Dental anxiety has been running my life

I have many issues when it comes to anxiety and my teeth, and I am just looking for a place where I can get some of this pressure off of my chest by talking about it.

When I was 13, my mom took me to the dentist after a two year lapse. I had never had any issues before, and made sure to brush twice a day. I didn’t understand the importance of flossing, so imagine my surprise when we went to a new dentist (we moved when my mom remarried) who told me I had 18 cavities between my teeth and all would need to be filled. I was dumbfounded. I never had any sensitivity and my teeth looked and felt perfectly healthy. The dentist went out of her way to shame and lecture me about my oral hygiene, and my mother jumped on board with her and called every family member and friend after we left in order to spread the news because she was so shocked. This is when my dental phobia began, and that was the most humiliating and shameful day of my life. I didn’t want to go back to that dentist, but I had to get all of those cavities filled so we scheduled several appointments with her. She installed composite fillings, but they were uneven and rough because she didn’t adjust them. I thought I just needed to get used to having foreign objects in my mouth. I hated flossing even more than before, because the fillings would catch the floss and shred it. This gave me great anxiety and I avoided it, forever. My teeth felt unnatural and in certain lighting looked it too.

For whatever reason, my mom didn’t take me back to the dentist for another two years after this (I wasn’t complaining, I never wanted to go back!). She chose a new dentist who worked well with anxious patients. I had one small cavity which was filled and they adjusted all of my old fillings to make my bite more comfortable. I went regularly until I was 17 (with no new cavities). When I moved again, and I put the dentist out of my mind because I no longer had dental insurance and I hated the dread that came with thinking about the dentist.

When I was 20 I noticed one of my fillings had gone missing. I called my father’s dentist and went in for a replacement. They noticed other issues and encouraged me (terrified and stubborn!) to come in again. We had to replace the majority of my composite fillings in the back of my mouth with amalgam, because they had worn down and become compromised. Several composites up front needed replacement; I STILL avoided the anxiety that flossing caused me, so this contributed to the issue. Many more hours (and money) were spent in the chair, and now every tooth in my mouth except for the four front-most lower teeth had fillings. Once I was finished I irrationally told myself that I was never going back. My habits didn’t change, either.

Now I’m 25. I haven’t thought about the dentist in 5 years because my busy life has given me an easy excuse to avoid the anxiety and fear of shame that comes with it. One of my composites crumbled on my front tooth last month. Then a small composite on the tooth next to it went missing. This directly affected my smile. I summoned the courage to try a local dentist office for these replacements, but still couldn’t bring myself to schedule an exam for after. When he told me the reason for the missing filling was decay around it softening the area it was attached to, I woke up. I realized that this is a treacherous cycle and eventually I was going to lose my teeth because my fears are running my life. I have been in distress for a month over this, scared of all of the damage I have caused, but it is my own fault...

I bought dental insurance and researched dental offices that had compassionate staff members. I found the highest rated office near me and made an appointment. I repeatedly cried my eyes out to my boyfriend and two of my best friends, the first people I have ever told about how extensive my issues are. One of them took off work to come with me to my exam (this past Monday). I was absolutely horrified to see how bad my teeth were. Would I need crowns? Root canals? Extractions at 25? The dental assistant was incredibly sweet and talked to me about my anxiety and embarrassment. We took bitewings, regular xrays, and digital photographs. The dentist came in to determine our findings. He was incredibly sweet. He looked at the xrays and noticed 4 small cavities between my teeth (not yet through the enamel) that he wants to treat with fluoride for now. He gave me a special fluoride toothpaste to use also. He poked around and checked all of my fillings to make sure they are sealed. A filling on my other front tooth was wearing down, and it chipped when he poked and scraped at it. I told him about my flossing anxiety and he pulled out the floss to check for shredding. The floss got stuck between two teeth near the front, due to an old filling being shaped in a way that “hooked” it underneath. I had a panic attack and he calmed me down. He told me if we had to redo that filling, it would need a crown, so he could replace the filling next to it with slimmer one in order to make more room instead. He tested my gums, telling me a 1-3 was good but anything above would earn me a deeper cleaning. I had two 4s, the rest were 1-3. I scheduled my deep cleaning and a follow up appointment a month later to check those areas. I also scheduled my 2 fillings. After nearly two hours, the consultation was finally over and I was in shock at how I could have so few issues after 5 years, and it gave me so much hope and confidence.

