laughing out loud, almost rolling on the floor at the timing in the thread.
Is losing one's teeth inevitable with this disease? I always had good teeth, and regular checkups that found one or two small cavities a year. I didn't floss, I did brush. In October of 1996 I was on a fellowship and had dental coverage. I saw a dentist who took xrays, and found the expected few small cavities, which he filled. Then he sold me on teeth whitening. (The fellowship was in Los Angeles, home of the brilliant white smile.) Five months later I had some toothpain, the first dentist had moved somewhere else, and I went to another. She found that my mouth was riddled with decay, and that I would need not just a few root canals, but a fully reconstructed mouth. Saw her a couple of times more for damage control.
Went back to my home university and tried to find someone who would see me without a big bill I could not afford. Got a couple of more of the worst teeth fixed, and was referred to the Dental School here. The original gang that couldn't shoot straight! They botched my care between student and supervisor. Then my student (who had it right) moved on, and then there was a new student and supervisor, who had a more radical plan, but little work was getting done. Then there was summer vacation. The I objected to the Dean's office of the Dental School. I got assigned just to a supervisor. The first supervisor saw me a couple of times and objected that I bled too much. The second supervisor saw me a couple of times and said that my mouth was too small -- not that his hands were too big! At that point, I went back to the Dean's office and said emphatically, Get me a solution, NOW, or I sue! Well, I was referred to the "Faculty Practice," and a dentist with small hands who had no trouble with my bleeding too much.
By that time, all my upper teeth had to be pulled, and I got an upper denture. I also was getting root canals in most of my lower teeth.
Finished that in about 2001. In 2005 I was back with pain in my lower teeth, and eventually all but six teeth were pulled, and the front teeth had root canal to within an inch of their lives, and the same hero dentist made a denture that anchored on those salvaged front teeth.
Now the first part of the treatment, the upper denture, was paid for courtesy of the dental school. The second part was not, and I paid very slowly when I could, and then couldn't.
Now, I cannot pay at all. And neither the Faculty Practice nor the Dental School will see me.
BUT By the time I had found my miracle working dentist of the small hands, I now learn, there was a new medical treatment for dry mouth. This same dentists KNEW I had dry mouth, knew my history. And I've paid him about $10,000 over the years. And now he (his practice manager) won't see me, because I still owe $2,000. And yet he NEVER mentioned that there was now a treatment for dry mouth, or that dry mouth could be treated in certain specific ways.
I wish, of course, I had pursued a formal diagnosis of Sjögren's when my mouth went south, in 1996.
I also think that my hero dentist should and could have started me on Salagen (pilocarpine) to prevent further deterioration. And that that is negligence on his part.
So, the lesson is, pursue a dx of Sjögren's diligently, and find dentists who understand what it is. Work with dentist and doctor to treat dry mouth and do all the necessary dental preventive stuff, that I was never taught to do. Insist that they tell you again what you need to do to prevent the problems. Tell them that you are not doing a, or b, or c, because your mouth hurts. Tell them again.
If I had married a dentist, we'd be divorced by now!
Soycoffee
