I am in the midst of $12,000 of work on the #4, 3, and 2 teeth, one of which (#4) was removed after it split post a routine cleaning and is now going to be a dental implant. I have been doctoring with an endocrinologist since 2017 (Type II diabetes) and am a b.c. survivor whose A.I. therapy pills has taken her from osteopaenia to osteoporosis. My endocrinologist gave me pills to take, but I read about them and never took a one. I go back at the end of this month to see how the implant post, inserted in December, is doing. The oral surgeon felt I was a good candidate and I DID tell him about the Anastrozole and my -2.2T bone density (as of May, 2022). Whoever suggested getting "all dental work done a year in advance" is giving strange advice, since I had NO plans to lose the #4 tooth, but this is the second time that a routine cleaning has caused one of my teeth to give up the ghost (first time was in 2020). I'm not doing this for fun; I'm doing it because (a) I hate bridges and (b) one of my teeth gave up the ghost, a probable victim of my old amalgam fillings and being someone born in 1945. How can we "have all your dental work done a year in advance?" It's not like I'm looking to run up a bill the size of the national debt simply to look good. I'm addressing dental problems that are arising because of my age and routine cleanings and, probably, because the old-style pre-fluoride dentistry was a far cry for us than for my son, age 55, who just had another "you don't have any cavities" appointments. I'm fighting to KEEP my teeth, if possible, and I debated long and hard about this dental implant, insisting on the best oral surgeon in the area, I think. He said I was okay to have one and agreed that a bridge (I have one and hate it) was NOT going to be a good alternative (although much cheaper) because the 2 teeth on either side of what is now a hole, since they dug the #4 (upper right) tooth out in pieces, is flanked by a tooth that needs to be crowned. (It has a cavity under a filling). I floss routinely and brush daily, but I am borderline for osteoporosis, am old, and we didn't have fluoride (etc.) in my youth.