The filling appointment was yesterday. My front composite replacement went great, but during drilling of the other filling, he probed the suspicious “hook” one next to it. It completely came out. There was decay around the edges. Luckily it was narrower than expected, so he was able to give me a large composite rather than a crown. When that one fails I will have to have a crown to replace it. Once he finished those fillings I went home and cried for hours. I didn’t eat dinner, I just brushed, forced myself to floss (which caused a panic attack), and went to bed. I'm blessed to have a wonderful boyfriend who still loves me with all of my issues, he rubbed my back and told me it will all be okay. I woke up this morning and cried some more on the way to work.

I should feel better now that it is over and I am on the right track, but I still feel so hopeless. If there was decay hiding behind that tooth (it was not evident in the xray), then logic tells me there has to be decay around my other fillings too from me not flossing for so long, and it just can’t be seen in the xrays because the fillings are blocking it or something. I can't accept that I only had those four shallow cavities. I feel like I am back to square one with my fears. I keep waiting for another filling to break, showing us that there is decay and it’s too large to replace the filling without a crown, and/or root canal (most of my fillings are very large). I can’t afford that.. I have already spent close to $1000 just for the fillings and copays (there is a 6 month waiting period for fillings so I had to pay out of pocket). My boyfriend and I are saving for a house so this is taking away from that.

I have my deep cleaning (full mouth debridement) scheduled for the 19th because they are so booked up. When the hygienist finishes, I am going to ask my dentist to probe some more, go over the xrays and photos with me again, and tell him my fears about undetected decay. I feel like the exam was too good to be true and gave me false hope, and that soon I am going to find out that all of my fillings are actually compromised and have to be replaced with crowns and have root canals. I could never afford that, and I can’t bear to think about the emotional trauma of it all. My teeth have been sensitive to hot and cold since I had all of these fillings put in when I was 13, so every time I feel a twinge when eating/drinking I panic because it could be a sign of more decay. I feel hopeless, depressed, unclean, and angry at myself all over again. I don’t know how I am going to believe him if he says there is no decay, because I know that I didn’t floss due to the anxiety it caused me for so long. I know there have to be more issues. I just won't find them until however long from now another filling crumbles, revealing decay. Like a ticking time bomb.
I am obsessing over this. My appetite is gone, I don’t want to talk to anyone or go anywhere. I get jealous when I see people with beautiful, healthy teeth. Especially when I hear that they don't floss. All I want to do is cry my eyes out and curse myself for doing this to my teeth. I have so much regret.

