Haven't been to the dentist since 2008

I have terrible teeth. I didn't look after them to well either. I've been a shift worker on a completely random schedule for the last 7 years on top of it since I started full time work. A combination of laziness, exhaustion and personal issues and to an extent my teeth bothered me less when I wasn't obsessive with hygiene. The last time I went to a dentist was for root canal treatment on an abscessed tooth. It was a pretty miserable experience and I haven't been able to face going back since. I have several bent teeth at the front one of which is chipped (old injury) and decayed. A cracked upper molar on my left. I've been chewing on the right for years. At Christmas I broke my lower right molar. I don't know if a nerve became exposed but it has been screaming at me over the weekend before suddenly stopping. I also have bits of enamel flaked off in places and what I suspect are two lower impacted wisdom teeth that give grief every now and again and an upper one which has no room AT ALL to come through or to even get at it. I've been eating a softer diet and cut out sugar the last few years to try and make them last but it seems I've reached the end of the line. I can't chew on either side any more my impacted wisdom tooth on the other side has started giving trouble.

I've been looking around online for a dentist to go to. I guess I'm going to have to make some calls in the morning. I need to do something so I can eat properly again but I guess that might be a long way off even if I do start getting treatment. Also have to work out how i'm going to pay for it.

I'm going to need multiple extractions, cleaning at least a dozen fillings and probably a partial top denture.

Hey, no advice I'm afraid just wanted to show support as I'm in pretty much the same situation! I'm only 25 (which is even worse) but I have really similar dental issues as you - have been eating on my right side for about 7 years only to have those teeth crack and crumble only leaving pulp and me unable to eat anything that isn't mashed potato, pretty much.
I'm also pretty certain I have advanced periodontal disease and have bone loss etc as I've got really badly receded gums.
Apart from a very quick (no more than 5 mins) check up a couple of years ago (I didn't even see dentists face he had a mask on the whole time!) I haven't been since 2006.

This is the best place to be. It encouraged me to make the appointment. I've found appointment dentist and am seeing him in 2 weeks.

Good luck!!

TerrifiedWelshie said:

Hey, no advice I'm afraid just wanted to show support as I'm in pretty much the same situation! I'm only 25 (which is even worse) but I have really similar dental issues as you - have been eating on my right side for about 7 years only to have those teeth crack and crumble only leaving pulp and me unable to eat anything that isn't mashed potato, pretty much.
I'm also pretty certain I have advanced periodontal disease and have bone loss etc as I've got really badly receded gums.
Apart from a very quick (no more than 5 mins) check up a couple of years ago (I didn't even see dentists face he had a mask on the whole time!) I haven't been since 2006.

This is the best place to be. It encouraged me to make the appointment. I've found appointment dentist and am seeing him in 2 weeks.

Good luck!!

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Same here... I'm 30 but it does help a bit to know you're not alone in this kind of thing.

TerrifiedWelshie said:

Hey, no advice I'm afraid just wanted to show support as I'm in pretty much the same situation! I'm only 25 (which is even worse) but I have really similar dental issues as you - have been eating on my right side for about 7 years only to have those teeth crack and crumble only leaving pulp and me unable to eat anything that isn't mashed potato, pretty much.
I'm also pretty certain I have advanced periodontal disease and have bone loss etc as I've got really badly receded gums.
Apart from a very quick (no more than 5 mins) check up a couple of years ago (I didn't even see dentists face he had a mask on the whole time!) I haven't been since 2006.

This is the best place to be. It encouraged me to make the appointment. I've found appointment dentist and am seeing him in 2 weeks.

Good luck!!

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I've certainly got some gingivitis. Maybe its advanced to periodontal disease, my mouth has a lot of crowding so I have never really been able to floss. I think I've found a dental surgery I want to try. I think his business is more inclined towards cosmetic dentistry but he does normal dentistry and sedation on nervous patients. I try not to think about my teeth because they depress me so much and when I do it keeps me up. I probably don't have the budget for a nice smile but i'm hoping they are more normal and healthier if I can get treatment and to get these wisdoms and crowding problems sorted and at least get a chewing side again.

Zoidberg444 said:

I've certainly got some gingivitis. Maybe its advanced to periodontal disease, my mouth has a lot of crowding so I have never really been able to floss. I think I've found a dental surgery I want to try. I think his business is more inclined towards cosmetic dentistry but he does normal dentistry and sedation on nervous patients. I try not to think about my teeth because they depress me so much and when I do it keeps me up. I probably don't have the budget for a nice smile but i'm hoping they are more normal and healthier if I can get treatment and to get these wisdoms and crowding problems sorted and at least get a chewing side again.

