Thank you ScaredyCat and Dr Daniel. I just hope that my problems can be fixed and that they aren't too serious. I'm not sure if my bottom front teeth have shifted or not. It doesn't feel like any of my teeth are loose though. They feel like they move when I move my tongue across them, but not when I touch them with my finger. If they have shifted, will they have to be extracted?. It looks like there is a small black hole there too. Do teeth have to be extracted if they are yellow too, or are teeth only extracted if they are very loose?.
Dr Daniel, I went to a doctor and showed him the white bump in my mouth. He said it was an ulcer, but I don't think it is. It is near the root of one of my front teeth. He looked at it and pressed it. He said he doesn't think it is a tumour though. It is very small and painless. It is in the lower labial frenum (I think that's what it is called. I'm not sure if I've got the name right). The bump has never changed size or shape. Also, it looks like there is a bit of a split in the gum near my back tooth. Sometimes, it has bled when I have brushed that tooth. I hope I haven't got an abscess. I was wondering if either the problem with my back tooth or the white bump could be an abscess?. I've read some scary things on google!. My face hasn't been swollen. I have an appointment with a dentist this Friday. I'm not sure whether to try and go sooner though. Do any of these things sound like a dental emergency, or could I wait until then?. I'm worried in case I have to have surgery too as I'm not sure if you can have that done on the nhs. The dental practice I am going to has both private and nhs patients. They have a hygienist there.
It's really getting me down when I think that this could have been caused by my premature birth. As far as I know, my parents have never had gum disease, and my brother hasn't either. It seems like they have good teeth and gums. I can't understand why some people get problems with their teeth and gums and some don't . My boyfriend has lost a few teeth (they fell out on their own ), and has some broken teeth, but he told me he has never had gum disease and when he went to a dentist once, they told him that all he needed was a few fillings and an extraction. He didn't go to get them done, but it doesn't seem like he has had problems since. Does it sound like my boyfriend has better teeth and gums than I have?.
Dr Daniel, I also wanted to mention that I have had a couple of bad experiences with dentists in the past. One dentist I went to did a filling and my tooth broke soon after that. The next dentist I went to (which is the one I saw last time a few years ago), had to extract it, but she left the root in. Is it bad that she left the root in?. It was these bad experiences that made me nervous about going to see dentists. The last dentist I had told me I had mild gingivitis, but she didn't actually explain what it was,or what it could lead to, and she didn't show me how to brush my teeth properly (like some dentists do). If she had, maybe I wouldn't be having these problems now. I'm not sure what stage I am at now, but I hope it isn't an advanced stage. Because she made me feel uncomfortable, I didn't ask her any questions. When I was having the tooth extracted, I was in pain, so I don't think I was numb enough. I was yelling and she kept telling me not to yell. She didn't put me at ease.