Less than a week until my deep cleaning, and I am feeling more anxious and emotional every day. It’s like a switch has flipped, and my anxiety has turned from “avoidance” into hypochondria. I’m constantly checking my teeth, because I am afraid I will lose another filling. I am noticing white spots near my amalgam fillings in the back. I have noticed fillings between my teeth are just barely catching my tongue when I run it over them…are they supposed to be slightly raised? I don’t know. I noticed a newer filling doesn’t quite reach the gum line like it is supposed to. I’m afraid of plaque getting caught up there. My teeth feel like they have shifted ever so slightly and it is causing my top teeth to put pressure on my bottom, making them sensitive and sore. Maybe that’s all in my head.
I avoided any thought about my teeth for so many years due to anxiety, and now I can’t get them off of my mind. I am obsessing over them. I have been so distressed for the past couple of months. I just want my deep cleaning to come so I can have answers. I did some research about dental coding so I could see what the numbers on my treatment plan mean. Apparently the dentist will be doing a more thorough examination one month after my deep cleaning/debridement. I don’t think I can wait an entire month to know if my fillings are compromised or leaking. I don’t want to keep pretending they are okay, while deep down I am waiting for them to fall out and be too /large/deep/extensive to replace without a crown or root canal. I can’t afford that, financially or emotionally.
I’m phobic of flossing, and of course of the dentist. I know I would need a different kind of help for problems like that. I’ve decided not to let those irrational fears control me anymore. I’ve forced myself into a nightly routine for my teeth in order to build healthier habits. It takes about 30 minutes total: 15 minutes to floss, then I follow up with a water pick, and then I brush with my electric toothbrush and the Prevident 5000 toothpaste the dentist gave me. Flossing gives me panic attacks every night, and I can’t get the floss back up once I get it down between my teeth, it always catches in some nook or cranny due to my fillings. I just make sure to push it down a few times while rubbing the sides, and pull it through on the side. I hope that my water pick will help supplement this since I know proper flossing technique requires you to pull the floss back up. I dread flossing every night. I use Sensodyn and swish with Act mouthwash in the mornings because I can only use Prevident once a day.
I have spent so much time crying and being distressed over my teeth. Even if all of my current fillings turn out to be sealed and okay, the thought that I have to have all of my composites replaced every 8 or so years makes me feel hopeless. I only have 4 teeth that don’t have fillings in them, so that’s a lot of maintenance. I fear for when my big amalgams on my molars eventually cause cracks in my teeth, or break down. I’ll need crowns when this happens.
This is going to be a never ending thing in my life. I just have to get ahead of this so it doesn’t control my happiness anymore. Writing it down helps me feel a little better.

Today is the day of my deep cleaning (full mouth debridement). I’m so scared that it’s going to be painful, or that it will make my teeth extremely sensitive. I have so many fillings that I’m scared they will damage one or break one off while scraping my teeth.. I’m also scared that they will find more problems, like with my large amalgam fillings on my molars. I keep expecting to hear that I need a crown or root canal/crown combo because the fillings got compromised. I researched the cost average for crowns and I could never afford that.. They don’t even last as long as I thought that they would. Some only last 5 years… who can afford to replace a crown every five years?
I’m going to feel fear every appointment for the rest of my life, because I’ll always be expecting bigger, more extensive problems.
I’ve been trying not to dwell on my teeth because it was holding me in a depression. I feel so many emotions. Anger that I didn’t floss when I was young, before I was phobic of it. Anger that I waited so many years between dental visits due to fear. At any point in time over the past 5 years I could have put on my big girl britches and faced my fear of the dentist and been a little better off.. But I didn’t and I am going to pay for that neglect, financially, physically, and emotionally. I feel ashamed and embarrassed. Hopeless because the maintenance on my teeth will just get more and more extensive, even if I never get another cavity. Mostly though, I am angry at myself for letting my fear keep me away from having good oral health. This is all my fault.
I am still flossing every night even though it gives me panic attacks. I still can’t get the floss back up on most of my teeth because it catches, so I have to pull it through. I am afraid that I’m just making it worse by pushing plaque down closer to my gums, or pushing it against the edges of my fillings where they will eventually become compromised. I am afraid of everything. I just hope using my water pick afterwards helps to avoid those issues. My boyfriend doesn’t ever floss but has beautiful cavity free teeth, and my friends are the same way. They eat sweets and drink soda all the time. They just don’t like flossing, they aren’t afraid of it like me. I am very jealous that it’s that easy for them. I’m glad that they have healthy strong teeth though, I would never wish this on anyone. Not even my worst enemy.
This is the best I can do, and I just have to keep at it and hope that it is enough to preserve my teeth for the next 7 decades or so. I’ve been avoiding a lot of the foods and drinks that I love in order to try to remineralize the 4 small cavities (carious lesions, actually, as they are in the enamel and haven’t cavitated yet)…if there is any hope to do so. I really don’t want to place any more fillings between my teeth, I already have way too many. That'd just be more teeth for floss to catch on and make me panic. I drink mainly water now, with an occasional soft drink maybe once every two weeks…through a straw, followed by brushing. I used to drink hot tea every morning, but I don’t do that anymore because I feel like it is just bathing my teeth in sugar. Plus tea stains composite fillings pretty badly. I miss that little cup of comfort in the mornings though. I love sweets but have been avoiding those too.
One month after my debridement I will have a regular cleaning where they will check my gum health again to make sure it has improved, since it measured at a 4 next to two teeth. Insurance will cover that thank goodness…because it has only covered about $150 so far and I have spent $1500 out of pocket between the 5 composite filling replacements and this debridement. Not to mention monthly premiums. After the waiting period they will begin to cover actual fillings..but hopefully I won’t need any more any time soon. (Or preferably, EVER.)
This is such an overwhelming process, but atleast I am on the right track and have a strong support system.