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WHAT I WOULD GIVE to have my chewing side back!! ?

I have the same issue, my teeth are very over crowded so I've never been able to get floss in between them (which I never really thought of as an issue until recently)

Well done for making that first step! That's all we can do is take things one step at a time, for most people with other phobias it's easy to ignore, a phobia of spiders for example doesn't (or shouldn't) have any negative implications on your health or overall quality of life. But having a phobia of dentists reallt does in my experience.

TerrifiedWelshie said:

WHAT I WOULD GIVE to have my chewing side back!! ?

I have the same issue, my teeth are very over crowded so I've never been able to get floss in between them (which I never really thought of as an issue until recently)

Well done for making that first step! That's all we can do is take things one step at a time, for most people with other phobias it's easy to ignore, a phobia of spiders for example doesn't (or shouldn't) have any negative implications on your health or overall quality of life. But having a phobia of dentists reallt does in my experience.

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The sad and depressing thing is that the dentist is pretty much the only phobia that i have. Spiders, heights, flying, reptiles, small spaces, crowds. Nothing really bothers me. My sister is terrified of dogs. Thinking about going to the dentist almost makes me feel nauseous.

Well, I've just booked an appointment. 20th February at 10AM. It seems a long way off at the moment but I'm sure the nearer it gets. The more nervous I will be. I'm worried about everything from the possibility of loosing all my teeth to the bill to just getting in the chair and letting him look in my mouth and i'm trying not to think about getting fillings or extractions yet.

Dear Zoidberg,

well done for having made the final decision to change your situation. And also to tackle the only phobia you have in your life
It's good to accept the fact that you will be nervous and will have to use all your discipline and mental power to make it through the first visit, but on the other hand - if it were easy, you were a normal patient and not one with dental fear.

Please do not be too quick with the self-diagnosis. There will be for sure a lot of work to be done but I am sure it won't be as bad as you picture that. May I suggest that you keep only worrying about getting into the practice since that's the first step on your way?

Hope your practice is a good one and your dentist will know how to put you at ease. My experience is that the mere presence of a kind compassionate dentist has a soothing effect and dentists who treat nervous patients mostly know how to make things flowing naturally to make it easier for you.

Let us know how you are doing!

Well its the big morning this morning.

My first trip to the dentist since 2008 and first examination since 2006. I feel like vomiting. Off i go to get the bad news. I'm expecting to loose the lot to be honest.

Wish me luck.

Zoidberg,

you are doing the right thing and you are being very brave right now! We are your support team and we are all with you

May your dental team be very compassionate and kind to you and may they know how to make you feel at ease and may the news you receive be much better than you thought.

You totally got this.

Congrats again on tackling the only phobia in your life, soon you won't have any

All the best wishes and please let us know how things went!

Well. I went. He was nothing like my last dentist, my last dentist was like the Gordon Ramsay of Dentistry...

He was a very chilled out bloke. Amazingly i'm not going to loose all my teeth, quite a few of them are still saveable and some are still ok. I'm also not the worst he's seen which i was pretty amazed by. I believe he rated my gum disease at a 3 and says its still reversible. After my main course of treatment he wants me to have 3 sessions with the hygienist.

Main course of treatment:

Extractions:
Upper right premolar
Upper right canine
Upper left outer incisor
Upper left molar - this was VERY badly damaged
Lower left rear molar - failed root canal from years ago
Lower right molar - broke at christmas

3 more amalgam fillings and he's going to do some scaling, polishing and root planing while i'm knocked out.

He said i could either have 4 sessions under local anesthetic or have it all done in one go under sedation. I asked if i could just tough it out under local and have the whole lot done but he said no because he's had poor success with it. So sedation it is. I suppose one benefit of the severe damage to some of my teeth was extractions are a lot cheaper than root canals and crowns and i'd only get 10 years from some of them if i was lucky. I have some pretty bad overcrowding but I'll probably need to look into filling a few of the gaps when my mouth is healthier with implants or a denture.

One of my worst teeth was actually my upper right premolar. It had massive decay and an infection in the root and i haven't had a peep out of it...

The big day is scheduled for 26th March at 9AM... Its also a lot more affordable than i was worried about given i can see some much larger expenses coming up in the future when my mouth has healed to maybe hide a few gaps and improve my chewing side (no NHS dentists in my area) so private it is. It all adds up to about £1200 for my first course of treatment which i should be able to put together.

