25 No money with gum recession and tooth pain.

[DraconicPhoenix]

I'm new to this forum. This is even my first post. I think this is the correct section to post. Anyway, I've been having issues with alot of tooth pain. Mostly around near my jaw joints and wisdom teeth. For awhile I thought it was just my old jaw injury acting up but things just seem to be sticking around. I started clenching my jaw at night alot too just making it worse. I started taking a closer look at my teeth as well do to the discomfort and (honestly I've been on and off taking care of my teeth due to jaw pain making it difficult and not really being taught proper mouth hygiene) and I noticed my gums have receded pretty bad. My teeth seem tight according to my mom and my grandma but I'm terrified my teeth are just gonna fall out. I think some of the recession might be due to brushing to hard when I brush and I read that jaw clenching and having a bad bite (my teeth seem to hit each other in weird ways) can contribute to recession. All of this plus the pain and seeing the receding gums is terrifying me and I don't have the money to go to a dentist (which is a major factor in why I haven't been since I was in elementary school... I have a poor family) and I'm terrified of not only losing my teeth but just being in pain for the meantime. Also I'm scared of the idea of going to the dentist anyway. I have sensory issues and don't know how I'll handle it. And if I need teeth pulled how would that affect my jaw issues? I'm also terrified of losing all my teeth and...I'm just terrified and don't know what to do about all this. I'm worried that by the time I manage even a single appointment it'll be too late for any of my teeth and that I won't be able to afford any procedures...

 

[Animalhouse]

Welcome to the forum and I'm sorry that you are currently suffering with jaw pain. Cost is certainly an issue for many of us and personally it was one of the biggest things that prevented me from seeing a dentist in the first place until recently. Jaw pain can occur for many reasons, including but not limited to teeth grinding, impacted wisdom teeth, TMJ, infection, and the list goes on. You did mention grinding your teeth. Perhaps in the mean time, you could pick up a mouth guard from a drug store for at night time. I don't know where you are located. Here in the US, many dentistry schools offer discounted dental work done by supervised students. Many areas also have government run dental clinics where costs are based on household income, or it could even be free. Private dental offices offer CareCredit which allows you to spread out the payments over a period of time. I know that it is very difficult to make that first appointment, and you did the right thing by coming here to this forum. This is a very supportive community and I hope that it helps you on your journey.

 

[comfortdentist]

Dental schools or hygiene schools offer care at a low cost. If nothing else get your teeth cleaned. Not doing anything is a mistake.

 

[Animalhouse]

I have to agree with this. I am 30 years old now and have always played the worst case scenario over and over again in my head, expecting that I was going to lose all of my teeth and that they weren't salvageable at all, so I kept putting it off and putting it off. Now I'm kicking myself for not going years ago because even now, my diagnosis is not nearly as bad as I was expecting...and would have been even less so 5 years ago.