Photolove,

Just wanted to let you know my thoughts are with you and I hope that things go as well as possible for your deep cleaning today !!

krlovesherkids777 said:

Photolove,

Just wanted to let you know my thoughts are with you and I hope that things go as well as possible for your deep cleaning today !!

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Thank you so much for your kind words, krlovesherkids777, I truly appreciate you! I know what I need to do, so I am just going to keep pushing through no matter how scary it is.

My thoughts are with you, was a bit shocked readng through this about your mother phoning up the rest of the family and friend with the amount of fillings you needed,

I see people with beautiful, healthy teeth I also get upset about how my teeth look, I had some work done (a few cavities filled) root canal, I just got a difficult mouth to keep clean and going regularly have saved my teeth needed crowns and implants at the moment. I just dont enjoy going myself, even though I been going to see a dentist for years.

Dear photolove,

I am so sorry to read what you are going through and I wish your deep cleaning goes well today and you get some hope and reassurance again.

Please don't blame yourself for anything. You know, it is soooo easy to look back and start to be mad at your past yourself because of something that she has or hasn't done. But life doesn't work like this. You have made the best decisions you could with the information you had. You were a child.. 13 years old.. Your dentist and your mother should blame themselves because they caused you a trauma. They could have been supportive and help you get through but they haven't. Every fear of you makes perfectly sense and was caused by your past experiences but none of this experiences were your fault.

When I look at you now, I can see a young woman with an incredible courage and discipline. You are really fighting against the anxiety! I don't know anybody who would force herself to floss every night despite panic attacks. Who would drag herself through examinations and appointments despite being so terrified. You are so strong and courageous! You are literally ignoring your worst fears to go on. I hope so much you can see it and can be proud of you. Its like being afraid of water but going to swim every night for 30 minutes - who would do that? But you do that. You fight and you won't let your fear stop you. This is so impressive.

You seem to have a good dentist who knows how to put you at ease a bit. Hopefully he will manage it today too (I am very sure he will). Don't be afraid of pain: modern dentistry is painless and your dental team wouldn't let you suffer. They will find a way to make it painless for you. The important thing to remember is that they are working with you and for you and are there to help. Your dentist studied for many years really hard to learn how to save teeth and keep them healthy and he will help you avoid the worst case scenarios that your fear is trying to keep alive in your head.

All good wishes for today, don't forget how strong and courageous you are and that dentistry is about helping you to save your teeth and remain your dental health. And don't forget how many people from here are with you right now.

You will be fine, I know it.

