29 and never been to the dentist - made the appointment

[Sd96]

I'm 29 and never been to the dentist. I never brushed until I was like 16. And I used to drink a lot of sugary soda...
My teeth are all full of tartar and on my upper right side I have a very huge calculus. I also have several bad decays and broken teeth. I've had a very bad toothache when I was 16 but was terrified to tell anyone so I took painkillers and the pain eventually went away. I'm afraid my jawbone has been destroyed by this. Then other problems appeared. I think I have wisdom teeth problems too.

So, on Sunday I felt a bump at the back of one my last molar and totally panicked as I thought it was an abscess and had to make an emergency appointment. I'm not in pain and it hasn't got bigger at the moment.

Well on Monday and Tuesday I called an office but they both said they weren't accepting new patients which I was expecting. Today I phoned another office and the appointment was made for the end of November.

I'm in literal panick. I fear being judged. I'm afraid of having a bad experience and never going back. I'm afraid because I have so many things going on I don't know how they will deal with everything and in which order. I haven't told my parents yet, which I'll have to do as I rely on my dad to drive me there.

I'm juste here for some support. Has anyone had a huge calculus removed ? I'm afraid of the state of my gum and jawbone under this. How did you deal with the waiting before the first appointment?

Thanks for reading

 

[Sd96]

A little update : I did it. I wasn't even so stressed, just relieved. The receptionist and the dentist were kind. She didn't made bad comments on the state of my teeth. She took a look inside my mouth than did the x-ray.
I have two upcoming appointments for scaling then I'll have an appointment with a periodontist. Only after that will we take care of the decays and broken teeth.
What shocked me is that she said she's pretty sure none of them will need to be extracted except maybe one wisdom tooth. We will see after the scaling of course cause tartar hides a lot of things. Nothing too bad mentioned at least.

 

[krlovesherkids777]

Congratulations for making it through!! and setting up 2 more appointments for scaling.! I'm so glad you found a kind team! It makes such a huge difference. I'm so glad you got good news about not needing to be extracted. Great job with all of this! Let us know how the scaling goes! Sounds like you are in good hands!!

 

[Sd96]

@krlovesherkids777 Hi and thank you for your kind words, I appreciate it ! My first scaling appointment was actually today. I decided to do the upper teeth as this is where the big calculus was and I was so afraid to remove it. I chose to do it without anesthesia. It wasn't pleasant but not very painful. The dentist checked several times if I was ok and encouraged me. I think she put some antibiotics ? Then gave me instructions about brushing, mouth wash etc. I have a numbing gel in case it's too painful to brush. I also have 2 types of painkillers. I have no pain at the moment tho. It just feels so strange I feel like my teeth are so tiny and feel like I have no gum left but when I look in the mirror my teeth are completely normal and the gum is juste very inflamed. I'm so happy the huge calculus is gone !!

 

[Sd96]

Well, things didn't go exactly as planned.
After the upper teeth cleaning, my wisdom tooth was biting into my cheek and it hurt a lot. It got inflamed and I couldn't open my mouth. I had to go to an emergency appointment on Christmas day as it was swollen. I got it extracted and it's been healing juste fine without pain.
Yesterday, we did the cleaning on the lower teeth and the dentist said that my first molar on the left side would probably need to be extracted as there is almost nothing left of it... Then this morning I woke up in pain and an old abscess on the right side has flared-up. I phoned the dentist and she said I need to take antibiotics and she will do RCT on that tooth during the next appointment.
I'm afraid of what's to come but I'm proud of the progress I did !