Heyyyyyyyyyy

Well done and congrats and you made my day, because you, are now the walking proof that there is always less treatment needed than a nervous patient assumed! You were sure the state of your teeth was so bad and now are back with good news.

Really, I am delighted to hear how well it went. Your fear of having to lose too many teeth didn't come true, you had some good news about your gums too and even the financial side of the thing is managable.

So a big day in a bit more than one month, I will be thinking of you!

Well done again and keep us posted.. and also if you get any nervous before your apt, you know where you find support

Well done!

Enarete said:

Heyyyyyyyyyy

Well done and congrats and you made my day, because you, are now the walking proof that there is always less treatment needed than a nervous patient assumed! You were sure the state of your teeth was so bad and now are back with good news.

Really, I am delighted to hear how well it went. Your fear of having to lose too many teeth didn't come true, you had some good news about your gums too and even the financial side of the thing is managable.

So a big day in a bit more than one month, I will be thinking of you!

Well done again and keep us posted.. and also if you get any nervous before your apt, you know where you find support

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Well i don't think its good to loose 6 teeth when you're 30. I'm worried i won't really have any useful chewing teeth anymore and the gaps. But i suppose at this point i should be glad my gum disease is still at the treatable stage and that i'm not going to loose the lot. Thinking about closing up or filling the obvious gaps is probably a year down the line after my mouth has recovered.

I'll keep the forum posted on my progress.

Well its the big day. In about 5 hours i get my 6 extractions and 3 fillings under IV sedation. I'm really not looking forward to it. I can think of any number of horrible injuries or near death experiences that I've had that i was less nervous about. Nothing for it but to go ahead and get it over with and get to the pain part of the exercise. I just want this to be over with and healed up. I'm really going to miss slightly solid food.

Zoidberg444 said:

Well its the big day. In about 5 hours i get my 6 extractions and 3 fillings under IV sedation. I'm really not looking forward to it. I can think of any number of horrible injuries or near death experiences that I've had that i was less nervous about. Nothing for it but to go ahead and get it over with and get to the pain part of the exercise. I just want this to be over with and healed up. I'm really going to miss slightly solid food.

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You're going to do great! Let us know how you made out. You're in my thoughts today.

Its been about 12 hours since i left the dentist. It all went to plan. I'm recovering and not even in any noticeable amount of pain compared to what I've been living with for the last 10 years on and off.

I elected to be the dentists first victim of the day at 9AM. I went in, had my blood pressure taken and my pulse. My pulse and blood pressure were a little high but it was to be expected. They sat me down in the chair and inserted the cannular for my sedation. Then they pushed 2mg of the stuff in a syringe in and then kept adding a bit more. At 4mg it felt like 2 beers. Then they added more and it felt like 5-6 beers. Then things get kind of weird. I remember having some injections in my gum, i remember him digging around yanking a few of the teeth, being told to open and bite down and i remember the odd bit of drilling. I actually would say there was some physical discomfort at times BUT i didn't honestly care i was really out of it. Then towards the end of it i think they tapered my dose off a bit because i remember them putting the amalgam fillings in my teeth and being told they were nearly done. I was then in 8 beers territory and pretty quickly i was back in 3 beers territory and getting up and walking around after the procedure. Then it was time to go and everything else was weird.

I got driven home. The worst part was how numb my lips were, but some sensation returned in my gums. That was pretty unpleasant. I took a 400mg ibuprofen and went to sleep. Woke up about 2 hours ago. No real pain currently. Very fuzzy memories. I'm going to try some soup in a bit. Now I'm just looking forward to being out of dry socket territory in a few days.

I could definitely recommend sedation. It enabled me to get 4 appointments worth of treatments in one go. If it could send a fat bastard like me off with the fairies like that (i typically need more of everything and it wears off quicker than normal people) then most people here would be completely ZONKED for any treatment they are going to have with it.

Now begins the next phase. My dentist wants to see me in 7-10 days to check on my recovery. The dentist did a bit of a scrape and polish while i was knocked out and i had some very large pieces of scale on my teeth. They look very different and much whiter now. But i have 3 appointments with the hygienist over the next 6 months then after he's satisfied my gums are healthy he will discuss options for moving teeth and dentures/implants.

Zoidberg444 said:

I elected to be the dentists first victim of the day at 9AM.

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Hilarious.. and your accurate beer-based descripion of the state also..

Well done and congrats, happy to hear that it all went well. All the best for your future appointments

Thankyou everybody for your support. I will keep the forum up to date as my treatment progresses. I hope to be able to smile for the first time since i was 11-12 years old after its all said and done.