Yesterday’s debridement has left me with very mixed emotions.
I was terrified of what they would find and whether or not it would hurt when I went in. The assistant asked me if they had told me the price ($220) and why I needed this cleaning, then took me back. The hygienist asked me the same questions when she came in the room. She also asked if I had any concerns. I told her I was feeling anxious about my fillings, mainly the large amalgams, since he found decay behind the last filling he worked on that we hadn’t seen in xrays. She assured me she would check them over while debriding, and if there wasn’t anything on the xray or that she could see on my tooth then I am fine. I took a deep breath and prepared for her to start working.
It took about 15 (MAYBE 20… maybe.) minutes. She mainly focused on my front bottom teeth and skimmed slightly along some of my back ones. I was confused, because she was only using the regular scaler, no fancy tools…and I was told before that the appointment block would have to be an hour…but I figured she was just very efficient and I was happy to be done. She stopped on one of my amalgams, blew air on it and asked me if it hurt (it didn’t), then took a picture and called for my dentist. Turns out my dentist had gone home for the day, so another dentist visited me. There is a decent sized chip in my top tooth right against my amalgam filling (one of my molars). They have no idea why. He says it may have been demineralized when the filling was placed 5 years ago, and over time that part became brittle and broke off. He said it needs to be treated because food/plaque will catch in it and since its right up against my filling, leak into the filling. He said he would speak to my dentist and then they would call me, but the only treatment possibilities are a new filling or a crown. They won’t know if it’s replaceable with a filling until they open it up, because it is so large, and he doubts a filling will work. So once they begin working on it, there is no going back. The filling would cost me $338, but let’s get real here. I already know it’s too large. The crown will cost me $1400…which I don’t have. My insurance doesn’t cover major dental work for the first year. I feel so defeated right now. I’m only 25 years old and that’s already 2 crowns I will need (one now, one in 8ish years when my recent composite filling breaks down). If this tooth is breaking, my other amalgams could do it too. 8 of my teeth have huge amalgams. Add that to the composite that I mentioned and that’s 9 potential crowns. Maybe more, because I have composites in almost every tooth that have to be redone periodically for the rest of my life. I hate the maintenance that comes with these.
I held my breath through check out, so I wouldn’t cry in front of them. The hygienist gave me a huge thing of all natural organic mouthwash and toothpaste made for people with periodontitis (which I don’t have.. this whole thing was because my gumline around one back tooth was slightly more than 3 mm in depth in two places so they rounded up to 4mm.) that cost me $50 (part of the $220) that I have to use twice a day. It burns my mouth and tastes like cinnamon cardboard.. and it’s fluoride free so while it may help that area of my gumline it’s not helping my teeth at all. I left there and cried for the rest of the night. When I got home I looked in the mirror and I still have the same amount of calculus buildup around all of my molars. I just paid $220 for her to scrape my teeth LESS than they do at a regular cleaning, which would have been covered my by insurance. And at a cleaning at least I get fluoride and polishing, they didn’t do anything other than scraping for this. I feel taken advantage of. I feel like that was completely unnecessary. Now I have to go back in one month for a regular cleaning and a check up on that gumline area.
I had fears that he wasn’t thorough enough when he checked for signs of cracking or decay around my fillings at my exam earlier this month. I feel like my fears were right. The chip is actually very obvious, and on the cheek side of my tooth, it isn’t hidden in a crevice or anything. The hygienist also reconfirmed the thoroughness issue I had. They called me today to request I come in on Monday so he can look at it, since he wasn’t there yesterday. The receptionist said “we can go ahead and do the treatment he sees fit on Monday too.” And I told her I would let him check it but that I’m not going to do anything else to it yet, I need to be cost conscious and get a second opinion. She said she understands. I am going to go to my father’s dentist and get a second opinion. If there is anything he can do to make it last one more year the way it is, then I can file it on insurance next year and only pay $500 for a crown. I can’t afford to spend $1400…plus a $50 copay. If his dentist says I needs to be fixed now, and has a better price, then I will have him do it and my dad said he will help me with the cost. He has known his dentist for over 20 year so he said he trusts him. I’m also going to have him check my gum pocket depths, so he can tell me if I really need to keep using that awful mouthwash and toothpaste.
I thought I could trust this dentist, and maybe I am mistaken.. but I feel like I was taken advantage of with this debridement, and I feel like they don’t pay close enough attention to my teeth. My boyfriend told me I need to talk to the dentist about the debridement and show him the calculus build up I still have, and ask him for a partial refund. I hate doing that because I don’t want them to dislike me and I HATE confrontation, but it’s evident that they didn’t do a good job at all. She didn’t even touch most of my teeth.
Mainly I’m upset about this crown. I don’t want the extra anxiety that will come with it. Anytime I get any work done I obsess over it. I constantly worry that it’s going to break or fall out. That’s going to be magnified 10X when I get this crown. My dad had a crown that had to be re-cemented twice a year because it constantly fell off. After 10 years of this his dentist told him to just spend the extra money on an implant because there was no keeping that crown in. I’m scared I’ll have problems like that, or that it will have to be replaced every 5 years or some other short timeframe.. I can’t afford that. Especially once I have to get the other crown done, and potentially more crowns in the future. I get so upset every time I think about it.

Thephilsblogbar said:

My thoughts are with you, was a bit shocked readng through this about your mother phoning up the rest of the family and friend with the amount of fillings you needed,

I see people with beautiful, healthy teeth I also get upset about how my teeth look, I had some work done (a few cavities filled) root canal, I just got a difficult mouth to keep clean and going regularly have saved my teeth needed crowns and implants at the moment. I just dont enjoy going myself, even though I been going to see a dentist for years.

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Thank you for the thoughts! My mother could be very insensitive at times. Perhaps she was just so shocked that she had to vent to someone. Even so, it was humiliating for me as a child who suddenly felt so unclean. And I had no one to talk to because I didn't want anyone else to know.
You are doing a great thing for your health by going regularly even though you don't like to. I don't enjoy going either due to my anxiety..but rationale finally won over fear and I realized that I will only get worse and worse by not going regularly. So this is the start of a new path for me.

Enarete said:

Dear photolove,

I am so sorry to read what you are going through and I wish your deep cleaning goes well today and you get some hope and reassurance again.

Please don't blame yourself for anything. You know, it is soooo easy to look back and start to be mad at your past yourself because of something that she has or hasn't done. But life doesn't work like this. You have made the best decisions you could with the information you had. You were a child.. 13 years old.. Your dentist and your mother should blame themselves because they caused you a trauma. They could have been supportive and help you get through but they haven't. Every fear of you makes perfectly sense and was caused by your past experiences but none of this experiences were your fault.

When I look at you now, I can see a young woman with an incredible courage and discipline. You are really fighting against the anxiety! I don't know anybody who would force herself to floss every night despite panic attacks. Who would drag herself through examinations and appointments despite being so terrified. You are so strong and courageous! You are literally ignoring your worst fears to go on. I hope so much you can see it and can be proud of you. Its like being afraid of water but going to swim every night for 30 minutes - who would do that? But you do that. You fight and you won't let your fear stop you. This is so impressive.

You seem to have a good dentist who knows how to put you at ease a bit. Hopefully he will manage it today too (I am very sure he will). Don't be afraid of pain: modern dentistry is painless and your dental team wouldn't let you suffer. They will find a way to make it painless for you. The important thing to remember is that they are working with you and for you and are there to help. Your dentist studied for many years really hard to learn how to save teeth and keep them healthy and he will help you avoid the worst case scenarios that your fear is trying to keep alive in your head.

All good wishes for today, don't forget how strong and courageous you are and that dentistry is about helping you to save your teeth and remain your dental health. And don't forget how many people from here are with you right now.

You will be fine, I know it.

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Enarete,
Thank you so much for your kind and comforting words. You have really given me a different outlook on my dental past. I think it is so much easier to blame yourself and be angry because the problems are like a snowball effect. If I'd only been better THEN, I would have avoided these problems NOW. I need to keep in mind that I am breaking the cycle of my dental fears NOW which will help me in the future, versus if I continued down my destructive path of avoidance of the dentist and flossing. Thank you for making me realize that. My debridement was disappointing, due to the quality of their work and also the results. The bad news is I need a (very expensive) crown on a tooth that a large silver filling has caused a chip in the tooth, and the quality issue is she didn't actually debride all of my teeth, only certain areas but I paid for a "full mouth" debridement. I'm seeing my dentist today so he can examine that tooth (He was out of the office when the hygienist found the chip) and I am going to discuss the debridement with him along with some other concerns. I really like this dentist but am having trouble with other aspects of the practice. I am going to try my father's dentist to see if he is a better fit. Sometimes it takes a few tries to find the right one.

Last Friday my dentist office called me to request I come in and see my dentist about the chipped tooth they discovered, since he wasn’t there when they found it. I scheduled to see him on Monday. I also called my father’s dentist to schedule an appointment on Tuesday for a second opinion, mainly due to cost concerns.
My dentist completely alleviated my stress. I told him I am not prepared for the cost of a crown right now. He looked at the tooth and said he can do a large composite (they don’t do amalgams at this practice) to buy me time on that tooth before needing a crown. I’m glad it isn’t too large to replace. They also worked down the price of the filling for me, cutting it more than in half since I was concerned about cost. I won’t need a crown until well after my insurance begins covering it. He said his pick sticks in the chip slightly, which means stuff is already getting trapped in there and causing decay. He said it is very small, so I have a little time before I need to fix it, but the sooner the better so that it stays small. I asked about the white bands around my teeth (I thought I was tarter build up left over after the debridement) and it is actually nothing to be worried about. He said it could be hypo calcification but it isn’t going to turn into cavities or anything, so I am good on that front too.
I went to my father’s dentist the next day, and had him take a look at that tooth. He recommends placing another amalgam (silver) filling there, but said it may show in my smile line. I checked and I have a small smile line, so it wouldn’t show. He said he strongly recommends against putting a composite filling in that tooth because of the size and bite pressure…it would only last 3 to 5 years tops. He said a better option than a crown would be an onlay, which not all dentists do. In this process, the dentist would remove the old filling, take an impression of the tooth, and then have a metal (like gold) or porcelain piece made to fit it exactly. Like a puzzle piece. Then they would cement that in. They cost close to the same amount crowns do, but would be much more conservative because I’d get to keep more of my tooth structure and they have a very good lifespan when taken care of appropriately, some materials even last longer than crowns. I am pretty sure my dentist doesn’t place onlays… because he is very conservative and definitely would have recommended that instead of a crown for the future.
So now I am a little torn between the options. I don’t particularly like amalgam fillings after my dentist told me how they are placed…they require removal of more tooth structure and are kind of seated in a “wedge” they create when placing them, rather than bonding to the tooth like a composite. Plus, the amalgam I have in there is at the most, 5 years old..and I already have problems with it. However, a composite filling won’t last long either, it will break down more quickly than usual due to the size. I’m scared an amalgam will damage my tooth more over time though. I think I am going to go to my dentist for the composite filling placement and discuss the lifespan and the potential for having an onlay placed once that filling goes. If he can’t do it, but can still care for it, then I will go to someone who specializes in it to get it placed when it’s time. I know he will understand because he favors saving as much tooth structure as possible.
This will be the 6[SUP]th[/SUP] time I’ve been to the dentist in the past 2 months. I am so ready to get down to only cleanings, and no extra work. Even the thought of more drilling makes my stomach hurt. I’m so ready to have a healthy mouth, I just have to push forward.
My father’s dentist also mentioned I need to get my two remaining wisdom teeth taken out in the near future. Leaving them for too long with the small amount of space I have in my mouth will cause a cyst, which can damage my jaw bone! Being put to sleep really scares me. That’s another post for another day.